(University of Massachusetts Press) Although the Boston Athenaeum was founded in 1807 as a repository for books, it was from the outset much more than a library. According to Wolff, the Athenaeum became a breeding ground for evolving notions of cultural authority and American identity, attracting a following that included influential writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry James. Governed by the Boston elite, the early Athenaeum nevertheless reflected the conflicting aims and motives of its membership: even as Athenaeum leaders sought to establish themselves as guardians of a burgeoning American culture, they attempted to balance their goals with their concerns about an increasingly democratic urban populace. The author argues that the Boston Athenaeum, which later opened its doors to women as well as men outside its inner circle, eventually came to define itself against a more accessible literary institution – the Boston Public Library. Katherine Wolff is an independent scholar.
