The Pequot Library is an

association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

and

special collections library Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

Southport, Connecticut Southport is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is located along Long Island Sound between Mill River and Sasco Brook, where it borders Westport. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,710. Settle ...

. It was founded in 1887, and opened in 1894. The library is known for its robust special collections, including

William Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

'', John James Audubon's '' Birds of America'', and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

' work with the

Kelmscott Press The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published fifty-three books in sixty-six volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many ...

, as well as the first cookbook ever printed, '' De honesta voluptae et valetudine''. The Library also has a vast circulating collection of over 116,000 books, archives, and other texts. The building, constructed in 1894 by Robert Henderson Roberston in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, is a

Contributing Property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the Southport Historic District, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It contains numerous architectural marvels, including a glass floored stacks wing,

Tiffany glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop, an ...

windows, among other features. The library takes its name from a vanquished

Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or th ...

group of 80 to 100 who had earlier fled their home territory in the Mystic area and taken refuge with approximately 200

Sasqua Southport is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It is located along Long Island Sound between Mill River and Sasco Brook, where it borders Westport. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,710. Settle ...

people who inhabited the area that is now Fairfield.

Founding

The Pequot Library was founded by Virginia Marquand Monroe (of the Marquand & Co. family) and Elbert B. Monroe as a memorial to Virginia's uncle and adoptive father, Frederick Marquand. Frederick served as President of Marquand and Co., described by contemporaries as the "principle jewelers in America." During his years at the head of his family's firm, Frederick's brother,

Henry Gurdon Marquand Henry Gurdon Marquand (April 11, 1819 – February 26, 1902) was an American financier, philanthropist and art collector known for his extensive collection. Early life Marquand was born in New York City on April 11, 1819, not long after the dea ...

, served as his deputy. Henry went on to help found the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, having served as its second president. Marquand lived for 50 years in a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

house on Pequot Avenue, which was razed in 1892 to reveal that a new library building that had been built in secret on the land behind it. The library was in its early years a women-led institution but had an ambiguous relationship to the then-current

suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. Community libraries, in the form of book collections and associations of dues-paying members, were common, but often only lasted until the members had read all the books, though with a different model that has contributed to its endurance. Through the generosity of donors and support from the Town of Fairfield, Pequot Library is able to offer its programming and resources "free as air to all" in the words of its founders, as an

association library An association library is a library that is privately controlled, but which meets the statutory definition for a public library in a given state of the United States. The association governing an association library is established for the express pu ...

that is privately-owned by the Pequot Library Association but functions as a public-serving library.

Architecture

The

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

building that houses the library was designed by the architect

Robert Henderson Robertson Robert Henderson Robertson (April 29, 1849 – June 3, 1919) was an American architect who designed numerous houses, institutional and commercial buildings, and churches. Life and career Robertson was born in Philadelphia of Scot ...

and is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the National Register of Historic Places' Southport Historic District. By the time Virginia Marquand Monroe was contemplating her library, the architect-client relationship was no longer so client-centered, and Robertson was the creative force behind the design, influenced by Henry Hobson Richardson. The library's pink granite exterior and red tile roof make a contrast with the surrounding clapboard architecture. In 2006, the Pequot Library invested in a restoration project to address the condition of the elaborate metalwork set throughout their

library stack In library science and architecture, a stack or bookstack (often referred to as a library building's ''stacks'') is a book storage area, as opposed to a reading area. More specifically, this term refers to a narrow-aisled, multilevel system ...

s. Robert Robertson designed each shelf in the library to be supported by cast iron structures. Each row of shelving is framed by columns and the stairways linking the two stories are made with balusters of garlands and vines in copper-plated cast iron. During the course of restoration, over 6,000 metal pieces were individually treated. The project was carried out by

Howard Newman Howard Newman is an American painter, sculptor, art restorer, and inventor. Flynn, Sean. "Featured Work." NewportRI.com News and Information for Newport, Rhode Island. The Newport Daily News, 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 May 2016. Biography Howard Ne ...

's restoration company Newmans’ Ltd.Newmans' Ltd. Art Restoration
/ref> The most recent restoration of the Library which occurred in 2020 and 2021, when the original signature terra cotta roof tiles from 1894 had replacements installed from the original manufacturer, Ludowici Roof Tile. The project included structural repairs and waterproofing the entire original structure and was funded to the amount of $1.6 million by the community and several grants.

