The best personal library in the world

Internet entrepreneur Jay Walker used his fortune to create an elaborate library filled with intellectual achievements spanning human history. This private library is 3,600 square feet filled with landmark books, an early edition of Chaucer, a small earth globe signed by nine astronauts, a 300-million-year old trilobite fossil, the original hand prop from the TV show The Addams Family, a hand-painted “celestial atlas” from 1660, an original copy of The Nuremberg Chronicle from 1493, a working version of a Nazi-era Enigma machine, an original Sputnik 1 satellite hanging from the ceiling, a chandelier from a James Bond film, the napkin that Roosevelt sketched out his plan for victory in 1943, a field tool kit for Civil War surgeons, all encompassed in three levels packed with more rare artifacts than your local history museum. An inspiration for anyone looking to build their own home library.

Below are images from the library and a short video from the 2008 TED where Jay explains his passion.