A Day in the Library - Boston

 

A day in the library - the Boston Athenaeum. 

Photos are in reverse, so let's start with breakfast! I began my day with some green tea and a snack at my B&B early in the morning. Then, I made my way a couple blocks to Tatte Bakery, a very popular Boston local spot (there are Tatte Bakeries are all over Boston - it's a staple!). Very good cafe with lots of options for breakfast, lunch, etc. Good coffee. Designed with penny tiles and white subway tile walls, bistro chairs, little round tables. This was my first breakfast there and I might have gone back each day after that, this was perfect for me to have a substantial meal to get me through the whole day of studying in the library.

I then took a walk across the Public Garden and the Boston Common immersed in all its Autumnal splendor. It was a lovely morning for a walk - chilly for sure, but okay if you are walking. I obviously stopped a lot to gawk at the trees and take some photos. The leaves were just bursting with tones of garnet, rust, and gold, set against the backdrop of a perfectly blue sky and the Boston skyline. 

Passing the Massachusetts State House with its shiny golden dome, I shortly come to the destination for the day (at 10 1/2 Beacon Street, love the quirky address), the Boston Athenaeum. Founded in 1807, it is one of the country's oldest independent libraries which houses over 500,000 books (including rare books and manuscripts) as well as a robust art collection. The word "athenaeum" is another word for a library, taken from the idea around since ancient times as a place of learning and knowledge for the betterment of everyone. This is a private library, so you have to be a member, however they offer a day pass - you can pay to be a member for the day, which I gladly signed up for, and which meant I had free wandering abilities through the library and full access to all the books for the day. It was a pretty dreamy day to say the least.

The ground floor houses much of the art collection. I took a quick turn there and captured a view out the windows of the Granary Burial Ground, a very old site along the Freedom Trail where Paul Revere and Samuel Adams are buried. I then headed upstairs (there are 5 floors of libraries to choose from and basement levels I didn't even get to). I did a bit of wandering around the gorgeous reading rooms - getting my bearings a bit, trying to see what books were on the shelves, then sat down to collect my listing of books to go find. 

On this trip, I wanted to research a bit more on the Boston authors, to learn more while I was in the place they lived. Before leaving for Boston, I made a list of books from the collection that I wanted to find, and wrote down the call numbers. The system was a little confusing, and I got distracted with many books along the way that I could have easily sat and read, but I had a mission, so I went on the treasure hunt.

I went up to the next floor and found the journals of Louisa May Alcott, so I sat with that for a little bit focusing on her Boston life and notes from her young teenage years. When I went on the hunt again, I found myself in the unique storage system called the drum, which is a tightly packed metal and glass shelving area that spans the whole height and depth of the building, entered through a door at the end of each floor library level. This is where I had good success in finding three more of my books (on Poe and Hawthorne). That was fun. As I passed into the drum, a man on staff asked if I needed help finding something, or did I want to enjoy the hunt? Haha, he understood me. I said I was rather fond of the hunt.

With my prizes tucked into my arms, I headed up to the fifth floor library and settled at a lovely table where I spent the rest of the day reading these books and taking notes as my learning and studying of the Boston authors continued. It was so nice to be in the quiet library - students filled the tables as well as older people and I wondered if they were authors or professors or something else altogether? Boston is a busy city and sometimes the busy streets and crowds are a bit much, so the day spent there in the library doing research and kind of being a local was deeply loved by me. 

I spent the whole afternoon there until I got too hungry and reluctantly taking my leave of the library, I took a quick jaunt across the street to Taco Azul, which is a modern, sleek restaurant serving up tacos of course. It was probably my most loved meal of the trip, the guacamole, carnitas taco, beans and rice, with a Mexican Coke was absolutely delicious and welcomed after all the studying in the library. It set me up for a nice walk home back through the Boston Common and the Public Garden, catching the light with different angles and shades from the morning, and walking alongside commuters who trek across the parks for work. It was such a purposeful, studious, and lovely day in Boston. I'd gladly do it again. 

Bookish Boston

 

Boston's Bookish Scene

Within walking distance from where I stayed, I could go to 4-5 bookshops. Plus two libraries. You can imagine (if you know me) how long I could spend in just these aforementioned places. Each day was a new adventure. 

