The Salem Philosophical Library (1781–1810) or Philosophical Library Company was a
proprietary library in
Salem, Massachusetts.[1] Men affiliated with the library included: Tho. Bancroft, Thomas Barnard,
William Bentley, Joseph Blaney,
Nathaniel Bowditch,
Manasseh Cutler, Nathan Dane, Joshua Fisher,
Edward Augustus Holyoke, Joseph Mc'keen, B. Lynde Oliver, Joseph Orne, William Prescott, Samuel Page, Joshua Plummer, John Prince,[2] Nathan Read, John D. Treadwell, Ichabod Tucker, and
Joseph Willard.[3][4] "The Library was kept at the house of Rev. Joseph Willard of
Beverly, till ... December, 1781. ... His successor was Rev. Dr. Prince, who had the volumes at his mansion" in Salem.[5] "By 1810, many of the members of the
[Salem] Social Library also belonged to the Philosophical Library, and the two bodies were merged to create the
Salem Athenaeum."[6]
"The Philosophical Library had as nucleus the valuable private library of Dr.
Richard Kirwan of Dublin, captured with the cargo of the British ship '
Mars' by the ship 'Pilgrim' belonging to John and Andrew
Cabot of Beverly."[7] "The Rev. John Prince was desired to attend the auction and make the purchase. Accordingly on the 12th of April, 1781, the said books, consisting of the greater part of the Philosophical Transactions of the French Academy, the
Royal Society of London, and the Society of Berlin; ... the works of Sir
Robert Boyle compleat ... — making in all 116 volumes."[3]
Harriet Silvester Tapley (1927), Salem Imprints, 1768-1825: a history of the first fifty years of printing in Salem, Massachusetts, with some account of the bookshops, booksellers, bookbinders and the private librairies, Salem, Mass: Essex Institute,
OL16654407M
Harold L. Burstyn (1960), "The Salem Philosophical Library: its History and Importance for American Science", Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. 96, pp. 169–206
^
abHenry Wheatland (1862), "Historical Sketch of the Philosophical Library at Salem", Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, vol. 4, no. 4,
hdl:
2027/uva.x000464589
^
abcdefghijklmnPlummer Hall: its Libraries, its Collections, its Historical Associations, Salem, Mass.: Salem Athenaeum, 1882,
OCLC13736607,
OL7000156M