Printed Catalogs & Pictorial Essays
Fashioning the New England Family
Written by Kimberly S. Alexander. Foreword by Anne E. Bentley
The Massachusetts Historical Society has collected family materials since 1791, including long-cherished textiles and garments that arrived alongside letters and diaries. Fashioning the New England Family uses documents and artifacts to illustrate a swath of more than 300 years of history, moving from the 17th century to the early 20th. The text traces patterns of global production and local consumption and reuse, demonstrating how New Englanders used fashion to express class and political affiliations. Patriots and loyalists who are well represented in the Society’s rich holdings—Adamses, Dawses, and Olivers—make many appearances.
Based on the exhibition of the same name presented at the Massachusetts Historical Society from October 2018 to April 2019, this companion volume features over one hundred full-color photographs of garments, textiles, and accessories, many of which had never been displayed for the public or seen in living memory. Read more about Fashioning the New England Family.
168 pages, 133 color illustrations
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
$35 Paperback (2021) ISBN: 978-1-936520-13-8
The Private Jefferson: Perspectives from the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society
With essays by Peter S. Onuf, Andrea Wulf, and Henry Adams
One of U.S. history’s most eminent figures, Thomas Jefferson is as elusive as he is revered. The Private Jefferson opens a window onto the third president’s inner life by digging into the single largest cache of Thomas Jefferson’s private papers, held at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Generously illustrated with over 100 full-color reproductions of architectural drawings, letters, and other manuscripts.
Read more about The Private Jefferson.
224 pages, 137 color illustrations
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
$35 Paperback (2016) ISBN: 978-1-936520-09-1
$60.00 Hardcover (2016) ISBN: 978-1-936520-08-4
The Cabinetmaker & the Carver
By Gerald W. R. Ward. Foreword by Dennis Fiori.
The Cabinetmaker and the Carver provides an opportunity to see a carefully selected group of significant examples of Boston furniture representing the trajectory of the city's great tradition of furniture making. Presented in close to 100 full-color illustrations, these objects illustrate many of the local characteristics that distinguish Boston work from that of other cities; they also open a window on Bostonians’ tastes and preferences. Created by many of the city’s most talented cabinetmakers, carvers, turners, and other craftsmen, nearly all of this furniture is drawn from distinguished local collections, providing a rare public glimpse of these privately held treasures.
Read more about The Cabinetmaker and the Carver.
64 pages, 80 color illustrations
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
Order from Amazon.
$30 Paperback (2013) ISBN: 978-1-936520-06-0
In Death Lamented: The Tradition of Anglo-American Mourning Jewelry
By Sarah Nehama. Prefaces by Sarah Nehama and Anne E. Bentley.
A compendium developed to accompany and record the exhibition of the same title, In Death Lamented: The Tradition of Anglo-American Mourning Jewelry features full-color photographs of prime examples of rings, bracelets, brooches, and other pieces of mourning jewelry from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The catalog, like the exhibition at the MHS, showcases the materials in the Society’s collection and that of Sarah Nehama, a jeweler and private collector who co-curated the event at the MHS. These elegant and evocative objects are presented in context, including written explanations of the history, use, and meaning of the jewelry, as well as related pieces of material culture, such as broadsides, photographs, portraits, funeral medals, and trade cards. The jewelry included will illustrate some of the most exemplary types, from early gold bands with death’s head iconography to jeweled brooches and intricately woven hairwork pieces of the Civil War era.
128 pages, 110 color illustrations
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
$35 Paperback (2012) ISBN: 978-1-936520-03-9
The Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society
Text by Judith S. Graham, Margaret A. Hogan, Ondine Le Blanc, Gregg L. Lint, and C. James Taylor
With full-color illustrations on almost every page, this volume showcases Adams-related manuscripts from the collections at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The selections are grouped in four chapters—including one on John and Abigail's famous correspondence and another highlighting John's contributions to the Revolution—and each chapter provides short explanations of historical context.
42 pages, 75 color illustrations
Contact the Publications Department to order.
$20.00 Paperback (2008) ISBN: 978-0-934909-92-1
Declarations of Independence
Compiled by the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Introduction by Pauline Maier
This large-format, softcover book draws on the Society's collections to illustrate the history of the Declaration of Independence—of its printing and distribution as well as its drafting. The images include manuscript copies in the hands of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the first printing by John Dunlap of Philadelphia, and a variety of later printings (including one that features the words of the declaration arranged to form a three-quarters portrait of George Washington). Pauline Maier's introduction gives a detailed history of the document's creation, placing it both in the context of key historical figures and the general populace of the new nation.
