NRB Press Release
June, 2005
Mid Atlantic National Archives Participates in Philadelphia's 2005 Bloomsday Event
Mid Atlantic Regional Administrator, V. Chapman-Smith, will be a featured reader of James Joyces' Ulysses in the Rosenbach Museum's annual Bloomsday 101 event at 20th and Delancey Place, Philadelphia on June 16th at 4:45 p.m. This year marks the 101st anniversary of Leopold Bloom's fictional journey through the streets of Dublin, as imagined by James Joyce in his novel. This novel is one of the most controversial works of the 20th Century. It was banned for importation into the United States until 1933. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book--although he found it sufficiently unobscene to finally allow its importation into the United States. To this day Ulysses remains the modernist masterpiece and is celebrated by as many as it is criticized by.
The National Archives Mid Atlantic will also have the "libel of confiscation" case, United States v. One book titled Ulysses and Random House, Inc, on public display at the archives gallery during Bloomsday 2005. (On loan from the National Archives Northeast Region.) Gallery entrance is on Chestnut Street between 9th and 10th and is open week days from 8 am - 5 pm; second and fourth Saturdays of each month from 8 am - 4 pm.
The Rosenbach Museum & Library was the home of two brothers, Dr. A.S.W. and Philip Rosenbach. A.S.W. Rosenbach was a legendary dealer and collector of rare books and manuscripts, while Philip's expertise encompassed the fine and decorative arts. The institution seeks to inspire curiosity, inquiry, and creativity by engaging broad audiences in exhibitions, programs, and research based on its remarkable and expanding collections. In addition to the public reading of Ulysses, visitors will be able to experience a new exhibition highlighting journalism and the media in Ulysses.
