John Buchtel, “All Necessary and Useful Knowledge: Thomas Bray’s Libraries for Colonial America”

Boston Athenæum

November 13, 2019 at the Boston Athenæum. This free-for-members event is made possible with support from the William Orville Thomson Endowment, which is generously funded by Athenæum Proprietor Peter Thomson. In 1697, Thomas Bray, a priest in the Church of England, published a detailed report (Bibliotheca Parochialis) in which he outlined all the “necessary and useful” books that he thought would constitute the essential knowledge needed to equip Anglican church leaders to minister effectively in the English colonies in North America. At the same time, Bray began fundraising to assemble libraries based on his published plan. By the time he turned his project over to his successors in 1704, Bray’s remarkable enterprise resulted in more than 40 collections of books being sent to various locations in the American colonies. One of those libraries, the collection sent to King’s Chapel in Boston in 1698, survives intact as part of the collections of the Boston Athenæum. This talk will explore Bray’s expressed purposes behind his selections for his libraries, as well as telling the story of the King’s Chapel collection, including its remarkable survival during the American war for independence. The talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibition “Required Reading: Reimagining a Colonial Library,” on view at the Athenæum from September 17, 2019 through March 14, 2020.