One of my favorite places in the world is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.  It was built by George Washington Vanderbilt II, grandson of Cornelius “The Commodore” Vanderbilt. Completed and opened to friends and family during Christmas 1895, it’s the largest private residence in the United States, and is still owned by descendants of the family.

George Washington Vanderbilt by John Singer Sargent
Public Domain, Link

 

The “house” is a gorgeous châteauesque-styled mansion designed by Richard Morris Hunt on gloriously landscaped grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.  Originally more than 125,000 acres and encompassing Mount Pisqah, the estate is now down to about 8,000 acres.

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina, USA – by JcPollock, CC BY-SA 3.0

 

The three mile approach road, mansion, formal gardens and grounds are absolutely breathtaking and one has to pause in awe-and-wonder as to how such a magnificent and grand estate could possibly be located in the North Carolina countryside.  Arriving at the house proper you feel as though you’re on the grounds of a fantastic French chateau.

The mansion is FULL of incredible rooms, lush furnishings and exquisite art.  Its 175,000 square-feet houses 250 rooms, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, 3 kitchens, 65 fireplaces, winter garden room, billiard room, banquet hall, breakfast room, music room, smoking room, tapestry gallery, 2-lane bowling alley, gymnasium, and indoor swimming pool.  The specific focus for this article, however, is the spectacular two-story library.

 

Biltmore Library

George was a consummate autodidact, never attending college, yet pulled by a passion of intense reading and learning since his youth.  According to a journal he kept, between 1875 and his untimely death in 1914 he read 3,159 books – an average of 81 per year.

George’s passion was the pursuit of knowledge, learning and appreciation for the arts.  With the help of Richard Morris Hunt, he built this library as a testament to that passion.  The room houses about 10,000 of George Vanderbilt’s 23,000 volume collection.  The rest of the books are throughout the house and in storage.  He was known to read up to eight languages (as well as translating Sanskrit and Hebrew). Works in the collection date all the way back to 1561.

The two-story room is 53 x 72 feet and 27 feet high. Its volumes cover a range of favorite subjects close to George’s heart:  history, art, architecture, landscape design, forestry, nature, interior design, travel, literature, religion, philosophy, and foreign languages.

The incredible ceiling painting titled “The Chariots of Aurora” by Giovanni Pellegrini was obtained from the Palazzo Pisani (now the Conservatorio di Musica B. Marcello) in Venice, Italy. The sculptor Karl Bitter executed the wood mantle and andiron sculptures for the fireplace.

The second floor balcony of the library is accessed via a gorgeous spiral staircase.  To get from one side of the balcony to the other you have to pass behind the fireplace through secret doors above the mantle.

During the tour of the spectacular home, you’re only allowed into a small portion of the library near its entrance; the rest is roped off.  Still . . . it’s incredibly awe-inspiring!.  Every time I enter it from the Tapestry Gallery my soul is energized by the design, architecture and the wealth of knowledge and beauty on its shelves.

I yearn to peruse the library for hours, days and months; pulling volumes from the shelves and sitting in the rich sumptuousness of the room, reading, learning, absorbing, appreciating and succumbing to the treasures within.

Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos of the interior during your tour, else I would share many.

Enjoy these images.  Thanks to all who choose to share your photos via Creative Commons!  You can also Google many other beautiful copyrighted images online.

 

This photo of Biltmore Estate is courtesy of TripAdvisor

 

“2016 Biltmore Candlelight Christmas-36” by Hal McGee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

 

“Library inside Biltmore” by Chor Ip is licensed under CC BY SA 2.0

 

“056 library” by mksfca is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

“Library at the Biltmore” by Erin Johnson is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

 

“2016 Biltmore Candlelight Christmas-32” by Hal McGee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
(bust of George Vanderbilt by Scottish artist Mary Grant)

 

“2016 Biltmore Candlelight Christmas-42” by Hal McGee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

 

“2016 Biltmore Candlelight Christmas-57” by Hal McGee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
(mantle sculpture by Karl Bitter)

 

“2016 Biltmore Candlelight Christmas-35” by Hal McGee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
(doorway from the Library into the Den)

 

“2016 Biltmore Candlelight Christmas-58” by Hal McGee is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
(Beautiful andirons by Karl Bitter)