32 pages, 19 illustrations
$8.00 Paperback (2003) ISBN: 0-934909-83-0
To order this title, please print out the order form and mail it to the Society with your check.
We Fight for Freedom: Massachusetts, African Americans & the Civil War
By Donald Yacovone, with a foreword by James O. Horton
This excellent introduction to the contribution of African Americans to the Union effort also showcases remarkable visual materials from African American history in general. The book highlights the efforts of the Massachusetts 54th Infantry Regiment—the regiment featured in the film Glory—by drawing on a rich collection of relevant papers and unique photographs in the Society's archives. To find out more about this photograph collection, go to the Photography Collections web page.
36 pages, 56 illustrations
To order this title, please email pubstaff@mblayst.com. (A $2.50 shipping & handling fee will be added to all mailed orders.)
$10.00 Paperback (2022, 2nd rev. ed.) ISBN: 978-0-934909-66-2
Paul Revere's Three Accounts of His Famous Ride
Compiled by the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Introduction by Edmund S. Morgan
The old favorite was redesigned and updated in 2000 with new illustrations. The pairing of Revere's accounts of his ride, as both facsimiles and careful transcriptions, with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous poem allows readers to compare the different renditions of the pivotal event.
32 pages, 18 illustrations
To order this title, please print out the order form and mail it to the Society with your check.
$8.00 Paperback (2000, rev. ed.) ISBN: 0-934909-94-6
Catalogue of Books in the Massachusetts Historical Library: An Annotated Edition of the 1796 Library Catalogue of the Massachusetts Historical Society
Compiled by John D. Cushing, Mary E. Cogswell, Mary E. Fabiszewski, Edward W. Hanson, and Brenda M. Lawson
By 1796 the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, founded in 1791, had grown to such an extent that a printed catalog became necessary. The published catalog of 1,292 entries includes works on political, social, economic, religious, and historical events of the day as well as works relating to colonial America and the Revolutionary War. The Bicentennial edition of the 1796 catalog includes a high-quality facsimile reproduction of the original document, a transcription with fully annotated entries for each of the original titles, and extensive appendices. Elucidating as it does the library of the nation's first historical society, this is an important resource for bibliophiles and historians alike.
656 pages, 40 illustrations
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
$85.00 Hardcover (1997) ISBN: 0-943909-69-5
Witness to America's Past: Two Centuries of Collecting by the Massachusetts Historical Society
Compiled by the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society
This fully illustrated catalog, published to accompany the Massachusetts Historical Society's 200th-anniversary exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, provides the reader with an engaging view of the books, manuscripts, artwork, and historical artifacts that the Society collected over 200 years. Filled with color plates, black-and-white illustrations, detailed item descriptions, and entertaining anecdotal information, the catalog brings many of the most vital events in American and Massachusetts history to life through the examination of material artifacts. The book describes more than 160 of the most historically significant objects in the Society's collection—from paintings, prints, and engravings to unusual objects such as tea collected from the Boston Tea Party, a bureau whose drawers supposedly housed a witch during the Salem witch trials, and photographs of soldiers from the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the most important African American regiment raised in the North during the Civil War.
207 pages, 11 color and 185 b&w illustrations
Copublished with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
$25.00 Paperback (1991) ISBN: 0-87846-334-8
Portraits in the Massachusetts Historical Society: An Illustrated Catalog with Descriptive Matter
By Andrew Oliver, Ann Millspaugh Huff, and Edward W. Hanson
A comprehensive inventory of MHS portraiture, including information about subject, artist, and provenance as available. Illustrated in black-and-white and color.
189 pages, 24 color and 200 b&w illustrations
Distributed by the University of Virginia Press
$50.00 Hardcover (1988) ISBN: 0-934909-26-1
Massachusetts Paper Money, 1690-1780: The Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society
By Leonard Travers
A brief historical essay presented with extensive illustrations and a select bibliography provides a consice but concrete introduction to early efforts to use paper money in the American colonies.
32 pages, 26 illustrations
To order this title, please print out the order form and mail it to the Society with your check.
$8.00 Paperback (1988) ISBN: 978-0-934909-67-9
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Compiled by the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Foreword by Bernard Bailyn
A wonderful sourcebook of documents and visual artifacts related to the legendary battle of the American Revolution. Reproductions show the reader maps and plans of fortifications, engravings of the battle itself, official reports and British caricatures, and a detailed and moving description of the battle in an American soldier's letter to his mother.
32 pages, 23 illustrations
To order this title, please print out the order form and mail it to the Society with your check.
You may also view a web exhibition of the Battle of Bunker Hill materials on display in the Society's gallery.
$8.00 Paperback (1968) ISBN: 978-0-934909-01-3
