The home of America’s printed history
Many Worcester, Mass., residents have for years admired the “mansion-like” American Antiquarian Society building without ever knowing what’s inside, said Brian Goslow in Worcester Magazine. “It’s a pity,” because the red-brick edifice houses the largest collection of printed materials from America’s early years, and it welcomes visitors. Most curiosity seekers will want to catch the tour given every Wednesday at 3 p.m., but any serious researcher can request time with materials from the collection. The society holds copies of six of every 10 paper items printed in the country’s first 100 years, including the first Bible printed in British North America and a circa-1804 cartoon lampooning Thomas Jefferson’s affair with Sally Hemings. The weekly tour always stops at a few of the nonprint highlights of the collection, including a clock used by John Hancock and a small container of tea from the Boston Tea Party.
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