Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Santa Barbara

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is housed in a historic building and features rotating exhibits drawn from the world’s largest private collection of original manuscripts and documents. From its inception in 1986, it has presented thousands of materials spanning literature, science, religion, art, and political history. Exhibits are rotated regularly, with content exchanged among ten Karpeles museums across the U.S., ensuring a continual flow of new material throughout the year.

Permanent displays include the Documentary Birth of America Archive and the Torah Exhibit, as well as a replica of the globe used by Columbus-distinctly omitting the Western Hemisphere. Extending beyond historical documents, a set of handwritten musical scores by notable composers showcases the museum’s artistic holdings. The collection also branches into the sciences, featuring items that range from Jurassic-period fossils-such as dinosaur eggs, a feather, and a footprint-to artifacts documenting key moments in space exploration. These include the computer guidance system from the Apollo 11 lunar lander, a gyroscope from the Gemini space program, and the control panel from “Salyut,” the first space station, reinforcing the museum’s wide chronological and thematic reach.