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Boston Athenaeum

The Boston Athenaeum, one of the oldest and most distinguished independent libraries in the United States, was founded in 1807 by members of the Anthology Society, a group of fourteen Boston gentlemen who had joined together in 1805 to edit The Monthly Anthology and Boston Review. Their purpose was to form "an establishment similar to that of the Athenaeum and Lyceum of Liverpool in Great Britain; combining the advantages of a public library [and] containing the great works of learning and science in all languages." The library and Art Gallery, established in 1827, were soon flourishing, and grew rapidly, both by purchase of books and art and by frequent gifts. For nearly half a century the Athenaeum was the unchallenged center of intellectual life in Boston, and by 1851 had become one of the five largest libraries in the United States. Today its collections comprise over 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 Athenaeum supports a dynamic art gallery, and sponsors a lively variety of events such as lectures and concerts. It also serves as a stimulating center for discussions among scholars, bibliophiles, and a variety of community interest groups.break

http://www.bostonathenaeum.org

Future of America's Libraries

Thu, Jan 12, 2006

David Seaman argues that, despite predictions to the contrary, the library (both physically and virtually) continues to thrive as we settle into a new century. Even as libraries and readers consume more and more e-books, the number of paper books published in America last year hit a record 195,000, a 14 percent increase on the previous high of nearly 175,000 recorded the year earlier. On college campuses the "library as place" is reinventing itself as a social space and collaborative teaching environment. With our electronic journals, books, data sets, maps, and special collections objects growing ever more numerous, the notion of "place as library" is more and more prevalent. Now your library comes to you digitally in whatever place you are. Traditional library skills (cataloging, preservation, reference) are all being actively applied to our new hybrid print and electronic collections. Google and others are actively digitizing millions of books in our nation's libraries; digital paper is about to arrive, promising wholly new kinds of reading devices beyond the clumsy computers and handheld gadgets we now have with us; and we are collectively learning what it means to thrive in this rapidly changing environment.

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Landscape Design: New Garden Paradise

Thu, Jan 19, 2006

Dominique Browning takes us on a private tour of 35 of the world's most exquisite examples of cutting edge garden design. Astonishing in their range, vibrancy, and attention to detail, many of the featured gardens have never before been shown to the public. From the beautifully undulating hedges created by renowned Belgian designer Jacques Wirtz to the quiet power of Mia Lehrer's California, *The New Garden Paradise* offers readers an exclusive showcase of work, and an introduction to this astonishing world of landscape design. During the last decade, the gardening world has benefited from an exceptionally talented pool of landscape designers. In the midst of a healthy economy, the results in innovative garden design have been unrivaled in the past 100 years.

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Nature of Sacrifice: Biography of Charles Russell Lowell Jr.

Tue, Mar 22, 2005

The world advances by impossibilities achieved, Charles Lowell insisted in 1854 when, as valedictorian, he spoke at his Harvard graduation just two weeks after Boston had enforced the Fugitive Slave Law, returning Anthony Burns into slavery. Lowell argued that in the great march of mankind toward a greater humanity it was precisely those idealistic dreams of young men that marked human progress. His photographic memory and brilliant mind made him the brightest man of his generation. Spurning the advice of Ralph Waldo Emerson to become a "mystic," Lowell began a career at the cutting edge of industrial innovation under the mentorship of the New York iron magnate Abram Hewitt. But the impossibility Lowell had in mind was not the miracle of industrial advancement that was sweeping the nation, but the abolition of slavery. Lowell volunteered in the Union Cavalry and in 1862 served on General McClellan's staff. In 1864 he joined the Cavalry Corps under Sheridan, commanding the Reserve Brigade. Carol Bundy's account of Lowell's war years, shadowed by the deaths of his brother, cousins, and friends, is unsparing in its depiction of his work in helping to form the fabled 54th Regiment of black volunteers, fighting Colonel Mosby's guerillas, implementing Grant's orders to destroy the Shenandoah Valley, and participating in the notorious Front Royal Affair, when Confederate prisoners were tortured and executed. Bundy's vivid biography, based on rich public archives and a wealth of family papers, shows in persuasive detail the antebellum Boston of Lowell's privileged childhood transformed by his father's unexpected bankruptcy and by the national controversy over slavery. An Athenaeum proprietor, Carol Bundy has written for film and art publications in both the UK and the US. She has two sons and lives in Cambridge. Bundy became interested in her great-great-great uncle, Charles Russell Lowell, when his worn saddle bags, rusted sword, and spurs turned up after her grandmother's death in 1983. Listen to a complementary [interview with Carol Bundy](http://thoughtcast.org/casts/carol-bundy-civil-war-biographer) on Thoughtcast.org, a podcast and public radio interview program on authors, academics and intellectuals.

