The Boston Athenæum, located at 10½ Beacon Street in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest independent libraries and museums in the United States. The Athenæum combines the functions of a library with those of an art gallery and museum. As of 2005, the building holds roughly half a million volumes, with particular strengths in Boston history, New England state and local history, biography, English and American literature, and the fine and decorative arts. The Athenæum is owned by 1,049 "Proprietors" who can pass right of ownership by heredity, and has a membership of over five thousand people, making it the largest and most successful membership library in the United States. Alternative meanings: Boston (disambiguation) The 18th-century Old State House in Boston is surrounded by tall buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries. ... State nickname: Bay State Other U.S. States Capital Boston Largest city Boston Governor Mitt Romney Official languages English Area 27,360 km² (44th)  - Land 20,317 km²  - Water 7,043 km² (25. ... Modern-style library In its traditional sense, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. ... A museum is typically a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment. ... An art gallery or art museum is a space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art, and usually primarily paintings and sculpture. ... A museum is typically a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment. ... Modern New England, the six northeastern-most states of the United States, indicated by red The New England region of the United States is located in the northeastern corner of the country. ...

The Athenæum was founded in 1807 by members of the Anthology Club, and modelled on the Athenæum and Lyceum in Liverpool, United Kingdom, "combining the advantages of a public library [and] containing the great works of learning and science in all languages." Financed by wealthy merchants and frequented by notable literary and political figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Daniel Webster, and Amy Lowell, for nearly half a century the Athenæum was the unchallenged center of intellectual life in Boston. 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Anthology Club was organized in 1804 in Boston, Massachusetts by the Rev. ... Liverpools skyline, as seen from the River Mersey. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was a famous American essayist and one of Americas most influential thinkers and writers. ... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet who wrote many poems that are still famous today, including The Song of Hiawatha and Evangeline. ... Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was a United States Senator and Secretary of State. ... Cover of Time Magazine (March 2, 1925) Amy Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. ...

Athenæum buildings

Upon the Athenæum's founding, its collections were housed briefly in Joy's buildings, Congress Street, but by spring 1807 moved to Scollay's buildings, Tremont Street, where they remained until 1809 when the Trustees purchased the Rufus Amory House next to the King's Chapel Burial Ground. In 1822 the growing collections were moved again, this time to the mansion in Pearl Street given to the Athenæum by Trustee James Perkins. In 1827 an annex was added to this building for the first of the Athenæum art galleries.

As the Athenæum continued to grow, a new building was constructed between 1847 and 1849 at the present Beacon Street building to the design Edward Clarke Cabot. The original three floors of this building are incorporated in today's structure. The first floor was originally a sculpture gallery, the second housed the library, and the third flow, with skylights, was a painting gallery. The building was completely renovated in 1913-1914, under the design of architect Henry Forbes Bigelow, at which time the fourth and fifth floors were added and the entire structure fireproofed. Recently the Athenæum has again been completely refurbished and updated.

Library

By 1851 the Athenæum had become one of the five largest libraries in the United States, with a wide range of books and periodicals of interest to the general, cultivated reader. Amy Lowell's poem, "The Boston Athenæum", paints an appealing picture of the Athenæum library: "Above, below, on every side, high shelved / From careless grasp of transient interest, / Stand books we can but dimly see, their charm / Much greater that their titles are unread; / While on a level with the dusty floor / Others are ranged in orderly confusion, / And we must stoop in painful posture while / We read their names and learn their histories." Cover of Time Magazine (March 2, 1925) Amy Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. ...

The Athenæum's special collections are particularly notable. Perhaps foremost among them are the personal libraries of George Washington and General Henry Knox, as well as the King's Chapel collection donated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony by King William III. Other collections include Confederate States imprints; 18th- and 19th-century tracts; early Boston newspapers; early United States documents; 19th-century prints and photographs; Gypsy literature; early American broadsides; first editions and related works by Lord Byron, T. S. Eliot, John Fowles, and John Masefield; the Danforth Collection of chemistry and alchemy books; books published by Boston publisher Crocker and Brewster; private press collections, including a large portion of the archives of the Merrymount Press; and early publications in Native American languages. This article is about George Washingtons general life. ... Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750–October 21, 1806) was an American bookseller from Boston who became the chief Artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nations first United States Secretary of War. ... The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called by the name Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was the direct predecessor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and then the state of Massachusetts. ... William III and II (14 November 1650–8 March 1702; also known as William Henry and William of Orange) was a Dutch Prince of Orange from his birth, King of England and Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scotland from 11 April 1689, in each case until his... For other meanings of confederate and confederacy, see confederacy (disambiguation) National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Largest... [IMG]http://img. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... T.S. Eliot (by E.O. Hoppe, 1919) Thomas Stearns Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), Anglo-American poet, dramatist, and critic. ... John Fowles was born March 31, 1926 in Leigh-on-Sea, a small town in Essex, near London. ... John Edward Masefield (1 June 1878-12 May 1967), was a British poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. ...

The Athenæum's manuscript collection includes the papers of Atheæum Trustees Samuel Eliot, William Tudor, and Commodore Isaac Hull; architects Nathaniel Bradlee, Charles Bulfinch, Ogden Codman, George Minot Dexter, Alexander Parris, John H. Sturgis, and Richard Clipston Sturgis; artists Francesca Alexander, Cecilia Beaux, Amasa Hewins, John Singer Sargent, Isaac Sprague, and Cephas Thompson; merchants John Perkins Cushing and Robert Morris (African American lawyer and abolitionist); and showmen P. T. Barnum and Moses Kimball. First issue of the North American Review with signature of its editor William Tudor. ... Isaac Hull (March 9, 1773 – February 13, 1843), was a Commodore, in the United States Navy. ... Charles Bulfinch (1763-1844) is regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession. ... Cecilia Beaux is an American society portraitist, in the nature of John Singer Sargent. ... Self Portrait, oil painting, 1907 John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was a painter known for his portraits. ... Robert Morris is a very common name, and unsurprisingly there are many famous individuals named Robert Morris, including: Robert Morris (merchant), financier of the American Revolution and signatory of three important founding documents of the US Robert Morris, minimalist artist Robert Tappan Morris, Sr. ... Parody of Jenny Linds first American tour for P. T. Barnum, New York City, October 1850. ...

