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The Mercantile Library Association (1820-1952) of Boston was an organization dedicated to operating a subscription library, reading room and lecture series. Members included James T. Fields and Edwin Percy Whipple.〔Edwin Monroe Bacon. Literary Pilgrimages in New England to the Homes of Famous Makers of American Literature and Among Their Haunts and the Scenes of Their Writings. Silver, Burdett & Company, 1902.〕 Although the association had a relatively long history, its heyday occurred in the mid-19th century, particularly the 1840s and 1850s.〔For context, see: List of libraries in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts〕 == History == The association was organized in 1820, "to establish a library and reading room for the use of young men engaged in mercantile pursuits ...the first association of the kind in the United States." Founders included Theodore Lyman, J.G. Gibson, Samuel A. Otis, N.A. Barrett, Thomas Gorham, James T. Blanchard, Lynde M. Walter, Charles J. Johnson, Edward Codman, Henry A. David and Samuel W. Pomeroy.〔(A catalogue of books of the Mercantile Library Association of Boston ), together with the act of incorporation, and the by-laws and regulations adopted December 1, 1850. Printed for the Association by Damrell & Moore, 1850; p.3.〕 Initially the library operated from rooms in Merchants' Hall, Congress Street, and later moved to Harding's buildings on School Street (1836-1841), then to Amory Hall on Washington Street. The association underwent highs and lows through the years. After a decade of minimal growth, the association engaged in a successful fundraising effort in 1835, expanding its revenue and membership. Major benefactors included Abbott Lawrence.〔Shera. Foundations of the public library. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1949; p.232.〕 In 1836 "a severe calamity was experienced in the destruction, by fire, of the cabinet of curiosities, and several valuable paintings. Many of the books were also very much injured by water."〔A catalogue of books of the Mercantile Library Association. 1850; p.4.〕 Thereafter membership and activities were re-energized. In 1842 "the Boston Marine Society deposited with the Association their extensive cabinet of curiosities, containing about two thousand rare and valuable specimens.""〔A catalogue of books of the Mercantile Library Association. 1850; p.5.〕 The association was officially incorporated in 1845. In 1840 Edward Everett spoke to the association on "Accumulation, Property, Capital, Credit."〔Edward Everett. (Importance of practical education and useful knowledge ): being a selection from his orations and other discourses. Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1840; p.307+〕 In 1844 Ralph Waldo Emerson gave a lecture entitled "The Young American."〔Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Nature, and other miscellanies ). Milford, 1922; p.254+.〕 In 1847 Charles Sumner spoke on "White Slavery in the Barbary States."〔(The works of Charles Sumner ), Volume 1. Lee and Shepard, 1870; p.383+〕 Other speakers included Horace Mann; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.;〔Celebration of the 124th anniversary of the birthday of Washington. February 22, 1856. Boston: Watson's Press, 1856.〕 poet Park Benjamin, Sr.; George S. Boutwell; Thomas Greaves Cary; Rufus Choate; Caleb Cushing; George Stillman Hillard; William F. Sturgis; and Robert Charles Winthrop.〔Robert Charles Winthrop. Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions. Little, Brown, and Company, 1867.〕 By 1849, some 1,145 members belonged to the library. Library collections included 5,819 volumes.〔Merchants' magazine, Volume 21. 1849; p.135.〕〔Edward Edwards. A Statistical View of the Principal Public Libraries in Europe and the United States of North America. Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Aug., 1848)〕 Around 1851, the library occupied quarters on Province Street, at the corner of Bromfield Street.〔Boston Directory. 1851.〕 By 1861 until at least 1868, the library had moved to Summer Street.〔Boston Directory. 1861.〕〔Boston Directory. 1868.〕 In 1877 the association gave its collection of 18,000 books to the South End branch of the Boston Public Library, located in the basement of the association's building on Tremont Street and Newton Street. According to one historian, after 1881 "the Association, deprived of its library, entered upon a steadily less successful career as a social club that came to a dusty and inglorious end in 1952."〔Walter Muir Whitehill. Boston Public Library: a centennial history. Harvard Univ. Press, 1956. p.124-125.〕〔Horace G. Wadlin. The Public Library of the city of Boston: a history. Boston, 1911; p.113, 160.〕 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「Mercantile Library Association (Boston, Massachusetts)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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