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Greetings,
If you were traveling this summer, you may have missed the articles mentioning the Athenaeum which were published by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Both were by Tom Stoelker, an intern from Columbia University; and both his writing and his photographs of the Athenaeum brought considerable attention our way. To see the major article on us, go to
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/98486104.html. If you scroll to the bottom of that article, you will find the link to Tom's video, complete with interviews with a few willing and articulate members. For the second article in which he mentions our collection of stereoscopic views, go to
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/98596084.html. We were very pleased with both articles and hope that you will enjoy them too.
Reminder:
The Athenaeum will be closed for Labor Day on September 6th.
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Image: The Athenaeum Member's Reading Room, by Alfred Bendiner, c. 1962.
New Books for September
Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr., Portrait of
An American Architect Exhibition
 Based
on the Athenaeum's collection and extensive research by Chandler scholars, Joan
Roberts and the late William B. Bassett, this exhibition and accompanying
catalog will be a significant contribution to the scholarship of gilded-age art
and architecture. The Athenaeum has the largest extant archive of Chandler
materials, including more than 200 original drawings and sketches, hundreds of
contemporary photographs, office files, and the architect's own substantial art
and design library.
The importance of Theophilus
Parsons Chandler, Jr. (1845-1928) to the architectural profession in late
nineteenth-century Philadelphia cannot be overestimated, not only as a conveyor
of high-style design, often based on European models, but also as the founder of
the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Architecture. Chandler
substantially affected the architectural climate in Philadelphia and raised the
role of architect to new heights of professionalism. His first commissions
reflect his ties to the development of the Philadelphia suburb of Ridley Park,
but by 1874 he was already engaged on commissions for the duPont family in
Delaware. Throughout his career Chandler designed a number of residences,
but he became chiefly known as an ecclesiastical architect, with such major
churches as the Church of the New Jerusalem in Philadelphia, Calvary
Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., and the First Presbyterian Church in
Pittsburgh, PA, to his credit.
September 13 - November 12, 2010
Free Admission
Edmund
De Waal Lecture and Book Signing
 Edmund De Waal, The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss
Renowned British potter Edmund de Waal tells the story of his family, 264 Japanese netsuke, three Jewish owners, and the three rooms which housed the netsuke collection over a period of 140 years. Mr. de Waal is the fifth generation to inherit the collection, and he describes the way in which the maintenance and care of the collection dominated his life for over 30 years.
Thursday, September 30, 2010, 5:30 PM
Free to members. RSVP to Susan Gallo at 215-925-2688 or sgallo@philaathenaeum.org
Non-members
click here to register
Have you
just returned from a wonderful trip? Are you planning one? Do you collect,
acquire and save wonderful ephemera? Come with your riches and memories
and create a journal with multiple and unique enclosures, each specifically
designed to contain your treasures. After making all the pages, we will
sew and bind the book.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Adult Workshop: 10:00am-4:00pm
$100 for
Members
$125 for
Non-Members
Click here to register
Member
Critics
 Graham
Farmelo. The Strangest Man. New York: Basic Books, 2009.
Yes, Paul
Dirac was hard to know and probably very hard to live with, as is often the case
with geniuses. Yet he had a very loving wife and good friends among the
top ranking physicists. When you get to know them you care about them and
feel their joy and pain in birth and death, success and failure.
This
meticulously true story took place during the entire 20th century, mainly in
England and Europe but ending in Florida at the Diracs' home on the Tallahassee
campus of Florida State University. Their tale is replete with the names
and personae of famous theoretical physicists from Einstein and on down as well
as the labs and universities where they did their thinking and wrote their
papers and taught (and sometimes learned from) their graduate students.
There are Nobel Prize winners, heroes, and international villains. There
are no murders, but the dimensions are Shakespearean. I really loved this
book though Paul should've let himself be knighted!
Submitted
by Dr. Harold Rashkis.
Do
you have a book that you loved (or hated), and would you be willing to share
that opinion on the Athenaeum e-newsletter? If so, please send your short
essay to sltatman@philaathenaeum.org.
Save
the Date:
September
8: Opening Reception for Theophilis
P. Chandler Jr., Portrait of An American Architect
exhibition, 5:30pm
September
14: Socrates Cafe, 11:00am
September
30: Edmund De Waal, The Hare With Amber Eyes. Lecture and book signing, 5:30pm
October
2: First Saturday, Athenaeum open
See
the Event
Calendar for details and additional
events.
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