Books Through Time: "Reimagining a Colonial Library" at the Boston Athenaeum

By Jessica A. Kent
September 19, 2019

Thomas Bray had a literary vision.

Appointed commissary to Anglican churches in the newly-settled Colonies, the Reverend first devised a network of forty library locations scattered along the East Coast, then curated a collection of books that he deemed “necessary and useful” to send to each of them. Supported by funds he raised, Bray handpicked his selections for each Colonial library, and shipped them to their destinations.

In 1698, a collection of 221 books set sail from England to Boston. The books were stamped with the name of the King on the front and the words “DE BIBLIOTECA DE BOSTON” on the back, and were housed in King’s Chapel as their library of “necessary works.” As the American Revolution raged around the church, the books were stored away as the clergy, loyal to the King, fled. Unlike other libraries, this collection survived unscathed and unplundered. They eventually found their way to the Boston Theological Library in 1807, housed at First Church, and in 1823 were presented to the Boston Athenaeum. Since 1911 they have been kept in a specially made cabinet on the third floor.

It’s these very books, shipped from England before the United States even existed, hidden from the ravages of the Revolutionary War, that are on display in the Athenaeum’s new exhibit “Required Reading: Reimagining a Colonial Library,” which opened Tuesday, September 17.

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