Podcasts about boston athenaeum

Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 109 –  Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the Boston Athenaeum in search of a rare book — the 1837 memoirs and deathbed confession of thief and highwayman James Allen, alias George Walton (among others). Allen's dying wish was to have one copy of the book bound in leather made from the skin of his own back. That one copy is embossed with the Latin: Hic Liber Waltonis Cute Compactus Est. — This book is bound in the skin of Walton. This episode first aired April 29, 2021   Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends    

In this episode, Eric sits down with Dr. Makeda Best — deputy director of Curatorial Affairs at the Oakland Museum of California…!  She shares how; at a young age became interested in photography… Early exposures and experiences that drew her to studying studio photography at CalArts, to eventually leading her to become a photography historian. How she began to trace the history of African Americans in California — where they settled after the Civil War…  She shares how African Americans first became interested in and exposed to photography… and the ways in which they participated in making photographs early on; as makers, sitters and consumers. From Frederick Douglass as one of the most imaged figures in the 19th Century, Sojourner Truth… to everyday people — and using the power of photography to combat stereotypes against black people.  The role it played in the abolitionist movement; picturing community, preserving and sharing.  Notable African American photographers such as James Presley Ball and Augustus Washington… They discuss James van der Zee and how he photographed the Harlem Renaissance  — using large group portraits; to document Families, weddings… capturing how vibrant the period was. The art, skill and science behind photography and the technological developments through the years… From photography studios, to itinerant photographers with traveling dark rooms. The works of Ansel Adams. Daguerreotype - metal based images and how by the 1860s — the arrival of card-based format, cartes-de-visite processes and mass production portraiture that created an influx in making images and portraits — and how African Americans were involved in that.The exhibition she curated for the Boston Athenaeum that centers around the photography albums gifted to Harriet Hayden from lawyer Robert Morris — that explores the world of the Boston-based abolitionist couple Lewis and Harriet Hayden. How photography and gifting culture played a role in the abolitionist movement, their home on Beacon Hill, housing African Americans and the extraordinary efforts of Harriet Hayden and the contributions she made to society. How the exhibition came about, the process of producing the show and what it aims to accomplish..!  Guest Bio: Makeda Best, Ph.D., is currently the Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA). Best comes to OMCA after serving at Harvard University Art Museums as Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography since 2017, and previously as Assistant Professor of Visual Studies at California College of the Arts. Her exhibitions at the Harvard Art Museums include Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography Since 1970, Crossing Lines, Constricting Home: Displacement and Belonging in Contemporary Art; Winslow Homer: Eyewitness; Time is Now: Photography and Social Change in James Baldwin's America, and Please Stay Home: Darrel Ellis in Conversation with Wardell Milan and Leslie Hewitt. Beyond photography, Best conceived of the Museums' curatorial ReFrame initiative, which aims to critically examine the museum and its collections. With Kevin Moore, she co-curated the 2022 FotoFocus Biennial exhibition, On the Line – Documents of Risk and Faith. Her current exhibition project with the Boston Athenaeum explores the world of the Boston-based abolitionist couple Lewis and Harriet Hayden. Best has contributed to multiple exhibition catalogues, journals, and scholarly publications. She co-edited Conflict, Identity, and Protest in American Art (2015). She is the author of Elevate the Masses: Alexander Gardner, Photography and Democracy in 19th Century America. Her exhibition catalogue, Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970 (2022), was awarded the Photography Catalogue of the Year Award at the 2022 Paris Photo-Aperture PhotoBook Awards.

Although Louisa May Alcott is most often associated with Concord, Massachusetts, where her family lived in several different homes over the course of her lifetime, Alcott made much of her life in Boston. She was a city person who loved the hustle and movement of the city compared to sleepy, dull Concord.In this episode, we are joined by Michele Steinberg of Boston by Foot tours, who takes us through Beacon Hill and to the Boston Athenaeum to hear many stories about Alcott's different experiences in Boston and her travels there.Let Genius Burn is the podcast about the life and legacy of Louisa May Alcott, co-hosted by Jill Fuller and Jamie Burgess. Visit letgeniusburn.com for more information.