Building Gallery

File:September 1966 DETAIL OF FIREPLACE IN DIRECTORS' ROOM - Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT HABS CONN,1-SOUPO,23-13.tif, 1966 detail of fireplace in director's room File:Pequot Library, Southport, Conn. LCCN2014647581.tif, Historic photograph of Pequot Library stacks File:September 1966 DETAIL OF STACK SHELVES - Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT HABS CONN,1-SOUPO,23-10.tif, Detail of stack shelving File:September 1966 GENERAL VIEW OF SOUTHEAST (FRONT) FACADE - Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT HABS CONN,1-SOUPO,23-1.tif, General view of front façade from the southeast File:Tiffany glass pequot library.jpg, Pequot Library

File:September 1966 DETAIL OF AUDITORIUM CEILING STRUCTURAL SYSTEM - Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT HABS CONN,1-SOUPO,23-9.tif, Detail of auditorium ceiling structural system File:September 1966 DETAIL OF ENTRY HALL DOORWAYS - Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT HABS CONN,1-SOUPO,23-6.tif, 1966 detail of entry hall doorways File:September 1966 DETAIL OF SOUTHEAST (FRONT) FACADE - Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Road, Southport, Fairfield County, CT HABS CONN,1-SOUPO,23-4.tif, 1966 detail of southeast front façade

Special collections

Holy Bible Old Testament and New Translated into the Indian Language

The library has a large Special Collection of manuscripts, rare books, and archives.Charles, Eleanor
"If You're Thinking of Living in; Southport"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', December 22, 1985. The permanent Special Collection includes historically significant early American manuscripts, archives, rare books, artifacts, artwork, maps, and photographs. In total, the Special Collections house more than 30,000 items, many there since the library opened in 1894. Most items are available for view by appointment only with staff supervision in the Dillon Reading room of the library. The Pequot library founders built the original collection to document early Americana related to the thirteen original colonies, but it has since been expanded to include early printed books, medieval manuscripts, Shakespeareana, and information from American publishing in the twentieth century. Highlights include a 1776 Norwich edition of ''Common Sense'', sermons, and other theological works from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, material on Native Americans from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, and first editions of Louisa May Alcott’s works, and Kate Greenaway editions. A highlight in the library's Special Collection is ''

The Birds of America ''The Birds of America'' is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series in sections between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh and ...

Volume 2'', an oversized book (2.3 by 3.4 feet) that includes a collection of full color drawings by John James Audubon that his youngest son, John Woodhouse Audubon, re-issued in 1858. The prints were reproduced via chromolithography performed by Julius Bien of New York, who was a pioneer in the technique. The volume is also known as the "Bien Edition." The pages are turned to display a new print page monthly. It is on public display in the library main reading room. News From Nowhere

Of the approximately 30,000 items in the Collections, 1,800 items are held on long-term loan at the

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...

at Yale University as the Monroe, Wakeman, and Holman Collection. That Collection includes the first printed cookbook, ''

De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine ''De honesta voluptate et valetudine'' (''On honest indulgence and good health'', often shortened to ''De honesta voluptate'') was the first cookbook ever printed. Written ca. 1465 by Bartolomeo Platina, it first appeared between 1470 and 1475 in ...

,''by Bartholomaeus Platina (1475); autographs of all American Presidents and the cosigners of the Declaration of Independence, including the rare Button Gwinnett autograph. It also includes much of the material associated with

Joel Barlow Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, and diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator Wil ...

. Among the titles in the Special Collections are ''Epistola de insulis nuper inventis'' by Christopher Columbus, translated into Latin by Leandro di Cosco and printed in 1493; two of the three contemporaneous histories of the Pequot War in New England; the

Saybrook Platform The Saybrook Platform was a new constitution for the Congregational church in Connecticut in 1708. Religious and civic leaders in Connecticut around 1700 were distressed by the colony-wide decline in personal religious piety and in church discipline ...

which was the first book published in Connecticut in 1710. Also included in the collection is Phillis Wheatley's '' Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral'' from 1786. Another Special Collections highlight centers on the private press movement, with a special emphasis on the

. Privately-printed books were an ideal method for artists and writers, such as

, to promote the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement. They believed that traditional craftsmanship brought about beautiful objects, bringing joy to the workers that created them, while the low quality substitutes of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

emphasized profit over craftsmanship and were made in factories ruinous to society and the environment alike. Morris designed and formatted each of the

's 53 books. The ''Works of Geoffrey Chaucer'', held by the Library, is seen as the crowning achievement of the press. Another collection includes the typescript of the last four chapters of Margaret Mitchell's ''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Win ...

