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By Virginie Bosc - 6th june 2009
 Does going back in time through writing appeal to you? This is the trip that the Musée de la Fondation Martin Bodmer is proposing to you, through a huge collection of old books, rare manuscripts and original editions.
When you arrive at the gates of the Bodmer Fondation Bodmer, located on the heights of Cologne, no doubt you wonder about the 5 ultramodern glass pillars placed between two older buildings. Look no further, the columns -- representing the Bible, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Goethe -- each illustrate a particular period in the permanent collection. In the middle of the garden, the buildings are only the visible tip of the iceberg, because the Foundation's real treasure lies several metres lower, underground. Opened in 2003, this museum, with its contemporary design, offers a fabulous trip through the exhibited writings. Whether you are a history buff, a lover of literature or a science enthusiast, you will be blown away by seeing there, right in front of your eyes, the delicate handwriting of Marie Curie, the manuscripts of Mozart, and the most ancient peace treaty inscribed on a shard of clay, dating from 2430 B.C. Over and above the temporary exhibitions, which are continually changing, the permanent collection itself leads us along a chronological path so that, through manuscripts, we can discover man's intellectual pathways. Who would have believed that writing was also a fabulous machine for time traveling?
Musée Martin Bodmer
19-21 Route de Guignard
1223 Cologny (Genève)
T : + 41 (0)22 707 44 36
www.fondationbodmer.org
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. Evenings on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 6 to 9 p.m. (Guided tour at 7 p.m.).
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