Looking Backward
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Isabella Stewart Gardner turns 173
“Every year,” writes Patricia Vigderman, “on her birthday, April 14, a Mass is still said in the chapel she installed on the third floor of that palace. I attended the seventy-ninth performance of the ritual, where I sat beside a long wooden carving that unfurls the injunction to say only good of the dead. I … Continue reading
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The flight from Boston to New York would take one hour forty-five minutes. It was the mid 1920s: a happening time between world wars. The United State Postal Service had successfully proved its experiment in putting excess planes to work ferrying mail from coast to coast, so that the government felt confident putting its airmail … Continue reading
In 1812, William Croswell, an “early nineteenth century eccentric“ – otherwise known for writing little-read, obscure books about astronomy, creating a well-received map of the stars (the first American star-map), and incurring debts to friends – was hired by Harvard to produce a new printed catalog for the library. The library contained about 20,000 books, … Continue reading
Photo of a downtown fountain for thirsty horses via Boston Public Library’s Flickr stream. Would take one of these for people right about now. The ASPCA, founded in 1866 spread to many American cities, and lobbied on behalf of draft horses.This scene was already on the wane in the 1920s. Horses were superseded by electric … Continue reading
