Salem Athenæum
The Salem Athenæum is a library owned by a private association of the same name in Salem , Massachusetts .
history
It emerged in 1810 from the merger of the Salem Social Library, founded in 1760, and the Salem Philosophical Library , founded in 1781 . Like these two previous institutions, the Athenæum is organized as a private reading society ; Maintenance and expansion of the inventory are covered by contributions from members, who in turn secure the right to use and borrow. The founding holdings of the Philosophical Library is the 116 volume private library of the Irish scholar Richard Kirwan (1733-1812), which the privateer Pilgrim captured in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War in an attack on the British Duke of Gloucester in the Irish Sea. Today the holdings of the Athenæum comprise around 50,000 volumes.
The library was initially distributed among the private houses of several prominent members. It was not until the 1850s that the association built its own library building, made possible by an inheritance; this was sold in 1905 and now houses the Peabody Essex Museum . The association used the proceeds to finance the construction of today's library building (completed in 1907), which is in the late Federal Style .
literature
- The Salem Athenæum in 2010: A Bicentennial Celebration . The Salem Athenæum, Salem, Mass. 2011. ISBN 978-0-615-49905-5 .
Web links
- salemathenaeum.net - Official website of the Salem Athenæum (English)
Coordinates: 42 ° 31 ′ 13.5 ″ N , 70 ° 54 ′ 1.8 ″ W.