Boston Athenæum

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Boston Athenæum

The Boston Athenæum is one of the oldest libraries and museums in the United States. It is located on Beacon Street in Boston , Massachusetts .

history

The Athenæum was founded in 1807 by members of the Anthology Club based on the model of the Athenæum and Lyceum in Liverpool, England. The objective was "... to combine the advantages of a general library and the collection of all the great works of learning and science in all languages". Financing came from wealthy Boston merchants. The Athenæum was the intellectual center of Boston for nearly half a century. The circle of writers and politicians who frequented here included Ralph Waldo Emerson , Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , Daniel Webster and Amy Lowell . The Athenæum had over 500,000 members in 2005, which are represented by 1,049 "owners". This property cannot be sold and is passed on to the next generation by inheritance.

building

After its founding in 1807, the Athenæum found temporary accommodation in Joy's buildings on Congress Street before moving to Scollay's buildings on Tremont Street shortly afterwards . In 1809 the Rufus Amory House was bought , where the collections remained until 1822. The rapidly growing holdings then moved to a house on Pearl Street, where a gallery building was added in 1827 for the art collections. Finally, the Athenæum commissioned the architect Edward Clarke Cabot with the construction of a new building on Beacon Street in the Beacon Hill district , which was built between 1847 and 1849. This originally three-story building is the core of today's Athenæum. The sculpture collection was housed on the ground floor and the library had its rooms on the first floor. The top floor with its skylights offered the suitable conditions for the picture gallery located there. The architect Henrys Forbes Bigelow added a fourth and fifth floor to the building in 1913–1914.

The building has been a National Historic Landmark since December 21, 1965 . On October 15, 1966, the Boston Athenæum was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a monument . It is also the contributing property of the Beacon Hill Historic District, which was declared on the same day .

Library

In 1851 the Athenæum was one of the five largest libraries in the United States. It owns the private libraries of George Washington and General Henry Knox . Furthermore, the King's Chapel collection can be found here, which King Wilhelm III. who gave Massachusetts Bay Colony . The Athenæum also houses early documents from the United States, as well as prints and photographs from the 19th century.

In 2005, the library held over half a million books, with a focus on Boston, New England, Biographies, English and American literature, and art history books.

Art collection

The Athenæum received the first sculpture in 1812 and the first painting was added to the collection in 1818, which was first opened to the public in 1827. In addition, annual art exhibitions were held until 1873. After the Museum of Fine Arts was founded , it occupied two of the four gallery rooms in the house. When the museum moved into its own building in 1876, a large part of the Athenæum's art collection also became the property of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Today the Athenæum owns Jean-Antoine Houdons busts of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and the Marquis de Lafayette, formerly owned by Thomas Jefferson in Monticello , paintings by Mather Brown , John Singer Sargent , Gilbert Stuart , Thomas Sully , Chester Harding and the largest Collection of the painter Cephas Thompson .

The photographic collection includes works by John Adams Whipple , Felix Nadar , Julia Margaret Cameron and Eadweard Muybridge .

various

The writer Amy Lowells was so impressed by the atmosphere of the Athenæum that she created a literary monument to the institution with the poem "The Boston Athenæum".

Of the numerous portraits that Gilbert Stuart created of George Washington, the so-called "Athenaeum Head" is the best known, as this picture served as the template for the 1 dollar note. Today, however, this painting is in the Museum of Fine Arts.

See also

Web links

Commons : Boston Athenaeum  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 5, 2019.
  2. ^ Entry Boston Athenaeum in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed June 23, 2016
  3. ^ Entry Beacon Hill Historic District on the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed June 23, 2016

Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '29 "  N , 71 ° 3' 44"  W.