 

“Biltmore Estate Library” by Amy Meredith is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

 

“Biltmore Estate Library” by Amy Meredith is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

 

 

Some decent sources:

• The Library at Biltmore – A Brief History, BookThink.com
• Exploring George Vanderbilt’s Library, Biltmore.com
• On the Shelves of George Vanderbilt’s Library, Biltmore.com
• George Vanderbilt: One of the Best Read Men in the Country, Biltmore.com
• The Library in Biltmore House – Fact Sheet, (PDF)
• BILTMORE LIBRARY | Asheville, NC, Youtube.com
• A Vanderbilt Library Comes to Life, GardenAndGun.com
• Inside Biltmore House: Photos & Facts, RomanticAsheville.com
• ARTS IN AMERICA; Dusting Off the Pages of a Bookish Vanderbilt’s Passion, NYTimes.com
• ‘Ex Libris Biltmoris’ – The Booklover’s Paradise, SMLive.com
• Biltmore Estate, House-Gardens-Winery (The Biltmore Company, 1991), 27.

 

As with any sourcing on the internet, links can go ‘dead’ after a time. If you find the above-mentioned links no longer working, try the WayBack Machine:  http://archive.org/web/web.php    It’s sometimes a good way to pull up and view websites that are no longer active.

 

 

 

A key part of an enriched life is to allow yourself to regularly experience a sense of awe and wonder.  Life without wonder is stale and mundane – a formula for restlessness, anxiety and outright depression.

“Wonder is the first of all the passions.”   – Rene Descartes

What does “awe” and  “wonder” mean exactly?  Various definitions, Wikipedia entries and online articles define these concepts in a very sterile manner.  A lot of these like to split hairs about differences between the two concepts.  I’m less concerned with this type of definitional nitpicking and more interested in how they can inspire, provide joy and satiate the soul.

So what is it?  From my perspective, I see two essential elements that drive awe and wonder:

1. Any element of nature, art, music, literature, science/technology or the spiritual/religious far enough outside our habitual familiarity (normality) that can cause us to be suddenly amazed, blown away, inspired, excited, astonished, reverent, emotional and appreciating.  The things that come to mind include grand & gorgeous vistas, mountains, waterfalls, starry skies, the immense universe, a magnificent storm, an extraordinary piece of art, marvelous music, etc.  It can even include a reaction of amazement, satisfaction and admiration noticing something simple such as a blooming flower or a spider and its intricate web – things that normally escape our notice but brings us back to a child-like appreciation and wonder.
2. One element that I feel is sadly overlooked in most people’s minds when considering awe and wonder is something for which I can attest provides immense joy & satisfaction – knowledge discovery.  Knowledge Adventurers have a definite opportunity to experience awe and wonder while uncovering heretofore unknown extraordinary facts and incredible truths (unknown, at least to ourselves and most culturally indoctrinated people).

We should love and embrace dazzling beauty. . . . aesthetics & literature . . . . human achievement . . . . a beautiful puzzling mystery . . . . as well as elegant thought.   Open our minds to experiencing new things . . . . elicit curiosity . . . . engage and enliven our senses . . . . allow ourselves to be inspired and uplifted . . . . to pause in life for contemplation of nature and reality . . . . feeling the joy in simple pleasures . . . . embracing a heightened state of consciousness . . . .

This infusion of joy and satisfaction doesn’t come without some effort on our part. We must be open to such experiences.  Spending our entire lives inside the office or sitting on the couch watching television will not produce awe and wonder.  Never questioning anything will not produce awe and wonder.  Never venturing beyond your normalcy and comfort zone will not produce awe and wonder.

We need to make it a point to get out in nature and truly appreciate its beauty and wonder.  Get out . . . . pause . . . . release your tension . . . . observe and notice the simple as well as the grand . . . . look at things in a new way . . . . don’t take anything for granted . . . . ask questions about what you see . . . look for new answers to old questions . . . . soak it up . . . . be curious . . . . be humble . . . . open your heart . . . . be like a child.

