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The Courtyard was designed to give a sense of seclusion in an urban setting.
Myron Hunt was also responsible for the
landscaping plan for Central Library. Even the palm trees are still placed as Hunt
intended them to be in the original competition drawings: a natural way of softening the
mass of wall on either side of the windows.
Outdoor reading rooms off the Children's Room
and the Humanities Wing (originally the Periodicals Room) were original parts of the
building's design. The Children's patio is now regularly used for crafts and other
activities.
Courtyard Fountain |
The fountain is copied from an alabaster
fountain at El Mirador de Daraxa in the Patio de Daraxa at Spain's famous palace and
fortress, the Alhambra.
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| The great windows are aligned to follow the
axis of the Civic Center plan. The windows are separated by Corinthian columns of cast
stone. The oblong panel above each window contains
amorini (cupids), griffins, and fruits.On the spandrels are blank tablets, griffins,
fruits, and urns of fire. On the keystones above two of the windows are acanthus leaves.In
the panels below the windows are cornucopias, urns of fire, griffins, and open books.
Below the engaged columns are decorated square panels. Above each design of book or tablet
is a bowl of acanthus leaves. |
Great Windows |
Courtyard Doors |
Around each door are conventionalized architectural designs of flowers, leaves, and books.
In May 1931, Fine Arts librarian Mrs. Patricia Dutcher provided the following key to the
symbols:
Amorini (cupids) - Lesser gods of love, found in decorative art of all
ages.
Acanthus - Gardens of heaven.
Fruit - Good works of the righteous. Plenty.
Griffin - Wisdom and enlightenment. Unassailable superiority.
Eternal vigilance and wardenship.
Cornucopia - Horn of plenty. Abundance. Gifts.
Books - A library. Great knowledge. Education. Wisdom and
scholarship.
Bowl of flame - Divine fire of learning. Divine
enlightenment. Wisdom. Purity.
Scroll or tablet - Attribute of a prophet. Prophecy.
Rose - Love. Wisdom. Beauty. Silence.
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On the outside of the building are the following inscriptions:
Homer - Pindar - Virgil - Dante - Milton - Goethe - Shakespeare.
"The true learning that makes for
righteousness" - Matthew Arnold (1822 - 1888), English poet and critic.
"Be made whole by books as by great spaces and the
stars." - Mary C. Davies, California poet from The Skyline Trail, a
Book of Western Verse, 1924.
The assembled souls of all that men hold wise - Sir William Davenant (1606 - 1668),
English poet laureate, playwright, and theater manager. Plato - St. Paul - Aristotle -
Bacon - Newton - Darwin - Pasteur
Dr. Walter S. Adams (1876 - 1956), astronomer, director
of the Mount Wilson Observatory, and member of the Library Board for 40 years, was
responsible for the quotations and the names of the writers.
Poem "Books" by Mary C. Davies
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