This library was recently featured in the New York Times as one of the most popular libraries to appear on social media. I can understand why. The place is literally a haven of organized chaos, brimming with treasures. There are troves of old classic books and some rare manuscripts as well as first editions of classic titles. It was the home of Richard Macksey, who taught comparative literature at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. Professor Macksey died in 2019, and many of his 51,000(!) volumes in his home were passed on to the university.

I’m not sure I could read 51,000 books over one lifetime, though I figured I could hit a tenth of that. Still, I would love to have a Macksey library. I can certainly imagine losing myself among the walnut shelves lined with colorful books, happily choosing one volume after another to nourish the mind, inspire writing, or just to cocoon myself there, tuned out from the relentless and mostly unprofitable assault of this hyperconnected world.