Excerpt from Handbook of the New Public Library in Boston The new building of the Boston Public Library, the pioneer in the United States of free libraries supported by general taxation, and the most important of all American libraries, may well be called the most beautiful library structure in the world, as it certainly is one of the noblest public buildings in this country. It occupies the central and most conspicuous position in Copley Square. Facing upon Dartmouth Street, the Library extends back along Boylston Street and Blagden Street on either side, its rear wall overlooking the yard of the Harvard Medical School. It is surrounded by some of the most notable buildings in Boston, including, besides the Medical School, Trinity Church, the masterpiece of the late H. H. Richardson, the best known of American architects; the Museum of Fine Arts, next to the Metropolitan Museum, in New York, the best in the country; and, across Boylston Street from the Library, the Old South Church, the home of the society whose former home, the Old South Meeting-House in Washington Street, is a landmark of American history. The Library was founded in 1852. Its growth and development were rapid and sure, and in 1880 the old building in Boylston Street, opposite the Common, contained more than three hundred thousand volumes. It was in constant danger from fire, and it was impossible much further to extend its accommodations. The Commonwealth, therefore, with great liberality, granted a piece of land for a new building, and this land, together with an additional purchase by the city, forms the present site. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Boston Public Library (BPL) was the first large municipally funded public library in the United States. Although the library was founded in 1848, the original idea was first proposed by French ventriloquist Alexandre Vattemare in 1841. In 1854, the library opened to the public in two rooms in a schoolhouse on Mason Street. Just four years later, the building on Boylston Street opened with 88,789 items. In 1871, the BPL was the first library in the country to open a branch, and by 1895, when the new central library was opened in Copley Square, 29 branches and reading rooms had opened. Charles Follen McKim was the principal architect of the new building, which is noted for its perfect proportions, magnificent murals, and beautiful ornamentation throughout the building. The tremendous growth of the library made it necessary to build an addition, and in 1972, the new building designed by Philip Johnson was opened.

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