Boston Athenæum
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Boston Athenæum
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The Boston Athenæum building today, as designed by Edward Clarke Cabot with additions by Henry Forbes Bigelow
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| Location | 10-1/2 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°21′28.96″N 71°3′43.77″W / 42.3580444°N 71.0621583°WCoordinates: 42°21′28.96″N 71°3′43.77″W / 42.3580444°N 71.0621583°W |
| Built | 1847 |
| Architect | Edward Clarke Cabot; Bigelow & Wadsworth |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical, Renaissance Revival |
| Website | bostonathenaeum.org |
| Part of | Beacon Hill Historic District (#66000130) |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000132 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1965 |
| Designated CP | October 15, 1966 |
The Boston Athenæum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of a number of membership libraries, meaning that patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use the Athenæum's services. The institution was founded in 1807 by the Anthology Club of Boston, Massachusetts. It is located at 10 1/2 Beacon Street on Beacon Hill.
Resources of the Boston Athenæum include a large circulating book collection; a public gallery; a rare books collection of over 100,000 volumes; an art collection of 100,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts; research collections including one of the world's most important collections of primary materials on the American Civil War; and a public forum offering lectures, readings, concerts, and other events. Special treasures include the largest portion of President George Washington's library from Mount Vernon; Houdon busts of Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Lafayette once owned by Thomas Jefferson; a first edition copy of Audubon's "Birds of America;" a 1799 set of Goya's "Los caprichos;" portraits by Gilbert Stuart, Chester Harding, and John Singer Sargent; and one of the most extensive collections of contemporary artists' books in the United States.
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