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Hudson River School of American Landscape Painting

Thu, Apr 14, 2005

David Dearinger, a curator at the Boston Athenaeum, lectures on history and technique of the the Hudson River School style of landscape painting. The Hudson River School resulted from the earliest attempts by American artists to find a truly "American" theme and style. It was born in the 1820s in the paintings of Thomas Cole and thrived through the 1850s in the work of Asher Durand, John Kensett, Sanford Gifford, Fitzhugh Lane, and Frederic Edwin Church. Dr Dearinger traces the birth and development of the style using key examples of paintings by these and other artists, gives an overview of the movement's historiography, discusses contemporary critical responses to it, and comments on the waning and eventual demise of the style in the 1870s. **David Dearinger** is Susan Morse Hilles Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Boston Athenaeum. An art historian and curator, he received his PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, with a specialty in nineteenth-century American art. He taught art history in New York at Brooklyn College, Hunter College and, for many years, at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Before coming to Boston, he was chief curator at the National Academy of Design in New York. He has published and lectured widely on the history of American painting and sculpture.

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Emma at Home: Lady Hamilton and Her "Attitudes"

Thu, Mar 31, 2005

John Wilton-Ely lectures on the effervescent and much celebrated performance artist, Lady Emma Hamilton, whose "attitudes" made her a phenomenon all across 18th century Europe. This lecture is presented in conjunction with the Royal Oak Foundation.

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The White House: A Pop-Up Book

Tue, Mar 22, 2005

Starting with the design by Irish-born architect James Hoban in 1792, the White House history spans more than 200 years. In *The White House: A Pop-Up Book*, Chuck Fischer brings to life not only the architecture, furnishings, and fine art of America's First Home, but also the history of Washington, DC, the National Mall, and America's First Families. A movable diorama of the Mall gives a 3-D view of America's national monuments; a pop-up of the White House provides a look at the mansion's exterior; a standing "carousel" reveals interiors of the Red Room, Cross Hall, Blue Room, Green Room, and Lincoln Bedroom; a removable map of Washington, DC details the city's layout; and a gallery of the presidents combined with a fan that opens to portray the first ladies illustrates America's leading families over the centuries. In addition, numerous pull-outs and pop-ups surprise the reader with interesting details, such as holiday traditions at the White House and the antics of more than one White House child (roller skating across polished floors or bombarding a cabinet meeting with a toy cannon!). Chuck Fischer is one of the most talented and sought-after artists in America today and is the author and illustrator of the acclaimed *Great American Houses and Gardens: A Pop-Up Book* and *Wallcoverings: Applying the Language of Color and Pattern*, both published by Universe. His wallcovering and fabric designs are in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and he has recently been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome.

