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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

After the Victorians: The Decline of Britain in the World

Tue, Nov 8, 2005

The distinguished historian A.N. Wilson charts Britain's rise to world dominance. In his much anticipated sequel to the classic *The Victorians*, he describes how, in little more than a generation, Britain's power and influence in the world virtually dissolved. Wilson presents a panoramic view of an era, stretching from the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, to the dawn of the Cold War in the early 1950s. He offers riveting accounts of the savagery of World War I and the world-altering upheaval of the Communist Revolution and explains Britain's role in shaping the destiny of the Middle East, casting a new light on the World War II years. Wilson's perspective is not confined to the trenches of the battlefield and the halls of parliament: he also examines the parallel story of the beginnings of Modernism, looking at novelists, philosophers, poets, and painters to see what they reveal about the activities of the politicians, scientists, and generals. Blending military, political, social, and cultural history, A.N. Wilson offers an absorbing portrait of the decline of one of the world's great powers.

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Crack in the Edge of the World: The 1906 CA Earthquake

Thu, Nov 3, 2005

Simon Winchester discusses the Great California Earthquake of 1906, which he has written about extensively in his new book, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. Simon Winchester, who has brought the unlikely subject of geology to the literary forefront in his national bestsellers Krakatoa and The Map That Changed the World, now shines his literary light on the most dramatic natural calamity in US history in A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. Using the devastating 7.9 quake that struck the bustling city of San Francisco as a narrative springboard, Winchester offers a panoramic blend of history and science that captures the "savage interruption" and its destructive aftermath with gripping immediacy. Winchester explores the global geology that jolted the Earth awake on the fateful day and suggests why it certainly will happen again.

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Alanson B. Houghton: Ambassador of the New Era

Thu, Jan 26, 2006

Jeffrey J. Matthews provides a clear and concise account of Alanson B. Houghton's diplomatic experience during the 1920s, and consequently, a fresh assessment of US foreign policy during a pivotal decade in world history. Matthews explores why the United States failed to establish a stable world order during the New Era and additionally sheds light on the key historiographical themes of isolationism, new-imperialism, and corporations. American industrialist and politician Alanson B. Houghton, was the world's most influential diplomat during the "New Era" of the 1920s. Houghton, who served as ambassador to both Germany (1922 through 1925) and Great Britain (1925 through 1929), offers a unique window into the formation and implementation of American foreign policy. As the leading ambassador in Europe, he played a key role in the major diplomatic achievements of the era, including the Dawes Plan for reparations, the Locarno security treaties, and the Kellogg-Briand peace pact. While Houghton's significant contributions to these international accords are fully explored, the major theme of this book is his emergence as chief critic of US foreign policy within the Harding and Coolidge administrations.

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George Washington's God

Thu, Mar 9, 2006

Michael Novak, one of the country's leading conservative thinkers, offers the first in-depth look at the religious life of George Washington. Washington has long been viewed as the patron saint of secular government, but Novak's new book *Washington's God* reveals that it was Washington's strong faith in divine Providence that gave meaning and force to his monumental life. Narrowly escaping a British trap during the Battle of Brooklyn, Washington did not credit his survival to courage or tactical expertise; he blamed himself for marching his men into seemingly certain doom and marveled at the Providence that delivered them. Throughout his career, Washington remained convinced that America's liberty was dependent on faithfulness to God's will and trust in Providence. *Washington's God* shows him not only as a man of resource, strength, and virtue, but also as a man with deeply religious values. This new presentation of Washington will bring him into today's debates about the role of faith in government and will challenge much we thought we knew about the inner life of the father of our country.

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New York World: Graphic Art on Sunday (1898-1911)

Tue, Dec 6, 2005

Before the age of electronic media, Saturday morning television, and weekend getaways, there was Joseph Pulitzer's *New York World* newspaper. The Sunday edition in particular was a visual feast of color caricatures, full-page cartoons, disaster drawings, fictional illustrations, hand-lettered typography, weird science, halftone photographs, maps and more amidst the graphic, often muckraking news. For *The World on Sunday*, Baker and his coauthor and wife, Margaret Brentano, have selected 144 of the finest examples of period reporting, bold and playful graphic design, comic strips, and society pieces. Baker's introductory essay argues for the significance and beauty of Pulitzer's paper, and Brentano's detailed captions and notes accompany the colorful reproductions throughout the volume. Athenæum member Nicholson Baker has published seven novels and three works of nonfiction, including *Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper*, which won the National Book critics Circle Award for nonfiction in 2001. He is a regular contributor to *The New Yorker* and the *New York Review of Books*.