In this episode, Dr. Hettie V. Williams is in conversation with Dr. Makeda Best. Williams is the current director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture at UMass Boston and Best is the Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Oakland Museum of California where she overseas the curatorial collections and production departments. She was formerly a curator and head of the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at Harvard Art Museums. Some of her exhibitions include Time is Now: Photography and Social Change in James Baldwin's America and Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography Since 1970. Best is also a writer, historian and author and the current curator of Framing Freedom: The Harriet Hayden Albums that recently opened at the Boston Athenaeum. Hayden was a 19th century Beacon Hill based abolitionist and social justice advocate. She was also a collector of photo albums that were given to her by prominent Bostonians. These albums that tell us about Black abolitionists, their public identities, and private lives are the subject of this exhibit and the focus of the conversation in this show. The focus of this exhibit is on two photo albums in particular owned by Harriet Hayden that contain 87 cartes-de-visite (small portrait photograph mounted on a piece of card) that help to tell us about Black material culture, social activism, and the daily lives of key figures in the abolitionist movement in Boston. For more information on the Framing Freedom exhibit click here: Harriet Hayden Albums 

Meet  Leah Rososvky, Director of the Boston Athenaeum, one of the country's oldest and most distinguished independent libraries, with a circulating collection of over half a million books, from works published in the 1800s to the latest best sellers. Special collections include active research holdings of 100,000 rare books, maps and manuscripts, and 100,000 works of art, from paintings and sculpture to prints and photographs.  The Boston Athenaeum isa national treasure -  a unique combination of library, museum, and cultural center in a magnificent landmark building.

One of the oldest independent libraries in the country is offering visitors a chance to explore their creativity in a new program. WBZ's Carl Stevens reports.

Welcome to our last episode of the year! We reflect on our 2023 reading intentions, announce our 2024 readalong theme, and have a delightful conversation with Australian author Pip Williams to cap off our year of reading Books About Books. Some of the books we just read & discuss: – THE HELSINKI AFFAIR by Anna Pitoniak – THE QUEEN OF DIRT ISLAND by Donal Ryan – UNNATURAL DEATH by Patricia Cornwell – THE MAID by Nita Prose – THE BOOKBINDER by Pip Williams In Biblio Adventures, we had a wonderful joint jaunt to Glastonbury, CT where we shopped at River Bend Bookshop's new location and then walked wide-eyed through the gorgeously renovated Welles-Turner Memorial Library. Emily visited her daughter in Michigan and returned to Bay Books in Suttons Bay where she purchased THE RECIPE BOX by Viola Shipman. Chris attended two virtual events: Robert Darnton's talk at the Boston Athenaeum about his new book, THE REVOLUTIONARY TEMPER: PARIS, 1748-1790, and Alan B. Farmer's lecture on “Lost Books: The Dark Matter of the Early Modern English Book Trade” at the Harry Ransom Center. Thank you all for a fantastic year of books, authors, libraries, bookstores, and, in a few cases, mushrooms and mosquitos. Happy Reading!

Gregory Scruggs takes us to one of the oldest libraries in the US to explore its fascinating role in Boston's history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum showcases images of Boston taken 30 years apart by photographers Berenice Abbott and Irene Shwachman. Radio Boston spoke with assistant curator Lauren Graves about the photographers.

Author Spotlight: Chris and Emily have a great time talking with Fancy Feast about her new (and debut) essay collection, NAKED: ON SEX, WORK, AND OTHER BURLESQUES. We bid adieu to Scarlet Summer with a recap of our Biblio Adventure to Boston where we visited sites related to Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first stop was the land upon which Brook Farm operated in West Roxbury, MA where we hiked to the crumbling foundation of Margaret Fuller's cottage. In Boston's historic district, we had lunch at Chipotle, the current tenant of the Old Corner Bookstore, saw Elizebeth Pain's headstone in King's Chapel Burial Ground, and took a tour of the Boston Athenaeum. We ended the day with a stroll down Pinckney Street, a block where, at different times, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and the Thoreaus all lived and where Elizabeth Peabody held her kindergarten (the first in America). While on vacation at the Cape, Emily visited Herridge Bookstore, the Provincetown Bookshop, Tim's Used Books, the Provincetown Public Library, and the Eldredge Public Library. She also read WELLNESS by Nathan Hill and NAKED by Fancy Feast. Chris was a guest on Shawn the Book Maniac's BookTube channel where she shows and talks about two bookmarks from her childhood (which were made in Emily's hometown!). She got a lot of reading in and finished ADVERSITY FOR SALE by Jay Jeezy Jenkins, MONSTERS: A FANS DILEMMA by Clair Dederer (which she buddy read with BookTuber Britta of The Second Shelf), THE SEPTEMBER HOUSE by Carissa Orlando, and two kids's books: WHEN A PET DIES by Fred Rogers and STAIRWAY TO DOOM by Robert Quackenbush. Reminder that our 4th Quarter Readalong is THE BOOKBINDER by Pip Williams. Email us (bookcougars@gmail.com) if you'd like to join our Zoom discussion on Sunday, December 3rd at 7 p.m. ET.

