Nantucket Atheneum Podcast

While reviewing the hundreds of books in the Atheneum's library catalogue from 1900, Jim noticed 19 volumes by a writer by the name of Harriet Martineau. In some cases, there was a record of more than one copy, indicating that her books must have been very popular among patrons at the time. Jim was surprised he had never heard of her before. So he went looking for more and discovered the extraordinary life of a woman that has all but been forgotten except by academics and historians.

So who is this mysterious Miss Martineau?


References and more information:
Harriet Martineau's 9-page Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Martineau

Writers/thought leaders who influenced Miss Martineau:

• David Ricardo
• Adam Smith
• James Mill. 
• Thomas Malthus
• Jeremy Bentham. 

Miss Martineau's  works that popularized the ideas and theory of great thinkers:

• Illustrations of Political Economy, 9 volumes, published by Charles Fox, 1832-4
• Illustrations of Taxation, 5 volumes, published by Charles Fox, 1832-4
• Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated (1833-4)

source: https://victorianweb.org/authors/martineau/diniejko.html

The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri.

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

In this episode, Janet and Jim transition from the 1841 catalogue to the 1900 catalogue, but before they dive into what books were on the shelves, Jim points out some of the major events and transitions the Gray Lady experienced in those formative 60 years and how they impacted the story of the Nantucket Atheneum.

References and more information:
The Nantucket Historical Associate recently acquired a painting by Rebecca Coffin, who was born in Brooklyn but moved to Nantucket later in life.  Read more HERE.

Check out the presentation Jim did on Frederick Sanford, who owned several whale ships, he made a fortune in the California Gold Rush and foreign trade. He left his book collection to the Atheneum. Watch the presentation HERE.



The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri.

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

In this week's episode, Janet picks two volumes from the 1841 catalogue because of their curious titles and Ji  dives into what these books are about and who are the people that wrote them.

They discuss The History of Chivalry by George Payne Rainsford James published in 1833, and Dissertation on the Prophecies that have been fulfilled, are now fulfilling, or will hereafter be fulfilled, relative to the Great Period of 1260 years; the Papal and Mohammedan Apostacies; the tyrannical reign of Anti-Christ or the Infidel Power; and the Restoration of the Jews (Say that three times fast) by George Stanley Faber published in 1808.

Janet and Jim also speculate on why book titles used to be so gosh darn long.


The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri.

Click here to read The History of Chivalry.

You can find other volumes by George Payne Rainsford James on Hoopla, which is free to use with your library card.

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

In this episode, Janet and Jim take a closer look at the voyages of Captain James Cook, Sir Frederick William Beechey and Baptist Minister Howard Malcolm and why the travels of these men would be of interest to the Atheneum patrons in 1841.

Jim talks about why islanders at the time were keeping up with discoveries far beyond the shores of Nantucket and how it served them.

The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum. It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri.

References and Resources: 

To learn more about the early ferry service to Nantucket check out this article from Yesterday’s Island.

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

Janet and Jim return to the 1841 catalogue and peruse the “health & science” section. You’ll learn about the field of Phenology and why you probably have never heard of the field of Phrenology. 

Jim puts a few volumes and the authors in their historical context and draws parallels to the present day.

The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum.  It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri.

More on Phrenology courtesy of Jim Borzilleri

·  One concept Phrenology basically got right was the localization of function in the brain. However, they went overboard in their assignment of specific traits and behaviors to a specific region, let alone its mapping on the outer skull.

·  Johann Gaspar Spurzheim was a student of Franz Josef Gall.  Gall tended to focus on the negative traits, while Spurzheim’s work tended to focus on the “good” behaviors, possibly to make it more appealing to a reform-minded 19th century audience.

Here is more information on Phrenology and images of the Phrenology Bust.

https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/2015/06/18/one-lump-or-two-phrenology-diagnosed-by-the-bump/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/facing-a-bumpy-history-144497373/

https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/what-was-phrenology-and-what-does-it-have-to-do-with-nantucket-history/
 

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

In the first episode of The Shelves of Yore, Adult Programs Coordinator Janet Forest and Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri take you back to the year 1841 when the Nantucket Atheneum was a members-only institution and the island was prospering at the height of the whaling industry. 

