William Smith Shaw
| William Smith Shaw | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1824
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| Born |
August 12, 1778 Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA |
| Died | April 25, 1826 (aged 47) Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Harvard University |
William Smith Shaw (August 12, 1778 – April 25, 1826) was an American librarian. He was a founder of the Boston Athenæum as well as the Athenæum's first librarian.
William Smith Shaw was born to John and Elizabeth Shaw in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on August 12, 1788. He had two siblings, Elizabeth (1780–1798) and Abigail (1790–1859). “He very early discovered a strong attachment for books. Able to read before he could distinctly articulate the name of them, nothing afforded him greater pleasure, than some little volume, suited to his comprehension.” Shaw matriculated in Harvard College in July 1794 and graduated with the Class of 1798. Immediately after his graduation he moved to Philadelphia to become private secretary to his uncle, President John Adams. He returned to Boston after Adams' defeat by Thomas Jefferson and in April 1801 began the study of law in the offices of William Sullivan. He was admitted an attorney at the Court of Common Pleas in Suffolk County in April 1804 and in the spring of 1806 became a Clerk of the District Court of Massachusetts.
Shaw was a founder of The Anthology Society, a literary club formed in October 1805 to take responsibility for the publication a Boston literary gazette, the Monthly Anthology and Boston Review, of which Shaw became the fourth editor. At the October 23, 1805, meeting of the society “‘it was voted, on motion of Mr. Emerson, seconded by Mr. Shaw, that a Library of periodical publications be instituted for the use of the Society.’ ... Thus commenced the nucleus of the Boston Athenæum.” He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1810.
Shaw's contributions to Boston libraries were by no means limited to the Boston Athenæum. He was an active member and occasional officer in the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Redwood Library, the Agricultural Society, and the Linneæan Society of New England. Shaw never married despite encouragement from his mother. “You will need a friend, to sympathize with you in the trials of your temporal course and rejoice with you in your happiness. Whenever your income allows, make no delay. Your lot has fallen among some of the loveliest of women. You must have imbibed a high idea of female excellence. Be circumspect. Let economy, industry, amiableness, intelligence and virtue, be among the higher requisites, while beauty and fortune are but secondary objects.” In his will Shaw bequeathed his considerable collection of newspapers, coins, pamphlets and books to the Boston Athenæum which also houses his archives.
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