The Boston Athenaeum; Mass General and Mclean hospitals; Perkins School for the Blind are just few institutions funded by opium money.

The Boston Athenaeum got some visitors from the Boston Fire Department today, including the Commissioner. WBZ's Carl Stevens explains why.

It burned for 12 hours and destroyed nearly 800 buildings. But 151 years later, the Great Boston Fire of 1872 is just a memory for many Bostonians. A new exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum aims to examine its legacy. 

In this conversation, Russett and Lauren discuss, among other things:What constitutes a photobookThe evolution of the photobookGendered discrepancies and the inequity of access and privilegeA lack and/or ambiguity of attribution or authorshipThe personal and political visual voice of womenThe artist's concept as a driving forceTelling your own storyThe image as an agent for social change Sequencing a narrativeContext, form and contentPublication and distributionThe serendipity of open stacksThe multiplicity of ways to read a photobook

Today on Boston Public Radio: We began the show by talking about the Boston City Council's vote to lower the local voting age to 16. Shirley Leung talked about the differences in the ways that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and New York City Mayor Eric Adams handle mental illness and homelessness, as well as her latest piece on the “Great Rethink” about the ways that we work. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe. Corby Kummer discussed the latest food headlines, including the issue of water insecurity, Whole Foods putting lobster on hold over whaling concerns, and the meaninglessness of expiration dates. Kummer is the executive director of the food and society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Sue O'Connell shared her thoughts on the Respect for Marriage Act passing in the Senate, more controversy at Balenciaga, Elon Musk abusing monkeys for his neuralink project, and "gaslighting" becoming Merriam Webster's word of the year. O'Connell is the co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News, and contributor to Current on NBC LX and NECN. Jared Bowen gave us the latest on greater Boston arts: the return of Boston Athenaeum, “Twas the Night Before” at the Boch Center, and Harry Benson at the Addison Gallery. He also discussed the recent New York Times profile on the woman who gets to dust Michaelangelo's David. Bowen is GBH's executive arts editor. Christina Day Martinson and Ann McMahon Quintero of Boston Baroque joined us ahead of performances of Handel's Messiah this weekend at GBH to chat and play some music. Martinson is concertmaster for Boston Baroque, and Quintero is a mezzo-soprano soloist in their rendition of Handel's "Messiah." We ended the show by asking listeners what they think about having dogs in the office.

Violist Ashleigh Gordon and pianist Anthony R. Green were students at the New England Conservatory of Music and were frustrated by the lack of representation of Black voices in classical music. So, in 2013, they co-founded Castle of our Skins—a music initiative in Boston focused on celebrating Black artistry in music. Ashleigh Gordon is the organization's artistic and executive director as well as violist who performs in many of the concerts. From its successful first outing, “Castle of our Skins”—the name comes from a poem by Nikki Giovanni—has grown into a distinguished concert and music education series with creative programming that weaves music with visual art, dance, history, and storytelling.  In this podcast, Gordon talks about the organization's founding, how its mission has evolved and expanded throughout the years, the centrality of interdisciplinary work and partnerships to its programming, and how, as a Black arts organization, Castle of our Skins, which received an ARP grant from the NEA, is moving forward through “a health pandemic and a racial pandemic.” Follow Art Works on Apple Podcasts! You can listen to Castle of our Skins's YouTube channel here. Music Excerpts from today's podcast: “Love Let The Wind Cry...How I Adore Thee" by Undine Smith Moore, performed by soprano Sirgourney Cook and pianist Sarah Bob. Performed live May 26, 2018 at Hibernian Hall, Boston as part of Castle of our Skins's "Ain't I a Woman" project.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GV-bTW740 “Wade in the Water” from Spiritual Fantasy No 12 by Frederick Tillis, performed by Gabriela Díaz, violin; Matthew Vera, violin; Francesca McNeeley, cello; Ashleigh Gordon, viola. Recorded live in the Boston Athenaeum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c68p3p_JT1g “Positive Negativity” by Gary Powell Nash, performed by Ashleigh Gordon, viola and Anthony R. Green, from Castle of our Skins's Black Composer Miniature Challenge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlkrqPTkLl0  

