The George Peabody Library is a library connected to the
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, focused on research into the 19th century. It was formerly the Library of the
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...
of music in the City of Baltimore, and is located on the Peabody campus at
West Mount Vernon Place in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere historic cultural neighborhood north of downtown
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. The collections are available for use by the general public, in keeping with the Baltimorean merchant and philanthropist
George Peabody
George Peabody ( ; February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an American financier and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy.
Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry g ...
's goal to create a library "for the free use of all persons who desire to consult it".
History
The George Peabody Library was funded by
George Peabody
George Peabody ( ; February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an American financier and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy.
Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry g ...
(1795–1869). Peabody, having become a wealthy man in Baltimore through commerce during the 1810s and 1820s, following his brief service in the state militia defending the city against the famous British attack during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
, "gave $300,000 as a beginning sum for the Peabody Institute" in February 1857. The institute was originally planned to open in 1860, but border-state conflict in the region caused by the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
delayed its establishing and construction until 1866. The first George Peabody Library librarian, John Morris, and the Library Committee, chaired by George Pendleton Kennedy, used this time to study and catalogue the collections of the greatest libraries in the U.S. and Europe. Morris then created a list of 50,000 books, and actively pursued their retrieval regardless of difficulty or expense. This practice was a great success, and was continued by the next librarian, Nathaniel Holmes Morrison. As Morrison's assistant, the scientist Philip Reese Uhler would expand this practice to scientific texts by seeking out experts in several scientific fields for advice. This form of collection development has become a standard for academic libraries.
When it opened, Peabody dedicated the first segment, the West Wing of the new Peabody Institute, to the citizens of Baltimore in appreciation of their kindness and hospitality. The institute was designed to be a cultural center for the City of Baltimore, with plans for an art gallery, music school, a public lecture series, a series of cash awards with gold medals known as "Peabody Prizes" for the top graduates of the city's then-three public high schools, as well as a public, non-circulating reference library which was later moved to the second attached segment in the East Wing in 1876–1878.
The current library structure in the East Wing was designed by famed local architect
Edmund G. Lind
Edmund George Lind (June 18, 1829 – 1909) was an English-born American architect, active in Baltimore, Atlanta, and the American south.
Biography
Lind was born in Islington, now a part of London, England; his father, Alexander Lind, was an eng ...
and opened to the public in 1878. The library remained part of the Peabody Institute until 1967, when it was transferred to the City of Baltimore and became a department in the nearby
Enoch Pratt Free Library
The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library and office headquarters are located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupy the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded ...
. It was transferred to
The Johns Hopkins University in 1982 and became part of the
Eisenhower Library's Special Collections department at the Homewood campus and part of the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University, as the
Peabody Institute
The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...
itself affiliated with Hopkins.
Collection
The main collection reflects broad interests but is focused on the 19th century, in keeping with Peabody's desire for it to be "well furnished in every department of knowledge and of the most approved literature". The library's 300,000 volume collection is particularly strong in religion, British art, architecture, topography and history; American history, biography, and literature; Romance languages and literature; history of science; and geography, exploration and travel. Some of the collections highlights include first editions by
Poe,
Hawthorne
Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Hawthorne may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
Canada
* Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario
United States
* Hawt ...
,
Melville, and
H. L. Mencken
Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
,
Diderot’s 28-volume Encyclopédie, early editions of
Don Quixote
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...
, Maryland and Baltimore maps, natural history folios, a first edition of Darwin’s ''
Origin of the Species'', and fore-edge books.
Building
The library interior is often regarded as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Completed in 1878, it was designed by Baltimore architect
Edmund G. Lind
Edmund George Lind (June 18, 1829 – 1909) was an English-born American architect, active in Baltimore, Atlanta, and the American south.
Biography
Lind was born in Islington, now a part of London, England; his father, Alexander Lind, was an eng ...
in collaboration with the first Peabody provost,
Nathaniel H. Morison, that described it as a "cathedral of books". The visually stunning, monumental
neo-Grec
Néo-Grec was a Neoclassical Revival style of the mid-to-late 19th century that was popularized in architecture, the decorative arts, and in painting during France's Second Empire, or the reign of Napoleon III (1852–1870). The Néo-Grec v ...
o interior features an atrium that, over an alternating black and white slab marble floor, soars 61 feet high to a latticed skylight of frosted heavy glass, surrounded by five tiers of ornamental black
cast-iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
balconies (produced locally by the
Bartlett-Hayward Company
Bartlett-Hayward Company was a metalworking foundry located in Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1837. The company engaged initially in the production of latrobe stoves, but by the end of the nineteenth century, its Pigtown complex was the largest ...
) and gold-scalloped columns containing closely packed book stacks. Between July 2002 and May 2004, the now historic library underwent a $1 million renovation and refurbishment.
[The JHU Gazette, A Polished Peabody Library Reopens, May 3, 2004,Vol 33.]
Private events
The George Peabody Library operates as an event venue. Event fees support the library's collections, services, and programs.
Notes
External links
Historic Collection at George Peabody Library– Official Page
George Peabody Library– Official Page
Collection Highlights– Flickr Album for The George Peabody Library
George Peabody Library Private Events– Private Events Office for The George Peabody Library
Peabody Wunderkammer– Official Tumblr for the George Peabody Library
{{authority control
1866 establishments in Maryland
Peabody Library
Library buildings completed in 1878
Peabody Library
University and college academic libraries in the United States
Baltimore City Landmarks