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Boston libraries and rare-book collections

July 11, 2007 On a recent Independence-Day jaunt in Boston, I was happily surprised to find two libraries listed in a very helpful little guidebook, Fodor's Boston's 25 Best, which offers essential things to do during a short stay. 

On its recommendation, I popped into the Boston Athenaeum, a proclaimed "library and cultural center for

Francisco de Goya's Los caprichos at the Boston Athenaeum
members and scholars." Only the first floor is open to the public. It's a beautiful building, and there is art and some exciting rare books on display, including a published pamphlet of Phillis Wheatley's first poem, Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," and a very old raised map, a failed precursor to Louis Braille's system for the blind. It's a good place for those looking to invest in a cultural institution—they even serve afternoon tea on Wednesdays for members and their guests—but I can't recommend it as a comfortable place to visit for nonmembers or at least those in jeans and shamelessly playing the tourist game (that was me, and the desk clerk who handed me a list of rules may well have been seeing a woman with 8 heads).

Don't get me wrong: I love rare books. I started my own baby collection, and my one investment is a deathbed edition (1892) of Whitman's Leaves of Grass. My favorite collection is in The British Library. They have the
Inside the Boston P.L.
Magna Carta and Shakespeare's First Folio! But, as Ellen Madigan notes of the place in our Student Affairs blog, "White gloves and pencils only was the rule."

I did get a welcoming, casual vibe from the equally beautiful Boston Public Library, another of Fodor's recommended visits, which boasts some of its own exciting collections (and a cafe and a courtyard).  I particularly enjoyed their miniature books exhibit—the exhibition's catalog is reviewed in our current issue—which includes a tiny book from Franklin D. Roosevelt's collection of miniatures and one that traveled to the moon and back.

Posted by Anna Katterjohn on July 11, 2007 | Comments (2)


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July 12, 2007
In response to: Boston libraries and rare-book collections
Rob Ainsley commented:

White gloves for the British Library? I think somebody's been watching a few too many US-made TV specials about Briddan! We're not a land populated entirely by butlers and Julie Andrewses, you know...

No, you don't need white gloves to consult books in the British Library reading rooms (though you need a Reader's Pass, which is easy to register for). Yes, we want you to use pencils in the Reading Rooms not pens or quills or paintbrushes. But laptops are also positively welcome, with dedicated power points on the reader desks, and free Wi-Fi in the atrium outside.

The Library also has free exhibition spaces (where you can see permanently displayed items such as the Shakespeare Folios and Magna Carta, and until 23 Sep, sacred texts such as bits of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest complete Bibles, some of the oldest Qur'ans, etc etc - all free, I repeat!)

Plus it's a cool new building and very handily placed for public transport (-ation).

Rob Ainsley, Sacred exhibition website, British Library




July 12, 2007
In response to: Boston libraries and rare-book collections
ANNA KATTERJOHN commented:

Thanks for your comment, Rob. The British Library, especially the exhibits, was one of my favorite places in London. Believe me, I encounter plenty of snobbery in the states, despite our overabundance of cowboys and McDonald's!





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