Violist Ashleigh Gordon and pianist Anthony R. Green were students at the New England Conservatory of Music and were frustrated by the lack of representation of Black voices in classical music. So, in 2013, they co-founded Castle of our Skins—a music initiative in Boston focused on celebrating Black artistry in music. Ashleigh Gordon is the organization's artistic and executive director as well as violist who performs in many of the concerts. From its successful first outing, “Castle of our Skins”—the name comes from a poem by Nikki Giovanni—has grown into a distinguished concert and music education series with creative programming that weaves music with visual art, dance, history, and storytelling.  In this podcast, Gordon talks about the organization's founding, how its mission has evolved and expanded throughout the years, the centrality of interdisciplinary work and partnerships to its programming, and how, as a Black arts organization, Castle of our Skins, which received an ARP grant from the NEA, is moving forward through “a health pandemic and a racial pandemic.” Follow Art Works on Apple Podcasts! You can listen to Castle of our Skins's YouTube channel here. Music Excerpts from today's podcast: “Love Let The Wind Cry...How I Adore Thee" by Undine Smith Moore, performed by soprano Sirgourney Cook and pianist Sarah Bob. Performed live May 26, 2018 at Hibernian Hall, Boston as part of Castle of our Skins's "Ain't I a Woman" project.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GV-bTW740 “Wade in the Water” from Spiritual Fantasy No 12 by Frederick Tillis, performed by Gabriela Díaz, violin; Matthew Vera, violin; Francesca McNeeley, cello; Ashleigh Gordon, viola. Recorded live in the Boston Athenaeum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c68p3p_JT1g “Positive Negativity” by Gary Powell Nash, performed by Ashleigh Gordon, viola and Anthony R. Green, from Castle of our Skins's Black Composer Miniature Challenge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlkrqPTkLl0  

Today we're talking about some new arrivals to the shop: Boston Directories from the 1800's. Like a precursor to the modern day phone book (or, come to think of it, the slightly less antique phone book) these directories listed the residents of the city of Boston with their addresses and occupations, as well as local businesses and public officials. Perhaps most fascinatingly, they also included a map of the city, which grew steadily from edition to edition as hills were flattened and bodies of water filled in to create new land and new neighborhoods, including the Back Bay, Chinatown, and the Financial District. If you're not able to make it into the shop to see them in person, you can view some Directories in the Boston Athenaeum's digital collections here.

We talk with Boston Athenaeum's Assistant Curator, Virginia “Ginny” Badgett. She gives us a look at a day in the life of a curator, and she interprets and shares some special pieces from their collection related to Rhode Island's robust history. Follow along with the links below: Piece 1: Gilbert Stuart's 1826 portrait of William Smith Shaw Piece 2: Diary of Kate Birckhead, 1865 August 5-1873 October 8 Piece 3: Elizabeth Goddard's 2006 monotype A Playful Sea II --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rhodyradio/message

In Episode 193, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the Boston Athenaeum in search of a rare book -- the 1837 memoirs and deathbed confession of thief and highwayman James Allen, alias George Walton (among others). Allen’s dying wish was to have one copy of the book bound in leather made from the skin of his own back. That one copy is embossed with the Latin: Hic Liber Waltonis Cute Compactus Est. - This book is bound in the skin of Walton.

