It could be the title of a novel or a mystery movie. But not. A night in the secret library is the unique experience that two people will live next week in one of the most hidden places in London: the library of St Paul's Cathedral. A unique space with a lot of history, as well as many books: 22,000, among which there is no shortage of medieval manuscripts or incunabula.
The building's last architect, Sir Christopher Wren, specially designed it more than 300 years ago to be hidden from view. Just restored, the room will be available through Airbnb for next Friday night. Only that. And with a good purpose: to celebrate Book Day, which in the United Kingdom is celebrated on the first Thursday in March.
I don't know if the two lucky ones who get the reservation (which opens on Tuesday at 11:00 CET, for those who want to dare to try), which only costs seven pounds, will sleep much or not. They will have a bed in the meantime, but what bibliophile will be able to sleep with so many historical pages to read?
One of the most relevant books it treasures is William Tyndale's New Testament (1526), the first sacred book translated and printed in English and of which only three copies survive in the entire world. Its author defended being able to maintain a direct relationship with God, without ecclesiastical intermediaries. Evidently, his ideas were not liked by the authorities of the time. He ended up executed and his books burned in public, like those found in this same cathedral that now boasts about him. Ironies of life.
We do not know whether or not the lucky ones who manage to rent the library will be able to consult its most precious treasures, but the experience includes a tour of the cathedral, dinner at a nearby restaurant, breakfast, and the gift of signed and sealed copies of upcoming books. from Penguin Random House US. The stay ends with a visit to another unique space: the dome, the one that Wren designed inspired by that of the Vatican; Michelangelo, in Florence; and, Brunelleschi, in the Pantheon in Rome. What an artistic chain!
The initiative of St Paul's Cathedral is one that is worth imitating, especially for those of us who are left wanting. What other historical places are animated?
