September-October
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BOSTON ATHENÆUMSEPTEMBER_ OCTOBER 2019 REQUIRED READING reimagining a colonial library EXHIBITION OPENS September 17 NEW EXHIBITION IN OUR NORMA JEAN CALDERWOOD GALLERY OFFERS A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO EXAMINE BOOKS FROM THE KING’S CHAPEL LIBRARY COLLECTION, A SURVIVING TREASURE OF 17TH-CENTURY BOSTON. A Explore the fine crafts of bookbinding and furniture-making, and consider the meaning of “Essential Knowledge.” REQUIRED READING tells the story of some colonial Bostonians’ intellectual and spiritual quests and invites visitors to reflect on their own “must-read” lists. It features a full-scale replica of the massive, ark-like bookcase designed in 1883 to house the historic collection. The replica, supported in part by the Chipstone Foundation, is an achievement in contemporary fine woodworking. It is modified in an innovative way, enabling visitors to immerse themselves in the rich contexts of the cabinet, its books, and their legacy. “The books’ arrival in New England as ‘necessary and useful’ texts for teaching and learning, their importance to religious leaders in Boston, and their impressive state of preservation—through the tumult of a city rocked by revolution—are dramatic and little-known,” says John Buchtel, Curator of Rare Books and Head of Special Collections. “More than three centuries later, their appeal is not simply as a time capsule or as examples of the craft of bookbinding, but also as a profound prompt, giving us the opportunity to imagine the readings we’d select as essential in our own lives.” Linking the historic collection to the present day, community partners including the Chinese Historical Society of New England, Hebrew College, the Museum of African American History, and UMass Boston provide a plurality of perspectives by sharing their own “required reading” lists. SEVERAL OF THE RARE AND NOTABLE ITEMS ON DISPLAY: An atlas of the known world (1693) MEMBER HOURS Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World (1666) Mon–Thu 9 am–8 pm Fri–Sat 9 am–5 pm A mathematics textbook covering everything from practical geometry to logarithms (1690) VISITOR HOURS A nine-language Bible, the “London Polyglot” Tue 12–8 pm (1657) Wed–Sat 10 am–4 pm A Biblical concordance compiled by Massachusetts minister Samuel Newman (1658) The Gordon Newspaper Room opens at 8:30 am on weekdays. CONTACT TOP RIGHT | Engraving of Queen Mary II by Jacobus Houbraken, 1744. A copy of this portrait decorates the original King’s Chapel Library bookcase, visible to www.bostonathenaeum.org members on the third floor. 617.227.0270 ABOVE | The London Polyglot Bible (1657) is a masterwork, with Bible verses printed side by side in nine languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Arabic. RIGHT | Unicorns are among the creatures depicted in an illustration of Noah’s Ark from Matthew Poole’s Synopsis Criticorum (1694). 1 ATHENӔUM by the numbers JUNE 2019 ORDERED/ACQUIRED 244 Items PRESIDENT’S NOTE ASSISTED 232 Reference Inquiries CATALOGED DEAR MEMBERS: 215 New Circulating Items 26 Already-Held Circulating Items I am pleased to announce that Amy E. Ryan, an accomplished library leader with more 16 New Special Collections Materials than 35 years of management experience, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the 58 Already-Held Special Collections Materials Athenæum, effective August 15th. CIRCULATED 938 Books, including: The Standing Committee of the Board of Trustees has chosen to bring Amy on in order to 83 Children’s Library Books operate more efficiently and effectively. The search for a new director is on track, and in the meantime we will have an extremely experienced and talented person at the helm. ATTENDANCE 2,362 Members Amy’s brief biography can be found below. Along with Standing Committee member 81 Members’ Guests & 136 Visitors Duke Collier (who heads up our search committee for a permanent director) and I, Amy will keep you informed on the search and other important matters in the weeks to come. PROGRAMS 10 Events 12 Public Tours As always, we welcome your thoughts. 4 Private Tours John S. Reed President, Board of Trustees ANNUAL FUND $949,485 in unrestricted funds raised to date THANK YOU OUR MISSION | The mission of the Boston Athenæum is to engage all who seek knowledge by making accessible our library’s collections and spaces, thereby inspiring reflection, discourse, creative expression, and joy. WE ARE thankful Thank you to all who help support the Athenæum with donations to the Annual Fund. Your unrestricted gifts are instrumental in realizing all facets of our programs and services. Libraries are not money-making enterprises. Through community members’ philanthropic support, we provide stellar programming, expand and conserve the collections, and maintain our unique building, a National Historic Landmark. Our goal is to sustain 10½ Beacon as an inviting, enriching, singular, and joyful place, now and into the future. If you haven’t yet supported the Athenæum with an Annual Fund gift, we encourage your participation