The Boston Athenaeum : bicentennial essays

The twelve essays in this bicentennial publication address some of the most important episodes and issues during the Boston Athenæum's two-hundred-year history. Two chapters focus on the Athenæum's origins: what were its models, and how did it differ from contemporary institutions? Other chapters discuss the role of women, prints and photographs, the scruples collection, architectural holdings, and the book arts collection. Two essays are devoted to the Athenæum's role in the creation of the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Three other chapters discuss nineteenth-century British responses to the cultural life of Boston, the role of the Athenæum's conservation program, and the recently established Calderwood Writing Initiative. Each essay will remind both scholars and the general reader of the various roles the Athenæum has played in the cultural life of the nation. Founded in 1807, the Boston Athenæum, the largest membership library in North America, boasts an extensive collection of rare books and manuscripts as well as one of the most significant art collections at any American library. It is home to more than 700,000 books, including approximately one-half of George Washington's personal library from Mount Vernon.

Athenaeum origins / Richard Wendorf -- America's most influential library? / Kenneth E. Carpenter -- The role of women at the Boston Athenaeum / Barbara Adams Hebard -- Nineteenth-century British tourists in search of culture in Boston / David B. Dearinger -- Whose library? / Katherine Wolff -- Prints and photographs at the Boston Athenaeum / Sally Pierce -- Building an architectural collection / Catherina Slautterback -- The Boston Athenaeum and the creation of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts / Hina Hirayama -- Scruples and restricted access at the Boston Athenaeum / Mary Warnement -- Conservation at the Boston Athenaeum / James Reid-Cunningham -- Building the Boston Athenaeum's book arts collection / Stanley Ellis Cushing -- The Calderwood writing initiative at the Boston Athenaeum / John Brereton.