In this episode, Janis Cannon, Senior Vice President of Upscale Brands, Choice Hotels, speaks with Leah Rosovsky, Director of the Boston Athenaeum, about the library's inspiring literary and cultural collections, and the intersection between literature and travel.

America's oldest private library is the Boston Athenaeum.  Inside is a book so rare that it requires an advance appointment to view.       And here's what makes the book so unique   It is the only book written by James Allen, a man who was orphaned early – who grew up in an unfriendly world – who made his way through life as a burglar, a street thief, and a highwayman.  He was a man who died in prison in 1837 at the age of 28, and yet, while incarcerated – produced a book worthy of inclusion in the rarified air of the Boston Athenaeum.       Stories from History's Dust Bin is a 3-volume set of historical short stories.  These are the nuggets of gold that had fallen by the wayside… the little known and unusual.  Many of these gems were destined to be forever lost until they were collected, dusted off and brought back to life by author Wayne Winterton.   Each podcast episode features one of over 450 short stories from either Winterton's Award-Winning Stories from Dust Bin series* or the companion volume, From Ace to Zamboni: 101 More Dust Bin Stories, as narrated by either the author or his son, William, or daughter, Jana.   If you enjoy today's episode, please leave us 5 stars and a glowing review on iTunes!  And if you don't want to wait a whole week to hear another story from the Dust Bin, consider picking up the books on Amazon (either downloadable or good ol' fashioned ink and paper).   The Entire History's Dust Bin Collection Is Available On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bDrip4

We talk with Boston Athenaeum’s Assistant Curator, Virginia “Ginny” Badgett. She gives us a look at a day in the life of a curator, and she interprets and shares some special pieces from their collection related to Rhode Island’s robust history. Follow along with the links below: Piece 1: Gilbert Stuart's 1826 portrait of William Smith Shaw Piece 2: Diary of Kate Birckhead, 1865 August 5-1873 October 8 Piece 3: Elizabeth Goddard's 2006 monotype A Playful Sea II -- Music by vikassinghchhonker from Pixabay and NadiaCripps from Pixabay --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rhodyradio/message

Stephen Dupont is an Australian artist, photographer and documentary filmmaker working mostly on long-term personal projects. Born in Sydney in 1967, Stephen grew up in the western suburbs and Southern Highlands under tough social conditions and displacement, with social worker parents, who were full-time carers of state wards. Stephen is recognised around the world for his concerned photography on the human condition, war and climate. His images have received international acclaim for their artistic integrity and valuable insight into the people, culture and communities that are fast disappearing from our world.Stephen’s work has earned him some of photography’s most prestigious prizes, including a 2005 Robert Capa Gold Medal citation and the 2015 Olivier Rebbot Award from the Overseas Press Club of America; a Bayeux War Correspondent’s Prize; and first places in the World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the Australian Walkleys, and Leica/CCP Documentary Award. In 2007 he was the recipient of the W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography for his ongoing project on Afghanistan. In 2010 he received the Gardner Fellowship at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology.In 2017 Stephen’s one-man theatrical show Don't Look Away world premiered at the Museum of Old & New Art (MONA) in Tasmania as part of  Mona Mofo (MONA's festival of Music and Art). Performances continued at Sydney's Eternity Playhouse Theatre, the Museum of Contemporary Art MCA and at the Melbourne Writers Festival.Stephen has twice been an official war artist for the Australian War Memorial for his photography, with commissions in The Solomon Islands (2013) and Afghanistan (2012). He holds a Masters degree in Philosophy and is regularly invited to give public talks in Australia and around the world about photography, film and his life. His work has been featured in more or less all of the world’s most prestigious magazines and he has held major exhibitions in London, Paris, New York, Sydney, Canberra, Tokyo, and Shanghai, and at Perpignan’s Visa Pour L’Image, China’s Ping Yao and Holland’s Noorderlicht festivals. Stephen’s handmade photographic artist books and portfolios are in some of the world's leading collections, including, the National Gallery of Australia, The New York Public Library, Berlin and Munich National Art Libraries, Stanford University, Yale University, Boston Athenaeum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Joy of Giving Something Inc. On episode 137, Stephen discusses, among other things:Reassessing his archive during CovidHow and why he first began making artists booksThe question of how one labels and thinks about themselvesStill having the wanderlust for travelHis new environmental project, Are We Dead Yet?His unusual childhood and the impact of his dad’s death when he was 13His desire to escape the suburbs and to travelHis early travels and how India was an influence on him becoming a photographerWhy live music photography was a good training groundThe influence of Don McCullinWhy he came back from his first war in Sri Lanka feeling like he’d failedDealing with the emotional fall out of witnessing conflictHis love of Afghanistan and the close shave he had thereHIs first book, Steam Referenced:Colin JacobsonGerhard SteidlDanny LyonJim GoldbergPeter BeardDon McCullinThe Great GameNick DanzigerRudyard KiplingSusie PriceWebsite | Instagram | Facebook“The photographs are easy. Processing the emotion is the hard thing.”

