Well-known Brattle Street Bookstore on West Street, Boston, Massachusetts

 

9 West St, Boston, MA 02111

Phone: (617) 542-0210

Website:  https://www.brattlebookshop.com/

I haven't gone upstairs, but will in a few months, then I  will post the new photos.

I recognized the owner, Ken Gloss. With permission, he allowed me to take his picture. I recognized him from his many appearances on the PBS show, Antiques Roadshow.

From the website https://www.brattlebookshop.com/  then click on about the site gives an impressive history of the Book Store and family. "The Brattle Book Shop, founded in the Cornhill section of Boston in 1825, has been in the hands of the Gloss Family since 1949. Over the years George and his son Kenneth built this shop into one of the largest antiquarian bookshops in the country.

Housed in a three-story building in the heart of Downtown Boston, The Brattle Book Shop carries an impressive stock of over 250,000 books, maps, prints, postcards, and ephemeral items in all subjects. In addition to its general used and out-of-print stock, The Brattle Book Shop also maintains an inventory of first editions, collectibles and fine leather bindings in its rare book room.

Ken Gloss is the current proprietor of The Brattle Book Shop. He is a past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America’s New England Chapter. Ken Gloss appraises books and librarians for Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, Simmons, Suffolk, Tufts, Babson, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the FBI and others. He lectures on the antiquarian book field to library groups, historical societies, and other book-interested groups throughout the New England area."

I saw the movie The Holdovers on opening week because I knew there were a lot of location shots in Massachusetts, especially Boston. I knew nothing about the story. I came across the above photo online (no idea of credit), but it shows perfectly where this was filmed. Now I can report that Paul Giamatti (on the left) won the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award for The Holdovers Golden Globe Awards show last night (Jan. 7, 2024). Dominic Sessa is on the right.

The below photos were taken on Tremont St., which is one block away from the bookstore. If I am early for the ballet (a 1/2 block away), I often go to the Boston Common Visitors Center or sit in the Common to enjoy the sites.

Wistariahurst -- Historic Estate, Gardens and Genealogy

Wistaria and formal garden
seen from 2nd floor window.

I first heard the name Wistariahurst from facebook friend and genealogy blogger Sara Campbell when she said she was going to lecture there. I googled and learned what it was and where it was located. Research told me that it is an historic house museum located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. But, there was something else that interested me besides the fact that the house WAs covered in Wistaria / Wisteria, and there is a large formal garden. I discovered that a Kilborne and a Skinner lived there. Both surnames are in my family tree for many generations. I needed to find out more.

Front of the house showing a row of Wistaria. The house has had additions, and you can see below the Wistaria growing on several sides. Over 130 years ago, Sarah Skinner (the original owner) had these plants planted.

This estate was built in 1848 for William Skinner, the owner of a successful silk spinning and textile business. See Wikipedia for more information.

The photos above and below show part of the back of the house (which is where we entered). Because all the trees were full, I couldn't get a decent photo of the house.

This was taken as we entered into the house for the tour. The guide mentioned that the slabs on the ground contain dinosaur footprints. I could see them clearly, but unfortunately I didn't take closeup shots because of the shade. Apparently, these slabs came from an area close by where the dinosaurs roamed.

Katharine Skinner Kilborne was not directly related to me, but her husband Robert Stewart Kilborne was my 6th cousin 4 times removed. I had an easy time determining that the original owner, William Skinner, 1824 - 1902 was not in my tree because several census records (1870, 1880, 1900) stated he was born in London. My Skinner family came from England, between 1649 and 1652 and settled in Malden, Massachusetts  before moving to Colchester, Connecticut. The Kilborn / Kilborne / Kilbourne line was pretty easy because this line left a good paper trail, records such as vital records, obituary, censuses, newspaper marriage announcements, and a lot of Find-A-Grave memorials. Unusual first names such as Truman, Allerton, Horatio and Jesse allowed for easier than normal research on that direct line.

Above and below are photos of the garden.

 

Three photos of the Dining Room (above and below.)

Enormous Music Room, used for lectures, weddings and various events.

Two bedrooms.

Sitting area.

Room used by one of the household help.

