Education: Where the Borrower Is King

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The great independent libraries of this country are known for their specialties. The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City has a fine collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts; the Folger in Washington, D.C., draws the world's leading Shakespeare scholars. The Athenaeum has eclectic holdings that follow the interests of its members. There is, of course, an extensive array of colonial books and paintings, as well as one of the country's largest collections of works published by the Confederate government. George Washington's personal library from Mount Vernon can be found in the trustees' room on the fourth floor. Elsewhere in the building is the country's leading collection of books on gypsies, plus the 213-volume William and Mary Library that Britain's King William III gave to Boston's King's Chapel in 1698. Historian Jacques Barzun, a mystery buff, recently drew on the Athenaeum's volumes of classic crime fiction.

The Athenaeum has maintained high artistic as well as literary standards. Gilbert Stuart had a studio at one of the library's earlier homes; works collected by the Athenaeum's trustees helped form the basis for Boston's magnificent Museum of Fine Arts. In 1978 the Athenaeum unexpectedly made newspaper headlines when it tried to sell the Stuart portraits of George and Martha Washington that had been on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts since 1876. Some Bostonians accused the Athenaeum of peddling the city's culture, so the Athenaeum worked out an arrangement in which the Museum of Fine Arts and the Smithsonian shared the cost and custody of the paintings.

The sale netted the library nearly $5 million to help repair the building, pay professional salaries and improve the security system.

The Boston Athenaeum does not try to do everything, but, says Director and Librarian Rodney Armstrong, "This institution has to excel in everything it does." In particular, the Athenaeum and the few distinguished independent research libraries like it are fulfilling a role increasingly neglected by universities hard-pressed to pay professors and educate students: preserving past treasures and supporting fine contemporary works. As part of its 175th-anniversary celebration, the Athenaeum last week opened an exhibit of Polaroid photography portraits by Boston Artist Marie Cosindas. Next month will be a retrospective of Athenaeum writers. With its collections and exhibits, the Athenaeum remains both custodian and patron. Says McCullough: "You go in there and you get a sense of the layers of civilization."

—By Ellie McGrath. Reported by Ruth Mehrtens Calvin/Boston