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The Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (est. 1829) in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded "to promote and direct popular education by lectures and other means." Modelled after the recently formed Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in London, the Boston group's officers included Daniel Webster, Nathan Hale, Jacob Bigelow, William Ellery Channing, Edward Everett, Nathaniel L. Frothingham, and Abbott Lawrence.〔Salem Gazette; Date: 09-11-1829〕〔Daily Atlas (Boston); Date: 10-07-1841〕〔Elected President. The Sun (Baltimore); Date: 10-05-1842〕 The society published the ''American Library of Useful Knowledge,'' a series of scholarly works by British and American authors.〔Rhode Island American and Gazette; Date: 07-15-1831〕 Public lectures on a variety of topics were held at Boston's Masonic Temple, and other venues. ==History== In 1829 the founders explained their reasons for creating the society: "From infancy to the age of seventeen, the means provided in this city by public munificence and private enterprise, are ample. From seventeen to the age when young men enter on the more active and responsible duties of their several stations, sufficient opportunity does not appear to be afforded for mental and moral cultivation. At this period of life, when the mind is active and the passions urgent, and when the invitations to profitless amusements are strongest and most numerous, it is desirable that means should be provided for furnishing at a cheap rate, and in an inviting form, such useful information as will not only add to the general intelligence of the young men referred to, but at the same time will prepare them to engage more understandingly, with a deeper interest, and with better prospect of success, in the pursuits to which their lives are to be devoted. Thus each year the society arranged several public lectures on substantial themes, delivered by substantial thinkers such as Horace Mann, George Bancroft and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Among the lecture attendees was Caroline Healey Dall.〔Helen R. Deese. Alcott's Conversations on the Transcendentalists: The Record of Caroline Dall. American Literature, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar., 1988), pp. 17-25.〕 In addition, as part of the society's effort to improve the minds of its members, it published a reading list. The short list of titles "recommended to those members of the Society, who may seek any direction as to the matter and the course of their reading" consisted of:〔(Mechanicks Magazine, and Journal of Publick Internal Improvement ), v.1, no.4, May 1830, p. 128.〕 * David Hume's ''History of England'' * Walter Scott's ''History of Scotland'' * William Robertson's ''History of America'' * John Marshall's ''History of the American Colonies'' * Thomas Hutchinson's, George Richards Minot's〔WorldCat. (Minot, George Richards 1758-1802 )〕 and Alden Bradford's Histories of Massachusetts〔WorldCat. (Bradford, Alden 1765-1843 )〕 * Caleb Snow's ''History of Boston'' * William Gordon's American Revolution〔William Gordon. (The history of the rise, progress and establishment of the independence of the United States of America ): including an account of the late war, and of the thirteen colonies. v.1 of 3rd American ed. (NY: S. Campbell, 1801)〕 * Henry Lee's Southern Campaigns〔Henry Lee. Memoirs of the war in the southern department of the United States. Phila.: Bradford and Inskeep, 1812. (v.1 )〕 * John Marshall's Life of Washington * Washington Irving's ''A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus'' * Life of Franklin, James Otis, Patrick Henry, Josiah Quincy, Fulton, the Signers of the Declaration of Independence * 1st vol. of Malte Brun's Geography * Timothy Flint's ''Valley of the Mississippi''〔Timothy Flint. The history and geography of the Mississippi valley, (2nd ed. ) Cincinnati: E.H. Flint and L.R. Lincoln, 1832〕 * William Paley's ''Natural Theology'' * John Mason Good's ''Book of Nature'' * Jane Marcet's ''Conversations on Vegetable Physiology and Elements of Botany'' * Isaac Ray's ''Conversations on Animal Economy'' * Stewart's and Thomas Brown's ''Philosophy of the Mind'' * Neil Arnott's ''Elements of Physicks'' * Jacob Bigelow's ''Technology'' * William Paley's Moral Philosophy * Adam Ferguson on Civil Society * William Blackstone's ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' * 1st vol. of James Kent's ''Commentaries on American Law'' * Works of Alexander Hamilton * Alexander Hill Everett's Europe and America〔Alexander Hill Everett. (America: or, A general survey of the political situation of the several powers of the western continent ), with conjectures on their future prospects. Phila.: H.C. Carey & I. Lea, 1827〕 * Jean-Baptiste Say's Political Economy * Willard Phillips on Insurance〔WorldCat. (Phillips, Willard )〕 The society also donated money for purchase of books to Boston's Mercantile Library Association and the Mechanic Apprentices Library Association.〔Daily Atlas (Boston); Date: 08-08-1844〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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