“The child is father of the man.”  – William Wordsworth

We wonder and awe constantly as a child. Unfortunately we go to school to have the world’s answers pounded into our head – whether truly accurate or not.  The mystery is removed.  Our curiosity is banished.  We enter adulthood and become suffocated by work, bills, consumerism, television, and any number of things that encompass the truly mundane. The comfort of our confirmation bias takes over and we don’t want anything to change or our indoctrinated beliefs to be challenged.

We come to accept:
– Conform, don’t question what’s assumed to be true
– Be complacent & acquiesce, don’t challenge the status quo
– Go along, don’t rock the boat
– Blend in, don’t stand out of the herd
– Settle for the mundane, don’t be inspired
– Ignore your boring sterile environs, continue to separate yourself from natural beauty
– Embrace the ugly and mundane
– Expect nothing and wish for less

Is this the life you desire?  I think not.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living . What we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder.”  – Abraham Joshua Heschel

 

A couple of good online articles:

• Why Wonder and Awe May Be The Cure For Worry, Fear and Narcissism by Kathy Gottberg   (it even addresses knowledge discovery that I too also find critical!)
• The Importance of Wonder and Awe – Part I  by Granville Angell  (Part I, II & III)

As with any sourcing on the internet, links can go ‘dead’ after a time. If you find the above-mentioned links no longer working, try the WayBack Machine:  http://archive.org/web/web.php    It’s sometimes a good way to pull up and view websites that are no longer active.

During the Renaissance period Kings, Princes and other aristocrats who had an intellectual and adventurous bent (and wanted to show off their sophistication and wealth), created what was known as a Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer – a Cabinet of Curiosities.

What did those cabinets contain?  Well, first of all, the word “cabinet” most often referred to an actual room – not a traditional piece of furniture.  Nowadays we do have curiosity cabinets; small display units that hang on the wall or stand on the floor with glass windows to display the owner’s collection of items they’re passionate about.  Those are a direct influence and to some extent the same purpose as the Wunderkammers of old – just on a smaller scale.

In reading about the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and his support for alchemy, Hermeticism, and other Rosicrucian-type interests (much to the chagrin of the Catholic leadership in Rome), I came to discover this term Kunstkammer.  Rudolf had one that was the largest of its kind at the time – unrivaled anywhere in Europe. It apparently was a wonder to behold and housed in his palace at Prague.  Unfortunately there is nothing left of it after the Swedish forces plundered it when they took Prague in 1648.

Thanks to some early writings during the period we have some old woodcut illustrations of how these Wunderkammers may have appeared:

These rooms contained whatever artifacts the owner desired. During the renaissance adventurers were returning from exotic places around the world.  Many discoveries were made particularly in terms of nature and the animal kingdom.  Frequently these Wunderkammers would contain collections of rare and bizarre creatures and other items found on these global travels.  Contents could also include antiquities, rare manuscripts, rocks & minerals, religious relics, works of art, scientific and medical instruments, automatons, etc.

These collections are a physical tribute and symbol to the mysteries of the universe and discovery.  They were the precursor to modern museums.  Unfortunately nearly all of them were decimated or liquidated long, long ago.

Even as time goes on, and museums established, the common man with limited resources still found a passion to display their prized collection. It might be a shadow box, curio cabinet, a corner of an office, or the decorative theme of a home library.

Some examples can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

 

The key here, I think, are exceptional individuals called by their interests – to pursue, collect, and display the fruits of their passions – those elements that resonate with their souls.  The display might be an overt attempt to impress their visitors, but more often than not I believe it is a creation of aesthetics; a way to surround themselves with objects that enhance and drive their imagination, creativity and enrichment of life.

I’m always impressed with interesting personal libraries and collections of modern individuals, but I haven’t discovered one any more impressive than Jay Walker’s Library of the History of Human Imagination.  I would dearly love to spend days immersing myself in its wonders!

My personal library is a constant work in progress/passion – all because I absolutely love surrounding myself with an artistic and intellectual aesthetic that fuels my creative drive and appeal to wonder.  I believe this is the intent of most of us who share the passion to create our own personal Wunderkammers – a tribute to the wondrousness of the world and its inspiration for us.

Satiate your soul with the wonders of the Universe!  Embrace the fascination and excitement of new discovery!  Dive deep into the little-known and unappreciated gems of the world!  Enrich your life!