Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum Review

File this one under "hidden treasure," given that even many residents have never visited Karpeles. That's too bad, because this 1921 neoclassical building on the outskirts of downtown has displayed some priceless documents: the original draft of the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln, handwritten manuscripts of Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens, and musical scores by Beethoven and Mozart. Manuscript exhibits change every three months or so and coincide with monthly art exhibits. Also on the premises is an antique-book library, with volumes dating from the late 1800s, and a children's museum.