Winter 2016

Winter 150 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com T he Redwood Library and Athenaeum is a classic: an architectural landmark, a treasury of great books, a sanctuary for scholarship, and a cultural icon (Fig. 1). As the oldest library in continuous use in the nation, it has been devoted since its inception to the art of inquiry and learning inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment. The Doric style portico still greets visitors to the building, while within its walls await generations of Newport’s leading merchants, ministers, and men and women of letters, captured in portraits by Gilbert Stuart and others, all still watching over the institution they founded and fostered over the centuries. Newport’s cultural flowering in the early eighteenth century laid the groundwork for the formation of the Redwood Library. Made rich from sea trade, the city became a vibrant center for the arts and crafts. Upon this scene of wealth and creativity entered the eminent philosopher, Dean George Berkeley, who arrived in A Classic Revisited The Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, Rhode Island by John R. Tschirch Fig. 1: Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, RI. Photograph by Andrea Hansen courtesy of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.