A radio interview with Lizabeth Cohen, author of the new book, Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age, reminds Ken of the Brattle’s own struggle with urban renewal. Logue was head of the Boston Redevelopment Agency when, in the 1960’s, the city demolished most of Scollay Square, a vibrant but increasingly seedy entertainment district - and original home of the Brattle Book Shop. Most of the area was replaced with the I.M. Pei designed Government Center, a monumental plaza of modernist buildings which many consider cold and alienating. Although Ken’s father, George Gloss, together with the Boston Athenaeum, raised enough of an outcry to save a few historic buildings from the wrecking ball, the Brattle itself was displaced. It would be the first of seven moves for the plucky book shop, one of which was occasioned by a catastrophic fire, but the Brattle endured, with a great deal of personality and help from the community; eventually landing in the West Street location where it thrives today.

A highway robber with many aliases lay on his deathbed after contracting a bad flu.  He dictated his life story to his captors before succumbing to his illness in July of 1837.  His captors published the highwayman’s story posthumously with the title: Narrative of the life of James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the highwayman. Being his death-bed confession, to the warden of the Massachusetts State Prison.  The story he tells details common robbery, horse theft, jewel trafficking, many jailbreaks, and several yellings of the phrase “Your money or your life!” with pistols drawn. The book might have passed into obscurity if it weren’t for a dirty grey leatherbound copy that resides at The Boston Athenaeum. It bears a Latin inscription on its front cover: “HIC LIBER WALTONIS CUTE COMPACTUS EST” or (roughly), “This book is bound in Walton’s skin.” As legend has it, the highwayman Allen (aka. Walton) requested that his memoirs be gifted to a man whom he once tried and failed to rob, Mr. John Fenno Jr.  Further, the highwayman requested that the book be bound in his own skin.Books bound in human skin are rare, though not unheard of.  As of publish date, the Anthropodermic Book Project has confirmed 18 such books, and identified another 12 books previously thought to be human, but revealed to be of more customary leathers.  Narrative of the life of James Allen… resides in the former category, being confirmed as human skin via a test called Peptide Mass Fingerprinting.Dawn Walus, Chief Conservator at the Boston Athenaeum told HBM host Jeff Emtman that when they sent a sample of the book’s binding off for PMF testing, she and other athenaeum staff hoped the results would come back negative.  Dawn considers the binding to be a bit of spectacle, and a distraction from the hundreds of thousands of other books in their collection, “I don’t think we want to be known as ‘the place that has the skin book.’…It seems out of place today.”Producer: Jeff EmtmanEditor: Jeff EmtmanMusic: The Black Spot, Phantom Fauna

