Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums
United States · Americas
About
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums is one of the largest private collections of historic manuscripts and documents in the world. It was founded in 1983 by California real estate magnates David Karpeles and Marsha Karpeles, with the goal of stimulating interest in learning, especially in children, and to make the collection more accessible, is distributed among many Karpeles museums across the US, each located in a historic building, plus "mini-museums" in schools and office buildings. Items are rotated between museums quarterly, and each of the museums presents a daily general exhibit and one or more special scheduled exhibits throughout the year. In addition, Karpeles is aggressively expanding the content of its website. All of the Karpeles Manuscript Library services are free. The museums are located in small and midsize cities, although the Karpeles family put on an exhibit in Central Park West in New York City in 1991. As of June 2023, there are ten museums.
David Karpeles died on January 19, 2022. In 2026, his family announced they will be consolidating the collection at the St. Augustine, Florida location, and selling off the buildings hosting the collection in other states.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.