Experts' Choice Award Boston Athenaeum
What the experts agree on
This venerable private library houses over 600,000 volumes and rare manuscripts, hosting literary luminaries like Emerson and Hawthorne. Beyond its gilt-lettered collections sits a macabre curiosity: a book bound in human skin.
“The Boston Athenaeum is one of the nation's oldest private lending libraries.”
– Michelin Guide
Lonely Planet Top Choice
"An old and distinguished private library, having hosted the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne." Full review
Time Out "The Boston Athenæum published America's first literary magazine and acquired an extensive library of books and works of art." Full review
Condé Nast Traveler "This magnificent private library is tucked away behind red leather–bound doors with more than 600,000 volumes of gilt-lettered books and rare manuscripts." Full review
Not For Tourists "Old books, including one true crime account bound in the author's skin."
Where "This landmark is one of the city’s largest and oldest membership libraries and its first museum of fine arts." Full review
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Free admission to museum; donation of $5 requested for special exhibitions.
Atlas Obscura "A morbid secret lies hidden within the beautiful walls of the Boston Athenaeum. " Full review
Atlas Obscura "A morbid secret lies hidden within the beautiful walls of the Boston Athenaeum. " Full review
Frommer's "Mounts exhibits in the compact art gallery on the first floor... and schedules lectures, readings, concerts, and, on rare occasions, viewings." Full review
Time Out "The Boston Athenæum is one of the country's oldest independent libraries, with a circulating collection of over half a million books, including everything from books from the 1800s to the..."
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