Art collection

The Boston Athenaeum Picture Gallery, painted in 1876 by by Enrico Meneghelli, from the Boston Athenaeum Fine Arts Collection.

The Athenæum acquired its first sculpture in 1812, its first painting in 1818, and opened its Art Gallery in 1827, with annual exhibitions from 1827 to 1873. The collection developed during these years includes works by such artists as Gilbert Stuart, Washington Allston, and Horatio Greenough. When the current building at 10½ Beacon Street opened in 1850, nearly two of its three floors were devoted to galleries for the exhibition of the art collections. In 1873 and 1874 the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (incorporated 1870) occupied two of the four Athenæum galleries; when it moved in 1876 to its new quarters in Copley Square, much of the Atheæum's art collection moved there to form the nucleus of the new museum. Boston Athenaeum Picture Gallery, painted in 1876 by by Enrico Meneghelli, from the Boston Athenaeum Fine Arts Collection. ... Boston Athenaeum Picture Gallery, painted in 1876 by by Enrico Meneghelli, from the Boston Athenaeum Fine Arts Collection. ... Gilbert Charles Stuart (né Stewart) (December 3, 1755 - July 9, 1828) was an American painter. ... Washington Allston (November 5, 1779 - July 9, 1843) was a U.S. painter born in Waccamaw, South Carolina. ... Horatio Greenough (September 6, 1805 - December 18, 1852) was an American sculptor. ... Museums of Fine Arts include: The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in Houston, Texas The Museum of Fine Arts in St. ...

The Athenæum's painting and sculpture collection includes Jean-Antoine Houdon's busts of Geroge Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the Marquis de Lafayette which once belonged to Thomas Jefferson at Monticello; the Mather Brown portrait of John Adams, which once belonged to Thomas Jefferson; John Singer Sargent's portrait of Annie Adams Fields; several portraits by Gilbert Stuart; a portrait of Thomas Handasyd Perkins by Thomas Sully; and full length portraits of Daniel Webster and John Marshall by Chester Harding, as well as the largest collection of the work of American painter Cephas Thompson. Jean-Antoine Houdon (March 20, 1741 - July 15, 1828) was a French sculptor. ... Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1777 For the former mayor of Nepean, see Ben Franklin (politician) Dr. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was an American printer, journalist, publisher, author, philanthropist, abolitionist, public servant, scientist, librarian, diplomat, and inventor. ... Marie-Joseph-Paul-Roch-Yves-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette (September 6, 1757–May 20, 1834), was a French aristocrat most famous for his participation in the American Revolutionary War and early French Revolution. ... Order: Third President Vice President: Aaron Burr; George Clinton Term of office: March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 Preceded by: John Adams Succeeded by: James Madison Date of birth: April 13, 1743 Place of birth: Shadwell, Virginia Date of death: July 4, 1826 Place of death: Charlottesville, Virginia First Lady... Thomas Jeffersons Monticello Monticello is the estate of Thomas Jefferson located near Charlottesville, Virginia. ... Order: 2nd President Vice President: Thomas Jefferson Term of office: March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 Preceded by: George Washington Succeeded by: Thomas Jefferson Date of birth: October 30, 1735 Place of birth: Braintree, Massachusetts Date of death: July 4, 1826 Place of death: Quincy, Massachusetts First Lady: Abigail Adams... Order: Third President Vice President: Aaron Burr; George Clinton Term of office: March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 Preceded by: John Adams Succeeded by: James Madison Date of birth: April 13, 1743 Place of birth: Shadwell, Virginia Date of death: July 4, 1826 Place of death: Charlottesville, Virginia First Lady... Self Portrait, oil painting, 1907 John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was a painter known for his portraits. ... Annie Adams Fields (1834 - 1915), United States writer was born in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Gilbert Charles Stuart (né Stewart) (December 3, 1755 - July 9, 1828) was an American painter. ... Thomas Sully (1783 - 1872) was a U.S. (English-born) portrait painter. ... Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was a United States Senator and Secretary of State. ... Portrait of Chief Justice John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755–July 6, 1835), Chief Justice of the United States and principal founder of American constitutional law and the Supreme Court of the United States power of judicial review. ... Chester Harding (September 1, 1792 - April 1, 1866), American portrait painter, was born at Conway, Massachusetts. ...

The photographic collections includes historical work of local photographers Samuel Bemis, Southworth & Hawes, John Adams Whipple, James Wallace Black, and A. H. Folsom, as well as photographers of wider interest such as Felix Nadar, Julia Margaret Cameron, Francis Frith, and Eadweard Muybridge. Nadar was the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (1820-1910), a photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist. ... Julia Jackson 1867 Julia Margaret Cameron (June 11, 1815 - January 26, 1879) was an British photographer. ... Muybridges The Horse in Motion. ...

Further reading

• Quincy, Josiah, The History of the Boston Athenæum, with Biographical Notices of its Deceased Founders. Cambridge, MA., Metcalf and Company, 1851.
• The Athenæum Centenary, The Influence and History of the Boston Athenæum from 1807 to 1907 with a Record of its Officers and Benefactors and a Complete List of Proprietors. Boston, The Boston Athenæum, 1907.

External links

• Official website (http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/)