HISTORY in pen & ink: Jacksonville’s Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had a problem many writers can relate to at one point or another in their career: He could not figure out the title for the story he was working on.
After writing a working title down in a strong, confident hand, Doyle eventually struck it out with his pen, scrawling another option just above it. There. That was it. “The Adventure of the Second Chip” was officially changed to the story Sherlock Holmes fans across the world will surely recognize: “The Problem of Thor Bridge.”
This short story first appeared in a 1922 issue of Britain’s “The Strand Magazine” and would later appear in the “Sherlock Holmes Case Load” published in 1927.
However, residents and visitors can also view a sheet from the story written in Doyle’s own hand at Jacksonville’s Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum as part of the museum’s current exhibit on 19th century British documents, along with a series of other sheets written by or about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his enigmatic detective.
Museum Director Richard Minor stands beside the podium housing the “Thor Bridge” folio and studies it for a moment.
“What I think is important and neat about [these papers] is it actually makes these people who you sometimes disassociate from because they’re just names and books and stuff like that,” he explains. “But when you actually see paper they handled, it makes the reality of these people who made our history come alive.”
This Jacksonville hidden treasure is one of several institutions across the country under the umbrella of the Karpeles Library. Founded by David Karpeles, the library houses a private collection of more than one million historic manuscripts.
Minor explained the museums rotate collections amongst themselves throughout the year, packing up their current exhibit and passing it on to the next location every couple of months. Because of that rotating system, Jacksonville’s Karpeles Museum has been able to display documents bearing the stamp of Queen Elizabeth I, letters from Mary, Queen of Scots and memorabilia from the early days of baseball — including the contracts of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb — as well as handwritten pages by Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe — to name a few.
“It’s great that [Karpeles] opened these museums and allows the public to see them because otherwise, what, they would have gone into some government or university archive where the public would not have access to see these documents,” he added.
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is also, in itself, a historic gem within its community. Last year, the building celebrated its 100th birthday. Originally built in 1921, it served as the First Church of Christ, Scientist until the 1980s, Minor explained. Karpeles then purchased and renovated the building’s interior before opening his museum in 1992. Echoes of its former life as a church can still be felt in its arched wall-to-ceiling stained glass windows, up in the balcony, which still holds rows of original seats and in the latticework that immediately draws the eye upon entrance, which once housed a pipe organ.
As the Jacksonville bicentennial approaches in June this year, it is important to recognize and appreciate these old buildings as integral parts of local history.
“Buildings are the fabric of a neighborhood, and of a city. Over time, they become the tangible evidence of the past, telling the stories of generations who came before us, and becoming the scenes of our own stories,” said Alan J. Bliss, CEO, Jacksonville Historical Society in a statement. “By surviving, they define a place, making it unlike any other place(…)”
Preserving a historic building doesn’t necessarily mean that building must stay frozen in time. As the city and community around it evolves and develops, Bliss explained these buildings can beundergo “adaptive reuse:”
“Often, a new use for an old building requires changes to make it functional, relevant and economically sustainable,” he explained.
It is important to note that all branches of Karpeles’s museums are likewise housed in repurposed old buildings in their respective communities.
In addition to displaying the Karpeles collections as they cycle through the Jacksonville location, Minor added that it also showcases local artists and performers and in doing so, the museum has been able to cultivate strong ties within the Jacksonville arts community.
“It’s been used as a musical venue, a performance venue…” Minor said. “I didn’t want to see the space being wasted, certainly you want to put it to good use.”
Like many others, Minor said, the museum went into “survival mode” during the last couple of years but now its calendar is beginning to fill with events and more and more visitors are starting to come by, especially on the weekends.
On Feb. 26, the museum will host a book signing and writer’s workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. A piano concert will be held on Saturday, March 12 from 3 to 4 p.m.
Also on the calendar is a “Nerd Burlesque” show on March 26 — a benefit to support famed comic book artist George Pérez, who announced his diagnosis of stage three pancreatic cancer in December last year. Minor said the museum hopes Pérez will be able to attend the event.
On Saturday, April 2 from 5 to 8 p.m., local San Marco-based artist Mimi Pearce and a group of other local artists will celebrate the opening of their art show at the museum.
These events have a two-fold effect, Minor said. It gives local artists an opportunity to showcase their art while also letting people in the community know the museum is there.
“[These events] bring people in,” Minor added. “The manuscript exhibits are an attraction —for some people. It’s hard to get people in for a manuscript but if you say, ‘Hey we’re having an event like this, they come in and then they come back. I look at it that way: All these different things we do really are just bringing people in and giving us some visibility.
By Michele Leivas
Resident Community News
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