[On May
23rd, 1895, the project which would become the New York Public Library was launched. So for
the 125th anniversary, I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of libraries and
library contexts, leading up to a special post on the NYPL!]
On three
distinct but interconnected influences on the development of the historic public library.
1)
A French Ventriloquist: It would be difficult
for me to improve on the surprise and delight offered by the following sentence
from that hyperlinked BPL history, so I won’t try to do so: “In 1839, French
ventriloquist Nicholas
Marie Alexandre Vattemare became the original advocate for a public library
in Boston when he proposed the idea of a book and prints exchange between
American and French libraries.” Vattemare was apparently such a prominent and talented
ventriloquist that no less a literary giant than Sir
Walter Scott wrote an 1824 epigram about him, calling him “Alexandre and
Co.” for his ability to conjure multiple voices. But it was through his
foundational role in developing the concept of inter-library loan that
Vattemare truly helped so many voices travel around the world; and while it
took about a decade for his idea to take hold in Boston, it’s so pitch-perfect
that a Frenchman
helped create this vital American space.
2)
A New York Millionaire: While Boston luminaries
like Harvard professor George Ticknor
and Mayor
Josiah Quincy likewise supported creating a public library, it
unsurprisingly took the city’s rivalry with New York to push the concept
forward. When German American businessman and real estate mogul John
Jacob Astor died in March 1848, he left a
significant part ($400,000) of his sizable fortune to New York City in the
hopes of helping establish
a public library. I’ve always had the sense that NYC doesn’t much care
about what Boston does or thinks (or at least does a good job pretending not
to), but it’s difficult to overstate how much the opposite is not the case: few
influences drive Bostonians more consistently and thoroughly than a desire to
beat New York (and not
just in sports). I can’t say for sure whether Astor’s death and donation directly
influenced the BPL, but I do know that the Massachusetts
General Court passed the initial legislation to fund such a public library
in that same month of March 1848. A fun example of that enduring Boston-NYC
connection in any case!
3)
The Boston Cosmopolitans: The BPL occupied a couple
different locations over its first few decades: a Reading Room in a former
schoolhouse on Mason Street from 1854-1858; and then beginning in 1858 a
building of its own on Boylston Street. By the 1870s that building was too small
for the library’s growing collection, and in 1880
the state legislature authorized the construction of a new building at the
city’s prominent Copley Square. In 1887 the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, & White
were chosen to design the new building, and Charles McKim would work closely
with sculptor Augustus
Saint-Gaudens and other artists to plan the building’s decorations. Saint-Gaudens
was part of that cohort of late 19th century Bostonian and American
artists and activists who came to be known as the
Cosmopolitans; as I detailed in that post, it’s easy and not entirely wrong
to accuse that community of elitism. But I argued there (referencing my friend Mark
Rennella’s book) for the democratizing goals of much of their work and
efforts, and that word certainly describes their contributions to and support
for the Boston Public Library.
Next library
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. Thoughts on
the BPL, or other libraries you’d highlight/celebrate?
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