Jim explains the significance of the 1841 library catalogue created by the first head librarian Maria Mitchell, and Janet asks Jim about one of the items in the catalogue: Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville.

The Shelves of Yore is a production of the Nantucket Atheneum.
 It was written, narrated, and edited by Janet Forest and researched by Jim Borzilleri 

References and Resources:

The Nantucket Atheneum: A History by Betsy Tyler.  Available to borrow at the library.

What is a panopticon? And what does it have to do with Alexis De Tocqueville?

The panopticon was the brainchild of English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. It is a building design that allows a single prison guard to see and control all the inmates, while all the inmates cannot see each other or the security guard. The theory was that if criminals were isolated and left alone with their thoughts and knowing they are under constant surveillance, they will reform their bad behavior.

Alexis De Tocqueville and his colleague Gustave de Beaumont were sent to United States by the French crown observe and report back on the American penitentiary system. Among other places they visited the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philidelphia that was built in 1829 by the Quakers and had many of the characteristics of Bentham’s vision of panopticon.

Click here for an image of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon. 

For more information about how the panopticon still influences our prison system, check out Ted Conover’s Vanity Fair 2015 article “Guantanamo Bay Solitary Confinement”

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Visit us online at www.nantucketatheneum.org

Adult Programs Coordinator Janet Forest sits down with Reference Library Associate Jim Borzilleri to take a deep dive into Atheneum library catalogues from 1841 and 1900.

The 1841 catalogue reflects the prosperity of the whaling industry and the affluent members privy to the Atheneum's collection, and it is one of the few records of what was lost in the Great Fire of 1846. The 1900 catalogue what created just as the Atheneum was transitioning into a public library.

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Janet interviews Amy Jenness, who has been Head of Adult Programing for 16 years. Amy talks about how she fell into her position and what she has learned about what makes a great program. She shares funny stories and memories, and she and Janet talk about what it was like to transition to virtual programming during the pandemic.

Behind the Shelves is a production The Nantucket Atheneum.
It was written, edited and narrated by Janet Forest

Special thanks to Amy Jenness.

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts. We’d love for you to come by and say hello.

In this episode, Janet asks her colleagues what makes the Atheneum so special to the community. Is it the collections or the building or the staff or the patrons? A little bit of everything? Or something greater than the sum of its parts? You'll also find out the staff's favorite spots in the library and what it was like to reopen the building to the public have being closed for more than a year.

Behind the Shelves is a production The Nantucket Atheneum.
It was written, edited and narrated by Janet Forest

Special thanks to the Atheneum Staff featured in this episode:
(In order of appearance.)

Jim Borzilleri — Reference Library Associate
Laura Pless Freedman — Adult Circulation Library Associate
Leslie Malcom — Head of the Children’s Department
Lincoln Thurber — Head of the Reference Department
Elizabeth Kelly — Head of Adult Circulation
Jessi Dearborn — Children’s Library Associate
Katy Deheart — Children’s Library Associate
Gillian Lewis — Adult Circulation Library Associate
Pamela McGrady — Adult Circulation Library Associate
Daniel Griffin — Adult Circulation Library Associate
Ann Scott - Executive Director/Head Librarian

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts. We’d love for you to come by and say hello.

What's the difference between a librarian and someone who works at the library? What does it take to get a Masters in Library Science? 

In this episode, Janet asks Ann, Leslie, Lincoln and Liz about what it was like to study library science. She also interviews the rest of the staff about what role they play and what special gifts and talents they bring to the Atheneum 


Behind the Shelves is a production The Nantucket Atheneum.
It was written, edited and narrated by Janet Forest

Special thanks to the Atheneum Staff featured in this episode:
(In order of appearance.)

Ann Scott -- Head Librarian and Executive Director
Lincoln Thurber -- Head of Reference
Elizabeth Kelly -- Head of Circulation
Leslie Malcolm -- Head of Children's
Pamela McGrady -- Acquisitions
Gillian Lewis -- Library Associate
Laura Pless Freedman -- Library Associate
Jessi Dearborn -- Children's Library Associate
Ellen Young -- Young Adult Library Associate
Daniel Griffin -- Library Associate
Jim Borzilleri -- Reference Library Associate
Katy Dehart -- Children's Library Associate

The Nantucket Atheneum is located at 1 India Street in Nantucket, Massachusetts. We’d love for you to come by and say hello.