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Letters of a Portuguese Nun: 17th Century Forbidden Love

Tue, Feb 21, 2006

Myriam Cyr makes the case that the nun, Mariana Alcoforado, is indeed the author of one of the great literary masterpieces of the 17th century, *Portuguese Letters*. Mariana's story is one of the most moving in the history of forbidden love. In 1669, a Parisian bookseller published a slim volume called *Portuguese Letters*, which unveiled a love affair between a young Portuguese nun and a French officer that had occurred a few years earlier during a chaotic and war torn period in Portugal. The book contained passionate love letters the nun had written when the officer was forced to return to France. The letters took Paris by storm. They spoke of love in a manner so direct, so precise, and so raw that they sent shivers of recognition through the sophisticated strata of polite society. Through the centuries they have captured the hearts of poets and painters alike and retain all of their beauty and power today. Stendhal said "one has not loved until they have loved like the Portuguese nun." Braque and Matisse tried to imagine her. As remarkable as the letters are, they are rivaled by the mystery that surrounds them. Scholars debate whether a Portuguese nun could have written words of such stunning truth and beauty preferring to believe that a French aristocrat wrote the letters in answer to a dare.

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Familiar Faces: Gilbert Stuart's George and Martha Washington

Tue, Mar 21, 2006

Ellen Miles discusses Gilbert Stuart's creation in 1796 of his very familiar life portrait of George Washington, together with its companion portrait of Martha Washington, often known as the "Athenaeum portraits" because they were owned by the Boston Athenaeum for more than 150 years. Miles describes the relationship between the Washingtons and the artist, the reason for the incomplete composition of the two portraits, and the immediate and lasting success of the portrait of the President, in contrast to the relative obscurity of the portrait of Martha Washington.

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Elizabeth Kolbert: Field Notes from a Catastrophe

Thu, Apr 6, 2006

New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert discusses topics from her new book, Field Notes from a Catastrophe. Americans have been warned since the late 1970s that the buildup of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere threatens to melt the polar ice sheets and irreversibly change our climate. With little done since then to alter this dangerous path, the world has reached a critical threshold. By the end of the twenty-first century, it will likely be hotter than at any point in the last two million years, and the sweeping consequences of this change will determine the course of life on earth for generations to come. Acclaimed journalist Elizabeth Kolbert approaches this monumental problem from every angle. She travels to the Arctic, interviews researchers and environmentalists, explains the science and the studies, draws frightening parallels to lost ancient civilizations, unpacks the politics, and presents the personal tales of those who are being affected most: the people who make their homes near the poles and, in an eerie foreshadowing, are watching their worlds disappear. Growing out of a groundbreaking three-part series for the New Yorker, Field Notes from a Catastrophe brings the environment into the consciousness of the American people and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet.

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Mount Auburn Cemetery's 175th Anniversary: William Clendaniel Opens the Ceremony

Tue, Apr 11, 2006

William Clendaniel, president of Mount Auburn Cemetary, lectures on the history of Mount Auburn in celebration if its 175th anniversary. Clendaniel shares this remarkable institution's history, its ties to the Boston Athenaeum, what it is today, and how it continues to evolve and remain a relevant and important part of Boston's cultural fabric. One of Boston's oldest nonprofit institutions, Mount Auburn Cemetery is a National Historic Landmark and a beloved historic landscape that continues as an active cemetery today. Mount Auburn is also an important cultural resource for the community with a nationally known collection of plants and important collections of architecture, sculpture, paintings, paper and photographic archives, and decorative arts from three centuries.

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Birth of the Modern Arms Race

Tue, Apr 18, 2006

Priscilla McMillan discusses the content of her newest book, The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer: And the Birth of the Modern Arms Race. In a groundbreaking book that recasts the history of the Cold War, bestselling author Priscilla McMillan exposes, for the first time, the truth behind J. Robert Oppenheimer's 1954 trial on charges of violating national security. Drawing from newly declassified papers and extensive interviews, McMillan places Oppenheimer's opposition to the development of the hydrogen bomb at the heart of the story. His opposition made him the victim of government officials who, conspiring with rival scientist Edward Teller, deceived President Eisenhower and trapped the enigmatic genius who had done more than anyone to build the atomic bomb. A chilling expose of the McCarthy-era conspiracy that helped propel the East-West arms race, this is a spellbinding work of history. **Priscilla McMillan** is an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of the bestseller Marina and Lee. Among other places, her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Harpers Magazine, Scientific American, and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, where she is a member of the editorial board.

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