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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

Colm Toibin on Mothers and Sons

Thu, Mar 20, 2008

Colm Toibin reads from his new collection of short stories, *Mothers and Sons*. Professor James Smith of Boston College introduces the author. **Colm Toibin** was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of five novels, including the Booker shortlisted *The Blackwater Lightship* and *The Master*, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. He has been a Stein Visiting Writer at Stanford University and a visiting writer at the Michener Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Dublin.

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Mameve Medwed: Of Men and Their Mothers

Tue, Jun 10, 2008

Mameve Medwed reads from her latest novel Of Men and Their Mothers, an exploration of class difference, notions of men and women, and being a wife, a friend, and a nonjudgmental mother. When Maisie Grey finally gets rid of her mama's-boy husband and happily settles down with her teenage son, Tommy, she's still stuck with an irascible mother-in-law. Maisie vows that when Tommy brings someone home, she will be empathetic and supportive, and envelop the young woman in a loving embrace. But along comes September Silva, with her piercings, short skirts, black nail polish, and stay-out-all-night attitude. Eventually Maisie is forced to take a clear-eyed look at class differences, preconceived notions of men and women, and what it means to be a wife, a friend, and a nonjudgmental mother. When do you let go? And how do you let go if you're sure your son is making a very big mistake?

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Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825

Thu, May 14, 2009

Translator Alan Hoffman discusses Auguste Levasseur's book *Lafayette in America*, which recounts how the 67-year-old hero of the American Revolution and apostle of liberty in Europe was welcomed in an adoring frenzy by the American people. With its panoramic view of the young country, its burgeoning cities and towns, its technological innovations like the Erie Canal, and its industrious people, this book captures America on the cusp of its jubilee year. A decade before Tocqueville, Auguste Levasseur, private secretary to the Marquis de Lafayette, observed and reported on the state of the American Republic as he accompanied General Lafayette on his Farewell Tour of all 24 United States. Levasseur's journal describes the Americans' enormous pride in the republican institutions created by the revolutionary generation and the ensuing growth and prosperity. He recounts their intense feelings of gratitude towards those who had won the republic, among whom Lafayette was the sole surviving major general of the Continental Army. Levasseur also chronicles Lafayette's affectionate visits with his old friends John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, and his encounter with Senator Andrew Jackson. A keen observer, Levasseur gives us a sense of the characters of these men who, with Lafayette's paternal friend George Washington, led the United States through its first six decades.

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Lewis Lapham: Theatre of War

Thu, Feb 27, 2003

Lewis Lapham discusses his collection of essays, Theater of War. Taking the war on terror as the most recent example, Lapham considers America's long tradition of gratuitous conflict, and its quixotic attempts at arbitrating 'good' and 'freedom,' culminating in the endowment of nation status upon the hijackers that began the present war. Lapham shows that the recent behavior of the United States' government is consistent with the practices of past administrations. Mr. Lapham questions the motives and feasibility of our country's ongoing crusades against the world's evildoers.

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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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Gaining Ground: History of Landmaking in Boston

Tue, Dec 2, 2003

Historian Nancy Seasholes gives us the first complete account of when, why, and how Boston's land was created. Fully one-sixth of Boston is built on made land. Although other waterfront cities also have substantial areas that are built on fill, Boston probably has more than any city in North America. Seasholes introduces findings from recent archeological investigations in Boston and relates landmaking to the major historical developments that shaped it. At the beginning of the 19th century, landmaking in Boston was spurred by the rapid growth that resulted from the burgeoning China Trade. The influx of Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century prompted several large projects to create residential land (not for the Irish, but to keep the taxpaying Yankees from fleeing to the suburbs). Many landmaking projects were undertaken to cover tidal flats that had been polluted by raw sewage discharged directly on them, removing the "pestilential exhalations" thought to cause illness. Land also was added for port developments, public parks, and transportation facilities, including the largest landmaking project of all, the airport.

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Samuel Johnson's Dictionary: Defining the English Language

Thu, Jan 15, 2004

Jack Lynch, professor of English at Rutgers University, discusses Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. Two volumes thick and 2,300 pages long, Samuel Johnson's *Dictionary of the English Language,* published in 1755, marked a milestone in a language in desperate need of standards. No English dictionary before it had devoted so much space to everyday words and been so thorough in its definitions. Johnson's was the dictionary used by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Wordsworth and Coleridge, the Brontes and the Brownings, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde. This new edition, created by Levenger Press, contains more than 3,100 selections from the original, including definitions and illustrative passages in their original spelling. Bristling with quotations, the dictionary offers memorable passages on subjects ranging from books and critics to dreams and ethics. It also features three new indexes created from entries in this edition.

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Wood, Wind & Water: Nantucket Opera House Cup Race

Tue, Oct 7, 2003

Annie Converse and Camie Ford discuss their collaboration on the photographic essay *Wood, Wind and Water*, and the creative process that took years to complete. They familiarize the audience with the world of classic wooden yacht racing and restoration, which they have chronicled both in the book and in a 26-minute documentary video. The book, set in Nantucket, offers a rich, salty, and often humorous look at a global subculture glued together by a passion for classic wooden yachts. The video documentary follows many of the characters from the book to Antigua, where they race in the Antigua Classic Wooden Yacht Regatta. This race, in 1999, was the first time the J boats Shamrock V, Velsheda, and Endeavor had raced against one another since the 1930's. Much of the footage in the documentary is shot aboard Shamrock V.

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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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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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