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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

Maps and History: Constructing Images of the Past

Sat, Apr 26, 2003

Jeremy Black, professor of history at the University of Exeter, argues that historical atlases offer an understanding of the past that is invaluable, not only because they convey a previous age's sense of space and distance, but also because they reveal what historians and educators of those periods thought important to include or omit. Black explores the role, development, and nature of these important reference tools, from ancient to modern times.

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Making a Case for Comic Fiction

Tue, Feb 3, 2004

Mameve Medwed, Tom Perrotta, and Stephen McCauley explain and defend comic fiction.

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Race and Place

Tue, Mar 2, 2004

Ted Landsmark discusses how demographic and educational changes affect Boston's near-term future, and the unanticipated ways in which our cultural identities are evolving. The formation of racial and ethnic identities were key aspects of 20th century American culture. As traditional racial dichotomies dissolve in the 21st century, some new, and some very old, elements of cultural identity are taking precedence in American life: artisanry, class, education, and a sense of place are emerging as significant shapers of identity. Even as media and commercial homogeneity aggregate and level our differences, immigration and rediscovered cultural roots are churning our perceptions of who we believe we are as Americans. Boston, a city generally viewed as both a portal for new populations and as a staid community where relatively few ethnic or racial minorities achieve high levels of political or cultural visibility, is undergoing some of the largest demographic and educational changes in its history.

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Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London

Tue, Mar 9, 2004

Lisa Jardine draws a portrait of the gifted but cranky English scientist Robert Hooke, known to history as much for losing quarrels with more prominent scientists as for his achievements. He was one of the founding fathers of the Royal Society and teamed with Christopher Wren in rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666. Hooke is perhaps best, and certainly unjustly, remembered for losing to Newton in a challenge for credit as discoverer of the inverse-square law of gravitational attraction.

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Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living (1900-1939)

Thu, Mar 11, 2004

Virginia Nicholson explores the way of life of the Bohemian artists of the early 20th century - the majority of them artists, poets, writers, and composers - who were brave enough to jettison Victorian conformity and to invent a whole new way of living. Rebels and free spirits, they pioneered a domestic revolution, carrying idealism and creativity into every aspect of daily life. From Dylan Thomas to Robert Graves, Katherine Mansfield to Dora Carrington, they rejected tea parties, chaperones, monogamy, and mahogany. Deaf to disapproval, they painted, danced, and wrote poetry with passionate intensity, they experimented with homosexuality and open marriages, and often sacrificed comfortable homes to take to the road or to move into Spartan garrets. Yet their choice of a free life led all too often to poverty, hunger, addictions, and even death. This lecture brings to life the flamboyant, eccentric pioneers to whom we owe so many of our freedoms today.

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American West: Lewis and Clark Expedition

Thu, Mar 18, 2004

Clay S. Jenkinson employs the Chautauquan methodology of a stand-up, unscripted monologue in his first-person portrayal of Meriwether Lewis. His educational, humorous, and delightful monologue is followed by an in-character question and answer session with the audience, and ends with Jenkinson sharing his own insights into the character of Captain Lewis and the expedition. The Federalist called the Louisiana Purchase "the wildest chimera of a moonstruck mind"; Thomas Jefferson referred to it as a "two ocean continental empire for liberty"; and Meriwether Lewis, captain of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime to be the first citizen of the United States to step foot on the unexplored wilderness of the American West.

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Chasing the Masterpiece of Copernicus

Thu, Mar 25, 2004

Owen Gingerich one of the world's leading authorities on Galileo and Copernicus, shares his 30-year obsession with the fact that shortly before his death in 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published *De revolutionibu*. A groundbreaking scientific work, it revealed that we live in a sun - rather than earth - centered universe. Curious about the contention that the book went largely unread at the time, Gingerich undertook a trek around the world to hunt down the 600-odd extant first and second printings. The result is *The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Copernicus* - part travelogue, part science detective story, party biography of a book and its illustrious author.

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Oath of a Surgeon Under Fire

Thu, Oct 23, 2003

Khassan Baiev discusses his experience as a doctor during the Russian-Chechen war. Little understood and largely ignored by the West, the Russian-Chechen war represents one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent memory, claiming upwards of 150,000 lives in the past 10 years. Dr. Khassan Baiev saw the worst of it as one of the few surgeons to remain behind after fighting began in 1994. *The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire* is his testament to the horrors of wartime and the first inside account to emerge by a native Chechen.

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54th Regiment and the Color of War

Tue, Sep 30, 2003

Shakespeare & Company actress Susannah Melone portrays Annie Kneeland Haggerty Shaw in The Color of War, an original play adapted and directed by Shakespeare & Company artist Mary Guzzy. Shortly after marrying Annie Kneeland Haggerty, a young girl from a wealthy family in New York, Robert Gould Shaw took command of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the Union army's first all-black fighting regiment in the Civil War, and was ordered to active duty in the Carolinas. The Color of War is the story of their relationship told through the letters Robert wrote to Annie during their courtship and after they were married. This stage dramatization of Shaw's letters sheds light on the many professional and personal struggles he faced during this intriguing period in history.

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Gay Talese: His Portraits and Encounters

Thu, Nov 20, 2003

Gay Talese discusses his newest submission to the literary world, The Gay Talese Reader. Attention to detail and observation of the unnoticed are the hallmarks of Gay Talese's writing, and The Gay Talese Reader brings together the best of his essays and classic profiles. Whether he is detailing the unseen and sometimes quirky world of New York City or profiling Frank Sinatra, Talese captures his subjects - famous, infamous, or unusual - in his own inimitable and elegant fashion. These carefully crafted works create a portrait of an unforgettable individual, place, or moment, and give insight into the progression of a writer who is at the pinnacle of his craft.

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