It is believe that this stained glass could have been made by the L. C. Tiffany Company and it might have been in their New York City house. The minute I saw this, I thought it was, because I want it to be. I believe one of the photos on the window sill was taken in their old house, and those were made by Tiffany.

I got American Phoenix by Sarah S. Kilborne out of the library and also downloaded it from Amazon. Because of the subject matter and the fact that the author is probably a distant cousin to me, I had high hopes of really enjoying this book. There is a little disappointment here, because it is all about the Skinner family, the silk business and the disaster involving his business and house after the flood. The small photos were nice, but there was nothing shown for the interior of the house (so I'm glad I posted mine), and nothing about Sarah's relationship to Mr. Skinner. Being that I love and do genealogy, I was able to trace and gather information about some of the family, including R. Stewart Kilborne's tragic death in New York City.

Manuscripts at the New England Historic Genealogical Society

Many years ago, I discovered a 257 page manuscript written by my great-great grandfather, Charles Henry Poole, was located in the archives at the New England Historic Genealogical Library (NEHGS). Over four years ago, armed with an iPad, I was given permission to take photos of the manuscript. Previously, I had copied a few pages, but at .25 a page, it would have been too expensive and taken too long to copy the entire manuscript. The iPad photos took me about 4 days, and many more days to crop them.

During the time I was copying pages, The NEHGS published a book, "Manuscripts at the New England Historic Genealogical Society." With over 1,000 pages, it's a useful resource because you can quickly see if there is a manuscript you might be interested in. The first time I saw this book was in the local library, so you might be able to find one near you, by going to the WorldCat.org seen HERE for all locations.

As shown below are the original cover and brief description of GENEALOGICAL RECORDS of the POOLE   FAMILY And particularly the descendants of JOHN POOLE of READING In the STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS.

The original cover is quite fragile, as evidenced by my photo. The typed pages were in pretty good condition, except some were faded. My problem was due to my photography skills. At least ten had to be retaken because they weren't sharp enough. Looking back, I wished I had inserted plain white paper between each page, so I wouldn't have to see print from the following page. Copies of the cover and first page are below.

I was very fortunate to connect with a wonderful man whose wife is a Poole descendant. Over the years, he has been typing this manuscript and putting in links for each page. It has been time-consuming but Barry is a trooper. He did me a huge favor, because I knew I would never be able to type it (because of my poor eyes). The first 25 pages of the manuscript are HERE.

New Books or Reprints at NEHGS -- Wordless Wednesday

Recently displayed books on the 5th and 7th floors in the Library at the New England Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston, Massachusetts. Some are brand new and others are reprinted.

Photo below taken in April 2013.

Finally, What Was the Good Stuff in The Probate?

Etching of W. F. Poole
New York Times Obituary

A Bill of Appraisement of the Estate of William F. Poole, late of the County of Cook and State of Illinois, deceased was finally signed on 25 March 1895, a year after his death. The Will and Probate as well as the "The Longest Obituary I've Ever Seen" were discussed in previous posts, but I just have to share this with all the librarians who may have learned about him. Yes, he had assets, quite a lot in my opinion, but that isn't what interested me. I wanted to know if the Librarian of the Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois had any books.

He sure did, 2,600 books, all valued at $1. That portion of his estate was worth $2,600. Why did he have so many books, did they belong to the library or were they actually his? And if they were his, was he going to give them away or donate to the Library. If they were his own, I wonder why didn't he just use the ones at the library and save his money.

Below are copies of the Bill of Appraisement, Agreement with Houghton, Mifflin and Co., and Appraisers' Estimate of the Value of Property Allowed to the Widow.

A BILL OF APPRAISEMENT

of the Estate of William F. Poole, late of the County of Cook and State of Illinois, deceased.

                   One lot of Books (2600 in number) at $1.00 per volume.

                                                                                      Total-         $2,600

             "Agreement between W. F. Poole and Houghton, Mifflin and Co. of Boston, Mass., dated September 30th, 1890, whereby Houghton/, Mifflin and Co. agree to pay royalty on all sales of 'Poole's Index to Periodical Literature.' The value of said contract is impossible to determine, but Houghten [sic], Mifflin and Company have paid to W. F. Poole from the time of the date of said contract, an average of $350.00 a year thereon."