After lunch today, Shana, Nicole and I returned to visit the Chester Beatty Library at Dublin Castle, and words will not be able to express how much I loved it. The Library describes itself as “a vibrant, engaging and welcoming space for the appreciation and understanding of world cultures” on its website. Though we were there for much too short of a time – we all could have spent at least two hours – we were completely enthralled with what it had to offer.

I did a bit more research on Chester Beatty himself to understand the variety of his collection and why he became a collector. Beatty is actually American, born in New York in 1875. He graduated as a mining engineer from Columbia University and eventually established a mining consultancy in New York. From a young age, Beatty loved to collect and bet on items with his father – a hobby that stuck with him until he died in 1968. I can’t place exactly what interested him in the items he began collecting, like Chinese snuff bottles and Oriental art and books except that he likely traveled there and fell in love with the artistry.

Beatty traveled to London in 1911 after his wife suddenly died and became a British citizen in 1933 (followed by honorary Irish citizenship in 1957) and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954. He established himself as a fierce and competitive force in the Orientalist art market during this time and he established a relationship with the British Museum – some items from his collection are also on display there, including nineteen Egyptian papyri. As he got older, he would buy items only to donate them – he appeared to me to be very conscious of the inaccessibility of art and ancient works and purchased items to be shown at free exhibits. The Chester Beatty Library, after all, is free of charge to see. I think Beatty enjoyed tracking down items of great value more than enjoying them and displaying them in his own home, based on the research I’ve done. The website for the Library says Beatty was “deeply committed to preserving texts for their historic value.”

The variety of texts and paintings/artwork on display in the Chester Beatty Library are a sight to see and I will definitely have to go back to get a true appreciation for Mr. Beatty’s collection. The worker at the front desk let us know that what’s on display in the entire library is only 1% of what he owned – imagine the other 99%!