Located on the third floor of the Field Museum is the Marie Louise Rosenthal Library.
The library moved into this space in 1921 to keep scientists close to their research. Today, anyone from around the world can make an appointment to view the collection. Students as young as junior high have come to the Field Museum’s library to learn, explore, and marvel at its rare finds. You can, too!
Among the collection are artifacts from the 1893 World’s Fair (the basis of their collection), the first edition of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” (where the word species is misspelled on page 20), and their tiniest rare book written in an untranslated Sikh dialect (and said to curse whoever opens it...yikes).
Eight dedicated staff members run the museum’s library, assisting visitors with research, digitizing millions of pages of rare books, and adding collection items to the museum’s exhibits whenever they can.
Learn more about the library at www.fieldmuseum.org/department/library.