Newport's Redwood Library

There was no doubt that I had discovered my own version of utopia. The golf courses around Portsmouth had ocean views and lush fairways, Tiverton had Flo’s Clam Shack, Little Compton had an annual ultimate Frisbee tournament and one of the most beautiful country roads I have ever driven on, Barrington had a bookshop next to the marina, and you can’t go seven seconds walking the streets of Newport without spotting seersucker.

This was all before I discovered utopia for bibliomaniacs, the Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport. Established in 1747 and built in 1750, the Redwood is the first library in Rhode Island, the oldest lending library in America, and the oldest library building in continuous use in the country (I think one in Philadelphia might’ve burned down during the Revolution). The building, designed by Peter Harrison (America’s first architect), is regarded as one of the most significant buildings from the colonial period. Inside you will find the most thrilling part of all, the Harrison Room, home to the original collection of 1339 volumes donated by the philanthropist and founder, Abraham Redwood. The books were purchased for 500 pounds, and include the foundation of a typical library from that period: Homer, Cicero, Caesar, Sophocles, Bibles in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and English, books on geography, natural history, and history relevant to the seafaring town of Newport. And this does not even include The Vault, home to rare treasures and gifts including the Montanus Plantin Polyglot Bible of 1569-1572.

While purchasing a copy of the Polyglot Bible was a couple million dollars out of my budget, purchasing a membership (Redwood is not a free library, as you might expect) to be able to get a full view of the facilities and attend the book sale would have to do for now. Membership costs $75, and I also purchased several books, pamphlets, catalogues and bookmarks published by the Library to add to my collection of Books about Books. I also checked out a copy of Portrait of an Obsession by Sir Thomas Phillips, the story of the most voracious bookbuyer, and perhaps greatest bibliomaniac, of all time. The book was an excellent vacation read, and made me feel a little bit less strange for having a house full of books.


The library sale proved to be a fruitful one, although not insanely profitable. They were not planning on selling any of the rare manuscripts from the Harrison anytime soon, and the sale consisted of mostly a general stock of history, nautical books, fiction, a large selection of Christie’s auction catalogs, and your typical odds and ends. The most exciting books I found were a 1st printing of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Great Shark Hunt , what I thought was a true 1st printing of Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s (it turned out to be a 3rd, not as exciting, but still a nice addition to my Capote collection), a book on auto racing signed by the legendary Bobby Unser, a 3 volume set tracing the genealogy of the Kliwert clan, several copies of the Official Preppy Handbook, and some attractive books on sailing for my mother to use to decorate the basement.

While in line, I met an affable and frantic book dealer named Ira from New Bedford, along with several other local booksellers including Mr. Kelley of Kelley Books in Newport, who were glad to hear that I was only in town on vacation. While the Rhode Island/New England area seems like a prime location for bookselling, it also seems to have its share of established dealers, so I am happy to continue to call Wichita home for now. It may not be utopia, but reality ain’t so bad these days either.