Boston of to-day; a glance at its history and characteristicsWith biographical sketches and portraits of many of its professional and business men . ment he was succeeded by the George E. Ellis. Dr. Samuel A. Green hasbeen the librarian for many years. The classic freestone fagade of the BostonAthenpeum, on Beacon street, just above Tremontplace, from designs by Edward C. Cabot, well in-dicates the character of this structure. It wasbuilt as long ago as 1847-49, ^ ^ cost of about§200,000, — large for those days. Its style is that ofthe later Italian architecture, an excellent exampleof
Boston of to-day; a glance at its history and characteristicsWith biographical sketches and portraits of many of its professional and business men . ment he was succeeded by the George E. Ellis. Dr. Samuel A. Green hasbeen the librarian for many years. The classic freestone fagade of the BostonAthenpeum, on Beacon street, just above Tremontplace, from designs by Edward C. Cabot, well in-dicates the character of this structure. It wasbuilt as long ago as 1847-49, ^ ^ cost of about§200,000, — large for those days. Its style is that ofthe later Italian architecture, an excellent exampleof a Palladian palace front, says Charles A. Cum-mings in the Memorial History, with high base-ment of rusticated piers and round arches carryingan order of Corinthian pilasters with lofty windowsbetween, embellished with pedimented caps. Thebasement is of solid masonry, and the first floor issupported on ground arches of brick. The digni-fied vestibule contains the stairway which gives ac-cess to all parts of the house. On the first floor isa reading-room, with a room for works of fiction ad-joining, and also the delivery-desks. The library. CITY HALL. 46 BOSTON OF TO-DAY. hall occupies the whole of the second floor. Aniron balcony is attached to the walls, which isreached by several spiral staircases. This is one ofthe quietest, lightest, and most perfect reading-rooms in the city. The third floor is also used forlibrary purposes. Statues and busts in marble, aswell as paintings, serve the useful purpose of decora-tion throughout the building. Old Bostoniansrightly regard the Athenaeum as one of the choicestof the citys literary institutions. It had its originin the Anthology Club, a modest centre of lit-erary radiance in the little town, it has been called,organized by a number of literary gentlemen in1804. For a while its members edited and pub-lished the Monthly Anthology; or, Magazine ofPolite Literature; and in 1806 they established an Anthology Reading-room and Library
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