at any level before the fiscal year closes WELCOME TO OUR interim director on September 30. Contact Dawna G. Burrus, Director of Annual Giving, 617-720-7629, or [email protected]. Or donate online at bostonathenaeum.org/support/make-gift. On July 24, John S. Reed, President of the Board of Trustees, announced the appointment of Amy E. Ryan as Interim Director. Amy is a seasoned library leader, having held director roles at the Boston Public Library and the Hennepin County (Minnesota) Public Library, as well as leadership positions for 28 years with the Minneapolis Public Library. She serves as an Advisor in Residence at Simmons University Graduate School of Library and Information Science and a member of the MIT Libraries Visiting Committee, and has chaired the Board of Directors of the Digital Public Library of America. A Proprietor of the Boston Athenæum, she is also a member of the Nichols House Governing Board and serves on the Beacon Hill Village Council. bostonathenaeum.org ATHENӔUM by the numbers JUNE 2019 ORDERED/ACQUIRED 244 Items ASSISTED 232 Reference Inquiries EXPANSION expansion UPDATE CATALOGED 14 BEACON 215 New Circulating Items STREET 26 Already-Held Circulating Items e are making progress on the library’s physical expansion into the building next door, via a long-term lease of 19,400 feet at 14 Beacon 16 New Special Collections Materials Street. The project is being managed by our Project Steering 58 Already-Held Special Collections Materials Committee, comprised of members of the Board of Trustees, members Wof the senior staff, and our owner’s project representative, Smith+St. John, a real estate CIRCULATED advisory and development management firm. 938 Books, including: Demolition within 14 Beacon Street has been underway for months. Wooden partitions 83 Children’s Library Books and cabinetry on the fifth and sixth floors were removed by an architectural preserva- tionist from North Bennet Street School. The owner of the building (Faros Properties) ATTENDANCE hopes to reassemble these partitions for office use elsewhere in the building. 2,362 Members 81 Members’ Guests & 136 Visitors A new multi-purpose meeting room is taking shape in 14 Beacon. The room closest to Beacon Street will become an attractive meeting space for members and staff alike— and, fittingly, it was once a bookstore. PROGRAMS 10 Events Throughout the demolition phase, measures were taken to protect the collections 12 Public Tours housed in the area the staff refers to as the “outback,” directly below the future meeting 4 Private Tours room. All collections items were removed safely by the curatorial team as a precautionary measure. Demolition continued through the summer, including removal of stubborn terracotta. ANNUAL FUND $949,485 in unrestricted funds raised to date The building’s windows are currently being restored or replaced, first on the side facing the Granary Burying Ground and then on the Beacon Street side. THANK YOU In July, we achieved an important milestone: the completion of Design Development documents. Independent cost estimators then began an analysis to create a comprehen- TOP | Demolition of the sixth floor took place over the summer. This area will be home to library sive project budget. As this newsletter goes to press, that work is in progress. technical services, including cataloging, digitization, and conservation. MIDDLE | Wooden partitions being dismantled by preservation carpenter Chris Dowd. BOTTOM | The future meeting space LEFT | Audience members asked insightful questions at the CENTER | On Juneteenth, following Elizabeth Cobbs’s book RIGHT | Book-buyers lined up to have their copies of New What’s It Worth? panel, which featured arts leaders Suzanne talk for The Tubman Command, audience members explored Yorker writer Susan Orlean’s The Library Book personalized. Blier (Harvard), Akili Tommasino (MFA), and Stephen Lash special collections materials, including our Lincoln-signed (Christie’s USA), in conversation with Murray Whyte of copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. the Boston Globe. Long Room Scrapbook A glance back at some of the many engaging and enjoyable programs of recent months. LEFT | Athenæum Proprietor and best-selling historian CENTER | Debora Plunkett, a 30+ year National Security RIGHT | In June, our Pride at the Intersections panel Nathaniel Philbrick filled the festive house to tell us about Agency veteran now at Harvard Kennedy School, shared brought together LGBTQ leaders (left to right) Casey Dooley, In the Hurricane’s Eye in December. insights at a November panel on cybersecurity. Catherine Bell, and Kate Sosin in conversation with Cristela Guerra of WBUR. SEPTEMBER~ OCTOBER Athenæum events Registration is requested for all events. Register at bostonathenaeum.org or by calling 617-720-7612. First: Sandra Day O’Connor BOOK TALK | with journalist, historian, and best-selling author, Evan Thomas Thursday, September 26, 6 pm M R Members $15 Sandra Day O’Connor repeatedly shattered glass ceilings with a blend of grace, wisdom, humor, An Evening with Droodles understatement, and cowgirl toughness.