Salem Athenaeum

The Salem Athenæum is a library in sponsorship from a same private club in Salem, Massachusetts.

History

She went in 1810 from the merger, which was founded in 1760 Salem Social Library, which was founded in 1781 and Salem Philosophical Library forth. How these two predecessor institutions is organized as a private company read the Athenæum; Maintenance and enhancements of the stock shall be paid from contributions of members, which in turn thus securing the right to use and borrow. The foundation stock of the Philosophical Library is the 116 -volume private library of the Irish scholar Richard Kirwan ( 1733-1812 ) who in 1781 captured the privateer Pilgrim during the American War of Independence in an attack on the British Duke of Gloucester in the Irish Sea. Today, the stock of the Athenaeum comprises approximately 50,000 volumes.

The library was initially distributed to the private homes of several prominent members, first in the 1850s, built the club, made ​​possible through an inheritance, a private library building; this was sold in 1905 and now houses the Peabody Essex Museum. From the sale proceeds, the association funded the construction of the present library building ( completed 1907), which is held in late Federal-style.