Beacon Street Diary

Charles Chauncey Wells visited the library on June 18, 2009 to discuss his book about Boston graveyards to a record number of visitors.

These are images of our building and other onsite views.

In 2006 a pair of red-tailed hawks made their nest on a ledge of our building overlooking the Granary Burial Ground. Our head of maintenance, John Beattie, was so taken with them that he put his budding photography skills to use documenting their progress.The striking images seen here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures he took.

S. Brainerd Pratt was a vital member of the American Congregational Association board in the 19th century. He was so esteemed that our conference room is named after him, and contains a large portion of his extensive Bible collection. Pratt was also an amateur illuminator, that is, he enjoyed creating the embellished letters and illustrations often seen in older, hand-copied books. These images are just a sample of his practice work.

This gallery was the basis for a display at the library, which was mirrored on the web site. This is a sample of our international Bibles, and by no means complete. The staff worked together to compile the most eye-catching for this project.