''.

Community events

The library accepts used book donations and hosts a large

used book A used book or secondhand book is a book which has been owned before by an owner other than the publisher or retailer, usually by an individual or library. Used books typically become available on the market when they are sold or given to a sec ...

sale every year, the largest in Connecticut. Attracting around 8,000 people, it is the library’s largest special event, raising a significant percentage of the library’s operating budget. The sale generally has more than 60 different categories of books and media. There are also hundreds of CDs, DVDs, records and tapes. In 2007, the annual summer book sale featured more than 140,000 volumes.

Public programs

Pequot Library is renowned throughout

Fairfield County Fairfield County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Fairfield County, Connecticut * Fairfield County, Ohio Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,921. ...

for its adult public programming. The landmark "Meet the Author" series typically occurs monthly, attracting New York Times bestselling authors from across the country, including

Amor Towles Amor Towles (born 1964) is an American novelist. He is best known for his bestselling novels ''Rules of Civility'' (2011), ''A Gentleman in Moscow'' (2016), and ''The Lincoln Highway'' (2021). Early life and education Towles was born and raise ...

, William Martin, Eric Jay Dolin,

Jeff Benedict Jeff Benedict is an American author, a special features writer for ''Sports Illustrated'', and a television and film producer. He has written for ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times'', and his stories have been the basis for segmen ...

, Paul Freeman, amongst many others. The programming compliments the diverse array of items featured in the library's special collections. For 2023's exhibition, "The Book Beautiful: Selections from the Private Press Movement," acclaimed art historians from the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

lectured on William Morris and his contribution to the field of textiles. This talk also highlighted the inherent beauty of the library's William Morris-illustrated

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...

. To compliment the robust collection of Shakespeare Folios, Pequot Library has hosted adult learning opportunities with trained educators in a seminar-style format. The Pequot also hosted

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winning historian

Stephen Greenblatt Stephen Jay Greenblatt (born November 7, 1943) is an American Shakespearean, literary historian, and author. He has served as the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University since 2000. Greenblatt is the general edit ...

, who explored the intricacies of Pequot Library's Shakespeare holdings.

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

drummer,

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...

, wrote a portion of his memoir, ''Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina'' (2020), at Pequot Library. He has spoken at the Library multiple times, and has performed at the annual Onion Festival.

Gallery

File:Simon Couch (3).jpg, '' Problems in Geometry and Navigation'', Simon Couch (1789); Pequot Library Special Collections File:Pequot illuminated manuscript.jpg, Medieval European

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

; Pequot Library Special Collections File:Pequot kelmscott chaucer.jpg,

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (London:

, 1896); Pequot Library Special Collections File:Audubon boa folio.jpg,

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

’s Birds of America, Bien edition double elephant folio; Pequot Library Special Collections File:Jennifer prat-9904.jpg,

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...

, ''

A Letter Concerning Toleration ''A Letter Concerning Toleration'' by John Locke was originally published in 1689. Its initial publication was in Latin, and it was immediately translated into other languages. Locke's work appeared amidst a fear that Catholicism might be taking ...

'' (Boston:

Rogers & Fowle Daniel Fowle (c. 1715 – June 1787) was a colonial American printer and publisher before and during the American Revolution, and the founder of '' The New Hampshire Gazette''. He printed Samuel Adams' newspaper, ''The Independent Advertiser''. H ...

, 1743); Pequot Library Special Collections File:Jennifer prat-9919.jpg,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, ''Causes of the Present Distractions in America'' (1774); Pequot Library Special Collections File:Second folio.jpg,

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, '' William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' (London: Thomas Coates, 1632); Pequot Library Special Collections File:Map underhill mason1.jpg, John Underhill, ''Newes from America'' (London: 1638); a contemporaneous account of the

Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragans ...

; Pequot Library Special Collections

References

{{coord, 41.1336, -73.2896, type:landmark_region:US-CT, display=title 1887 establishments in Connecticut Library buildings completed in 1894 Fairfield, Connecticut Libraries in Fairfield County, Connecticut Rare book libraries in the United States Historic preservation organizations in the United States Literary archives in the United States Research libraries in the United States Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Special collections libraries in the United States History museums in Connecticut Romanesque Revival architecture Romanesque Revival architecture in Connecticut Buildings and structures in Fairfield, Connecticut