San Marino - Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The treasures of the Huntington Library such as the Ellesmere Manuscript from Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" dating from 1410, and, in the same display cabinet, numerous superbly illuminated books of hours dating from the Middle Ages, are unique. You can then admire a two-volume Johannes Gutenberg bible, printed on parchment in 1455. Not far away can be seen some manuscript pages from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, which he wrote between 1771 and 1790, leaving a half of each page empty for later amendments and corrections. Also displayed are the completely illegible "Forests" manuscript by Henry Thoreaus, letters by George Washington and Mark Twain, the Shakespeare Folio Edition, a copy of the large-format original edition of Audobon's "Birds of America" and much more. There are reading and work rooms available to academics, who have the choice of nearly four million items.

The Arabella Huntington Memorial Collection, containing predominantly French sculptures from the 18th century, tapestries, porcelain and furniture from the same period, is housed in the west wing of the library.