I'd been to Brattle Bookshop before. Many years ago on my last visit to Boston. It boasts a large outdoor space next to the actual shop. Carts are rolled out each day, with $3 and $5 books, plus the walls are built-in shelves. One could spend a good hour or more just browsing those. I found a book on Boston + Cambridge (the first book I picked up). I love finding some local history book for the place I am in, to read while I am there. When I went inside I found two more books I couldn't leave behind - a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story collection (he was a Boston resident over on Beacon Hill), and a G.K. Chesterton essay collection I didn't have (you never know where Chesterton will pop up!).

I took my Brattle books and walked over to the Public Garden and sat there for a good hour or more, wrote several pages in my travel journal and people-watched. This was the busiest day (a Saturday) so people were everywhere, and the leaves were falling with each breeze.  Plenty to look at. Lovely day with sun. Everyone was out.

A little later I went over to visit with Edgar Allan Poe. His sculpture that is. Set along the sidewalk just across the street from the Public Garde and Boston Common is this spectacular sculpture of Poe striding back into Boston after his absence. Poe actually had a tumultuous relationship with Boston, he didn't like it mostly due to his foster father relationship, but Boston embraces him now. Poe was a critic for some of his career, and he was critical of many of the Boston authors, including the well-loved Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Nevertheless, Poe was a genius writer, poet, storyteller, and critic. He admired the English writers (Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Byron) and critiqued with the perspective that American writers were not nearly up to par with the English ones - he wanted them to be better writers. I love how this blueish hued bronze sculpture sweeps you into his dramatic coat flowing in the chilly Boston breeze, as he is walking confidently and full of ideas toward his foster parents home with his briefcase overflowing with his imagination - out of which you catch the raven and the tell-tale heart, for two of his most well-known tales.

Another morning I stopped in at Trident Booksellers, along the main shopping street, Newbury St. After browsing and heading up the creative book-spine stairs, I sat at the "bar" for some breakfast in their cafe, and read the Boston book I had gotten at Brattle.

Later, I went to the Boston Public Library. I had been here before, too, but only as a brief visit. I wanted to sit and write for a while this time. It was jam packed with students and tourists. But what a gorgeous library - marble and artwork everywhere. This is a true testament to a time when reading and literature was valued highly for the public to access and enjoy. This is the golden age of American libraries - they don't make them like this anymore. While the grand reading room was packed, I managed to find a seat when I reached the center of the room, gleefully sitting down at the table full of students, got out my travel journal and wrote for quite a while. Enjoying the ambience of quiet, the names of the great authors etched in gold near the ceiling circling the whole room, and the famous green shaded lamps, tourists walking by every minute or two. I was just blending in (pretending) like I belonged there.

The next library I spent time in was a private library called the Boston Athenaeum. Holding more than 500,000 books over 5 floors and an amazing tightly packed "drum" of metal shelves that spanned between the floors, this historic and beautiful library is a members-only library. However, if you want to buy a day pass, you can be a member for the day, which is what I did. Naturally I wanted to be able to search all the books and spend a whole day there researching, specifically the Boston authors. I had made a list of books to look for whilst I was there, and I enjoyed the hunt. One employee even asked if I needed help finding some books, or if I was enjoying the hunt. He understood. Maybe he saw me ogling over a Dante book from the 1800s. I tend to get distracted in libraries like this, finding way more than I can possible read in the day. I had to keep myself to the mission at hand - researching Boston authors. I sat in several locations and hunted for books, finding 5 over the course of my day. I got to search in the drum (which felt a lot like the Gladstone Link in the Bodleian) finding 3 of my books amongst those shelves. It was just lovely spending a day there. It is a well-used library. It was very busy I was afraid I would not get a seat when I went up to the 5th floor. 

Then, off to visit the charming area of Beacon Hill, where many of these Boston authors lived. Beacon Hill Books and Cafe is a newer spot (maybe 2-3 years old) in a fully restored 3 floor building. It is gorgeous inside, no detail is missed in the interior design and displays. I browsed and got many ideas, but decided on a Barbara Pym book that looked very Autumnal, and walked a block or two to Blank Street Coffee and sat to start reading the book over an iced matcha. I finished reading that book on the plane back home.

This was all walking distance - what a joy! And the perfect time of year - Autumn tones and chilly air. Perfect for bookish adventures.