Little Known Facts about Literary Boston

Award winning journalist and regular contributor to OffbeatTravel, Karen Hamlin's insights on Boston by the Book...

For those who love literature, Boston abounds with famous authors. Many of these heroes, such as Emerson and Thoreau, are so close that you can hear their echo reverberate through modern times. Walk in their footsteps to see where they lived, wrote and finally rested.

Boston Public Library

Entering the Boston Public Library (known as the BPL) is like entering the temple of the literati, inspiring awe at the massive and stunning architecture of this antiquarian building. When walking up the grand staircase, it’s traditional to rub the tail of the colossal marble lion for good luck.

Established in 1852 with a donation of 50 books by the city of Paris, the BPL was the first public library in the United States. One hundred and fifty years has allowed it to accumulate millions of books, manuscripts, musical scores and valuable artwork including religious murals on the ceilings by John Singer Sargeant.

Boston Public Library holds more secrets than most commoners realize. In a dimly lit room, the rare book department posseses all but the Holy Grail and guards its treasures possessively and for good reason. BPL is the keeper of five inscribed Babylonian tablets known as Cuneiforms dating back to 2350 B.C. It's earliest bound book is a hand written lectionary titled Book of sermons: biblical writings and thoughts that was written in Latin from 925 A.D and published in France.

There are actually two newspapers that hold the honor of oldest newspaper in the collection: The Boston Newsletter(1704-1776) and Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick (1690). The latter was silenced after one edition. Since it is a public library, anyone with a library card can visit and see the works on display under glass. But, if you want to view a particular manuscript, say, a rare copy of Dante's Divine Comedy, you must make a written request and have a purpose for seeing it, such as research for a thesis. To hold or even view such manuscripts is a privilege that few people can claim.

A new addition to the library is Sebastian’s Novel Restaurant, overlooking the beautiful courtyard featuring the fountain of Bacchante, goddess of wine. Novel is quite novel because it offers fine, candlelight dining on white linen, bouquets of flowers and stacks of books at your table--in a library. Chef Martie Jaramillo enjoys changing the buffet menu daily and offers some standard dishes as well as her own creations. On select Saturdays, a sumptuous buffet including an entrée from the menu is offered from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Novel also books a limited number of weddings, banquets and corporate functions. A Luncheon buffet is served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and afternoon tea is served from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.


Mount Auburn Cemetery

Our last stop on this literary tour was many distinguished authors last stop as well. Known as the "first garden cemetery" in America (1831), Mount Auburn Cemetery provides visitors with a wealth of information including biographies of its more famous residents. Street maps are available to enable visitors to find their way through the loops and circles of this closed circuit cemetery. Tour guides and audio tours are available or just meander on your own and surprise yourself as you encounter such notables as Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, remembered for his narrative romantic poems including the “Song of Hiawatha” (1855) and “Tales of A Wayside Inn” (1863) which included “Paul Revere’s Ride”; Bernard Malamud, 1966 Pulitzer Prize winner for The Fixer; Oliver Wendall Holmes author of the poem “Old Ironsides” (1830) which protested against the demolition of the battleship Constitution and Julia Ward Howe, best known as author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” (1861). This rural cemetery provides a quiet place for peace and reflection among a natural setting of ponds, gardens and trees, and gave birth to the movement for public parks such as the Boston Commons.

To continue the literary tour will take at least two days and several hours of walking. So, spend the night at a literary hotel such as the award winning, Charles Street Inn in Beacon Hill. Walking down Charles Street is a step back in time. Its cobblestone streets are softly lit by the glow of gas lamps and lined with fourteen exquisite antique shops, gift shops and wonderful restaurants and cafes. The unassuming façade of the inn belies its Victorian elegance. Nine rooms are named and decorated to pay homage to distinguished Boston residents including Louise May Alcott, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edith Wharton, Julia Ward Howe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Frederick Law Olmstead and John Singer Sargeant: its quite an acclaimed selection.

I had the honor of being ensconced in the Henry James room princely decorated in royal purple with a gilded mirror above the original marble fireplace. After a soak in the Ultra-Thermo Spa air jet whirlpool tub, I wrapped myself in a plush white terry robe, lit the fireplace and snuggled up with Henry James’ book The Bostonians. Drifting into a luxurious sleep, high off the floor in the vermilion and purple, hand-painted King canopy bed, I felt like a character of privilege.

These sites that I’ve described are not on the official Literary Trail of Boston. To continue on, join the tour which stops at more locations. Beginning at the Omni Parker Hotel founded in 1855, it is acclaimed as the longest continuous running hotel in American history and its signature creations, Parker House Rolls and the Boston Crème Pie. Its famed Saturday Club entertained regular patrons including philosopher and author Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and Atlantic Monthly editor James Russell Lowell, novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, poets John Greenleaf Whittier and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and writer Oliver Wendell Holmes. Akin to our modern day think tank, this illustrious and boisterous group met monthly on Saturday afternoon to exchange intellectual ideas, debate, read aloud and in general drink and dine. Visitors such as Charles Dickens would drop by when in town and once gave a private performance of “A Christmas Carol” before its premiere onstage.

The Literary Trail of Boston can be a guided tour or a self-tour. Either way, it will cover twenty miles of scholarly domain traveling through Boston, Cambridge and Concord including seventeen points of erudite interest.

Need another night’s stay? Try the Harborside Inn just a few steps from Faneuil Hall. Fifty-four guest rooms featuring exposed original brick and granite walls exude the feel of the nineteenth century. Select a room on the eighth floor, then look over the atrium’s hall balcony down to the lobby for a real thrill. Off the lobby is Margo’s Bistro, a darling, intimate dining room. Ask for a Margo Root Beer Float or a Margo Martini made with real root beer from the barrels of the former Lenox Company of the 1940s.

After visiting the homes, inns and pubs where our most beloved authors lived, laughed and exchanged readings and witticisms, there remains an aura of intimacy. Now, reading their books feels like listening to an old friend.

Award winning journalist and regular contributor to OffbeatTravel, Karen Hamlin is a native New Englander who has just moved to the Sarasota area. She is the travel editor for City & Suburban Magazine and also published in the Springfield Union, The Sun, Travel World International, Experience Travel and Senior Travel. Among Karen’s professional interests are mature travel, cruises, beaches and cultural/historical destinations. Karen is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Association and the International Food and Travel Writers Association.