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One Hundred Years of Egyptian Art at the MFA

Thu, Mar 10, 2005

Few people realize that the first home of the Museum of Fine Arts was the Boston Athenaeum, and that the Athenaeum's galleries once housed several thousand Egyptian objects. Today, the Department of Egyptian Art at the MFA Boston has grown to include some 70,000 objects and is one of the finest collections of its kind in the world. Recently celebrating its 100th anniversary, it is also the oldest such department in the United States. This lecture examines how Boston became interested in ancient Egypt, when the first objects arrived on Boston shores, and how the collection developed to its present size and quality. Using archival photographs, Dr Freed focuses on behind-the-scenes stories of the early years and the Department's pioneering archaeological excavations in Egypt. Dr Rita E. Freed has been working in the MFA Boston's Ancient Egyptian Department for 15 years; she was recently named to the John F. Cogan Jr. and Mary L. Cornille Chair of the Department of Art of the Ancient World. She is also adjunct professor of art at Wellesley College. Dr Freed has curated a number of internationally acclaimed exhibitions on the subject of ancient Egyptian and Nubian Art, including *Rameses the Great*, which toured the country in the late 1980s, and *Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen* in 1999, which traveled to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Leiden, Netherlands. Dr Freed has participated in archaeological excavations in Egypt, Cyprus, and Israel.

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Role of the Academy and in American Art

Tue, Mar 29, 2005

The traditional art academies, first founded in Europe beginning in the late 17th century and in the United States just after the year 1800, played a vital role in the lives and careers of artists over three hundred years. Because they typically made drawing the basis for all art training and taught it under fairly strict control, academies fell from favor with the advent of modern art in the twentieth century. In the late twentieth century, however, and now into the twenty-first, more artists are paying attention to craft, and the practice of careful drawing is enjoying a huge resurgence. More and more artists are producing representational work, drawn and painted in a new, classically realistic style. In conjunction with the exhibition *Powerline: The Art of Leo Dee*, David Dearinger delivers an illustrated lecture about the role the formal art academy played in the development of American art. He will pay special attention to the history of one of the most important and enduring of these academies in this country: the National Academy of Design in New York, at Brooklyn College, Hunter College and for many years, at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The Academy was founded in 1826, has hosted a lively art school, and has held annual exhibitions of contemporary American Art, almost without interruption, since its foundation. Dr. Dearinger reviews the history of the National Academy, discusses its important collection of American paintings and sculptures, and describes the role it played in the formation of both American artists and American art critics. David Dearinger is Susan Morse Hilles curator of paintings and cculpture at the Boston Athenaeum. An art historian and curator, he received his PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, with a specialty in nineteenth-century American art. He taught art history in New York at Brooklyn College, Hunter College and, for many years, at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Before coming to Boston, he was chief curator at the National Academy of Design in New York. He has published and lectured widely on the history of American painting and sculpture.

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Unnoticed: Secret Life of Type Faces

Thu, Apr 28, 2005

Richard Wendorf explores the nature and history of the type faces by which we live, ranging from Roman capitals to the experimentation of William Morris at the Kelmscott Press. Typography is something that we encounter every day of our lives; it is one of the most pervasive elements in an entire spectrum of human activities. And yet typography is usually invisible or barely noticed; it is supposed to be transparent; it is not supposed to draw attention to itself. *The Secret Life of Type* is one of 10 essays collected together in Richard Wendorf's new book *The Scholar-Librarian: Books, Libraries, and the Visual Arts*, published by Oak Knoll Press and the Boston Athenaeum.

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French and Indian War: Struggle for North America

Thu, Jan 20, 2005

William Fowler captures the sweeping panorama of the French and Indian War, and the huge cast of characters who fought it. Field commanders on both sides contended with the harsh realities of disease, brutal weather, and scant supplies, frequently having to build the roads they marched on. For many, the French and Indian War is just the backdrop for *The Last of the Mohicans*, a mere prelude to the American Revolution. Fowler's engrossing narrative reveals it as a turning point in modern history. On May 28, 1754, a group of militia and Indians led by 22-year-old major George Washington surprised a camp of sleeping French soldiers near present-day Pittsburgh. The brief but deadly exchange of fire that ensued lit the match that, in Horace Walpole's memorable phrase, would "set the world on fire." The resulting French and Indian War in North America escalated into a conflict fought across Europe, Africa, and the East and West Indies. Before it ended, nearly one million men had died.

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