13 breathtaking buildings of books
 |
Rip on the printed word all you want but one thing digital reads will never inspire is the incredible architecture seen in these thirteen libraries from around the world collected by WebUrbanist. Oh, and it'd be tough to duplicate that old book smell…
Strahov Monastery Library, Prague
 |
Part of a monastery that was established in the year 1143, the Strahov Monastery Library has a 46-foot ceiling decorated with a 1794 fresco entitled ‘The Struggle of Mankind to Know Real Wisdom’. It contains a vast collection of books as well as ancient printing presses.
Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura, Rio de Janiero
 |
This dark and somber reading room contains an amazing 350,000 books. The Real Gabinete Português de Leitura was built in the Manueline Portuguese style in 1837 and is four stories tall inside for maximum book storage without a cluttered, maze-like floor.
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
 |
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is located at the University of Toronto, and is the largest publicly accessible collection of rare books and manuscripts in Canada. It contains Darwin’s proof copy of On the Origin of the Species among other notable works.
Full story at WebUrbanist.