A highway robber with many aliases lay on his deathbed after contracting a bad flu. He dictated his life story to his captors before succumbing to his illness in July of 1837. His captors published the highwayman's story posthumously with the title: Narrative of the life of James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the highwayman. Being his death-bed confession, to the warden of the Massachusetts State Prison. The story he tells details common robbery, horse theft, jewel trafficking, many jailbreaks, and several yellings of the phrase “Your money or your life!” with pistols drawn. The book might have passed into obscurity if it weren't for a dirty grey leatherbound copy that resides at The Boston Athenaeum. It bears a Latin inscription on its front cover: “HIC LIBER WALTONIS CUTE COMPACTUS EST” or (roughly), “This book is bound in Walton's skin.” As legend has it, the highwayman Allen (aka. Walton) requested that his memoirs be gifted to a man whom he once tried and failed to rob, Mr. John Fenno Jr. Further, the highwayman requested that the book be bound in his own skin.Books bound in human skin are rare, though not unheard of. As of publish date, the Anthropodermic Book Project has confirmed 18 such books, and identified another 12 books previously thought to be human, but revealed to be of more customary leathers. Narrative of the life of James Allen… resides in the former category, being confirmed as human skin via a test called Peptide Mass Fingerprinting.Dawn Walus, Chief Conservator at the Boston Athenaeum told HBM host Jeff Emtman that when they sent a sample of the book's binding off for PMF testing, she and other athenaeum staff hoped the results would come back negative. Dawn considers the binding to be a bit of spectacle, and a distraction from the hundreds of thousands of other books in their collection, “I don't think we want to be known as ‘the place that has the skin book.'…It seems out of place today.”Producer: Jeff EmtmanEditor: Jeff EmtmanMusic: The Black Spot, Phantom Fauna

Seasons in the Abyss by Slayer.  Nathan finds himself with a case of Schrödinger's Affect, Cameron plays Dungeon Master in a game of Lotion 'n' Loofahs, and Slayer s'ports the troops. Learnin' Links: Ed Gein Book bound in human skin in the Boston Athenaeum "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" Tyler, the Creator "I'm so mad I’m gonna bust a nut!" Donald Trump's racist comments about the Central Park Five Listen along to Seasons in the Abyss here! You can support us in several ways: Kick us a few bux on Patreon! By becoming a supporting member, you'll gain access to special bonus episodes, including a weekly mini-show, What's in the Box Weekly! Buy T-shirts, sweatshirts, and more at our merch page! Full text of "Tyler, hello, it's nice to meet you. I like your songs.": Verse One: Hell is going to be other people. On their knees the war pig's crawling People discriminate against white people. Look into my eyes you'll see who I am Chorus: Tyler, hello, it's nice to meet you. I like your songs. Same old no tomorrow kicked in the face Boy howdy I'm about to pop my top. It's number is six hundred and sixty six Verse Two: Suffering sucatash! Always takin' baby out that's o.k. I shit myself. They seem to mesmerize... can't avoid their eyes Chorus: Tyler, hello, it's nice to meet you. I like your songs. Same old no tomorrow kicked in the face Boy howdy I'm about to pop my top. It's number is six hundred and sixty six Chorus to fade

The Skin Book was written by highwayman George Walton and dedicated to the only man to best him in combat.  While he was a prisoner at Charlestown Penitentiary, Walton wrote a memoir.  According to his wishes, after his death, the book was bound in Walton's own skin and given to the man who defeated him.  Today, this example of anthropodermic bibliopegy is a prized possession of the Boston Athenaeum. Show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/044

After an inspiring weekend in Boston we have a lo…

After an inspiring weekend in Boston we have a lo…

June 30, 2016 at the Boston Athenæum. An impressive panel of Athenæum members who have used the institution’s collections in their scholarly research will each select one object on display in the current exhibition, Collecting for the Boston Athenaeum in the 21st Century: Prints & Photographs, and discuss how that object is relevant to their work. Scholars at the Exhibition will illustrate the wide variety of ways in which the Athenæum’s collections are used by academic and independent scholars.

Stephen Kinzer discussing his work at the Boston Athenaeum on February 25, 2014.

Author, Katherine Wolff

By the time James Boswell published his monumental biography of his friend Samuel Johnson in 1791, the latter’s life had been more fully documented than virtually any other figure in Western history. But Johnson, the famed lexicographer and man of letters, was also the subject of various forms of visual documentation. Richard Wendorf , Stanford Calderwood Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, surveys all of the known portrayals of Johnson, including the famous portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds now at The Huntington.

By the time James Boswell published his monumental biography of his friend Samuel Johnson in 1791, the latter’s life had been more fully documented than virtually any other figure in Western history. But Johnson, the famed lexicographer and man of letters, was also the subject of various forms of visual documentation. Richard Wendorf , Stanford Calderwood Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, surveys all of the known portrayals of Johnson, including the famous portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds now at The Huntington.