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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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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

  • Writer's Room Presents: LeHane, Mazur and Perrotta

    Sat, Nov 6, 2004
    Writers Gail Mazur, Tom Perrotta, and Dennis Lehane read from their current projects and discuss the New England authors who have been important to their work. This lively, entertaining, and thoroughly Bostonian discussion connects the city's literary past to the thriving writing community of today.
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  • Favorite English Country Houses

    Thu, Nov 4, 2004
    Sir Simon Jenkins explores the eclectic range of English properties among his own personal favorites. England retains far more great houses with their contents intact and on display than any other country in the world, with houses of interest ranging from Cornwall in the south to Cumbria in the far north. He looks beyond the architecture to focus on the often fascinating and sometimes amusing personal histories of the owners. Included are such properties as Bodiam, Hardwick, Kingston Lacy, Chastleton, Castle Drogo, Cothele, and Lanhydrock.
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  • Wodehouse: A Life

    Tue, Dec 14, 2004
    Author and editor Robert McCrumb discusses the life and works of P.G. Wodehouse, which he chronicled in detail in his biography Wodehouse: A Life. **Robert McCrum**, now literary editor of London's Observer, was the editor-in-chief of the publishing firm Faber & Faber in London for nearly 20 years. He has written six highly acclaimed novels and is the co-author of the bestselling The Story of the English. McCrum lives in London.
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  • Inside a Stem Cell Laboratory

    Thu, Jan 6, 2005
    Ann Parson, author of the recently published *The Proteus Effect: Stem Cells and Their Promise for Medicine*, shares some basic information about stem cells and what the future holds for medicines based on them. She is joined by four postdoctoral fellows who work in one of Boston's and the country's leading stem cell research laboratories, that of George Daley, a Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital hematologist and oncologist. Each scientist describes the research project he or she is tackling and how, if successful, their work could lead to significant improvements in current medical practices. With the stem cells of humans finally isolated, researchers are entering a new era of harnessing cells to treat a variety of disorders.
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  • The White House: A Pop-Up Book

    Tue, Mar 22, 2005
    Starting with the design by Irish-born architect James Hoban in 1792, the White House history spans more than 200 years. In *The White House: A Pop-Up Book*, Chuck Fischer brings to life not only the architecture, furnishings, and fine art of America's First Home, but also the history of Washington, DC, the National Mall, and America's First Families. A movable diorama of the Mall gives a 3-D view of America's national monuments; a pop-up of the White House provides a look at the mansion's exterior; a standing "carousel" reveals interiors of the Red Room, Cross Hall, Blue Room, Green Room, and Lincoln Bedroom; a removable map of Washington, DC details the city's layout; and a gallery of the presidents combined with a fan that opens to portray the first ladies illustrates America's leading families over the centuries. In addition, numerous pull-outs and pop-ups surprise the reader with interesting details, such as holiday traditions at the White House and the antics of more than one White House child (roller skating across polished floors or bombarding a cabinet meeting with a toy cannon!). Chuck Fischer is one of the most talented and sought-after artists in America today and is the author and illustrator of the acclaimed *Great American Houses and Gardens: A Pop-Up Book* and *Wallcoverings: Applying the Language of Color and Pattern*, both published by Universe. His wallcovering and fabric designs are in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and he has recently been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome.
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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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  • 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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  • George Stubbs: Reapers and Haymakers

    Thu, Jan 22, 2004
    Richard Wendorf attempts to show how scholars who have addressed the paintings of George Stubbs have missed the central point of his work as an artist. The painter George Stubbs is perhaps best known for his dramatic and painstakingly accurate portraits of English horse flesh. In this illustrated lecture, Wendorf draws attention to Stubbs' equally remarkable attempts to paint agricultural workers in the English countryside, particularly in his pair of images entitled Reapers and Haymakers. These iconic pictures have been the focus of intense debate by literary critics, art historians, and social historians during the past thirty years. Do they accurately depict the cleanliness, health, and vitality of common laborers in the 1780's and 1790's, or do they camouflage the desperate, post-enclosure conditions in which these workers toiled?
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  • Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land

    Tue, Feb 10, 2004
    Historian Kate Clifford Larson discusses her new book, *Bound for the Promised Land*, which draws on a trove of new documents and sources as well as extensive genealogical research and reveals Harriet Tubman as a complex woman who was brilliant, shrewd, deeply religious, and passionate in her pursuit of freedom. Harriet Tubman is one of the giants of American history, a fearless visionary who led scores of her fellow slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad and battled courageously behind enemy lines during the Civil War. And yet in the nine decades since her death, next to nothing has been written about this extraordinary woman aside from juvenile biographies. The truth about Harriet Tubman has become lost inside a legend woven of racial and gender stereotypes. From Tubman's brutal treatment while enslaved on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, to her exploits on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, to her lifelong pursuit of civil and humanitarian rights for African Americans, Tubman's accomplishments represent true American heroism.
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