Built in 1963, this extraordinary piece of architecture is the largest building the world designed for the preservation of rare manuscripts. The windowless cube has walls of Danby marble which subdue the effects of light, while inside glass towers display sculptural shelves of books, including one of only 48 surviving Gutenberg Bibles (1455) and original manuscripts by Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin and Goethe.
In the center a sunken courtyard contains sculptures by Isamu Noguchi representing time (the pyramid), the sun (the circle) and chance (the cube).
