'A very special room': Mizner scrapbooks among items preserved at King Library's Rare Book Room

A slice of Palm Beach history is preserved within The Society of the Four Arts.

More than 200 books from the private collection of renowned architect Addison Mizner, as well as 25 of his personal scrapbooks, are among the many rare items housed inside the temperature-controlled Rare Book and Special Collections Room at the facility's Gioconda and Joseph King Library.

Renovated in 2018, the library is home to 75,000 books, audiobooks, DVDs and periodicals; as well papers, photos and precious materials from portrait painter Frank Salisbury and others that are stored in the Rare Book room.

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The room — which was moved to the interior of the King Library during its renovation to shield it from exposure to natural light — is equipped with its own climate control and fire suppression system, said Director of Libraries for The Society of the Four Arts Rachel Schipper. Visitors can view the room through glass windows.

"We keep it as climate-controlled as possible for the materials," Schipper said. "They are either one of a kind, very rare or costly to replace."

Those materials include an extensive collection of books and other items once owned by Mizner, who is credited with revolutionizing the look of Palm Beach in the 1920s with his whimsical interpretations of Mediterranean style.

Mizner's personal scrapbooks contain his thoughts, travels and inspirations, library officials said, while his private library consists of more than 200 volumes of books featuring topics such as European architecture and decoration.

The library has digitized Mizner's entire collection, Schipper said, and there are restrictions on what can be handled or photocopied by visitors.

"The Mizner collection and scrapbooks are very fragile," Schipper said.

Access to the room is limited, and visitors must complete an online form in order to be granted permission to enter.

Appointment times are restricted to two-hour segments to minimize material exposure, according to the library's website. Multiple item requests may require separate appointments, and only one item at a time may be examined. All materials will be examined in the presence of a staff member.

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Those who don't plan on examining materials but want to view the Rare Book and Special Collections Room from the outside are encouraged to do so, Schipper said.

"There is lighting, and there are large windows in the front of the Rare Book Room so people can take tours of the library and see into it," she said. "But normally, unless there's a reason for someone to have an original photograph of something, or they have to see something in color, we don't arrange for appointments. That room has a special humidity and temperature control to try to preserve those items that are over 100 years old."

In addition to Mizner's collection, items in the Rare Book Room include The King Library Florida collection, which contains more than 500 books covering subjects such as Florida's history prior to statehood, native plants and wildlife, and biographies of notable Floridians.

The library also maintains a Palm Beach collection containing back issues of Palm Beach Life and Palm Beach Social Pictorial publications.

Additionally, the Rare Book and Special Collections Room houses The Elliott Collection, which consists of eight rare books written by The Society of the Four Arts founder Maud Howe Elliott.

"The Rare Book Room is a very special room for us," Schipper said.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Mizner scrapbooks among rare items at Palm Beach's King Library