Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

• Illustration — Portrait of lecturer John Pickering, by Alvan Clark (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) • Illustration — Masonic Temple, Tremont St., Boston, 1830s; engraving by Annin & Smith. Many of the society's lectures took place here • Illustration — Portrait of lecturer John Pierpont • Illustration — Portrait of lecturer Alonzo Potter • Illustration — Boston Almanac listing for the society, 1838 • Illustration — Reading list of the society, 1830 • 1829 • Edward Everett: "The Biography of Franklin" • Walter Channing: "On Physical Education, Including the History of the Ancient Gymnasium;" "On the Means of Promoting and Preserving the Health of Communities, and the History and Operation of Quarantine Law;" "Aqueducts or the Means and Advantages of Supplying Cities with Water" • Francis Lieber: "Causes of the Decline of the Turkish Empire" • Chandler Robbins, M.D.: "Animal Mechanics" • 1830 • Alexander H. Everett: "The History of Civilization" • Alonzo Potter: "The Theory of Morals" • John Park: "On Sensation, the Source of Knowledge and the Means by Which Truth May Be Ascertained" • William Sullivan: "The Constancy of Human Nature Illustrated by the Physical and Moral Character of War in the Past Ages" • John Pickering: "Uncertainty of the Law"; "The Moral Sciences and Belles Lettres as Branches of Useful Knowledge" • Davis: "On Natural Sciences" • F.W.P. Greenwood: "The Nature and Power of Moral Circumstances"; "On the Uses and Abuses of Books" • James T. Austin: "On the Modern History of Massachusetts" • John Pierpont: "On the Value of Human Knowledge" • William J. Loring: "An Exposition on Some of the Elementary Principles of Political Economy" • Theodore Lyman: "Remarks on the Principal Events of the French Revolution of 1789" • 1831 • Benjamin A. Gould: "On Switzerland-the Glaciers-and Other Phenomena of the Alps, together with Passes over those Mountains" • J. V. C. Smith: "On the Natural History and Cultivation of the Honey Bee, as a Source of Domestic Economy" • Enoch Hale: "On Nutrition and on Digestion" • J. Greely Stevenson: "On the Varieties of Man" • John C. Gray: "On Taxation and Revenue" • Lemuel Shaw: "On Laws of Property" • Daniel Webster: "Introductory Lecture" • Jacob Bigelow: "The Cemetery at Mount Auburn"; "Architecture" • Francis C. Gray: "The Aborigines of America"; "Some Peculiarities of the American Form of Government" • 1832 • Chandler Robbins: Health • Gamaliel Bradford: "Apparitions"; "The Organs of Motion" • Franklin Dexter: "The Moral Right of Parties to Suit at Law" • J. Greely Stevenson: "The Cause of Diversities of Complexion and Figure in Mankind" • Charles P. Curtis: "The Benefit to the Public from the Establishment of a Court of Chancery in Massachusetts" • Enoch Hale: "Dews and Clouds" • John Farrar: "Natural Philosophy" • Abraham Mason: "The Art of Wood Engraving" • 1833 • John Pickering: "The Importance of the Study of Languages"; "Language Comprehending an Account of the Written Language of Ancient Egypt, Called Hieroglyphics, as Explained by Dr. Young and M. Champollion"; "Mexican and Peruvian Languages-and Telegraphic Languages" • Jonathan Barber: "Elocution" • Edward Everett: "Introductory Lecture" • George Ticknor: Shakespeare • 1834 • John Farrar: Astronomy • Caleb Cushing: "Man as the Agent and Object of Civilization"; "Moral and Intellectual Culture"; "Analysis of Social Organizations"; "Government"; "On Civilization and Social State of Christendom"; "The Fine Arts" • 1835 • Caleb Cushing: "Woman"; "The Discovery and Colonization of America" • Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Michel Angelo Buonarte"; "Martin Luther"; "John Milton"; "George Fox"; "The Biography of Edmund Burke"; English Literature; "Permanent Traits of the English National Genius"; "The Age of Fable"; "Chaucer"; "Shakespeare"; "Lord Bacon"; "Ben Jonson, Herrick, Herbert, and Wotton" • 1836 • Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Ethical Writers"; "Modern Aspects of Letters" • John Farrar: Astronomy • Daniel Webster: "The Progress of Popular Knowledge" • Theophilus Parsons: "The Progress and Prospects of Society" • John C. Gray: "The Forest Trees of the United States" • Rufus Choate: "The Literature of the Sea" • 1837 • William Sullivan • Alexander Young: "The Pequot War of 1637" • Charles W. Upham: "Roger Williams"; "Hugh Peters"; "Sir George Downing"; "The British Navigation Act of 1651" • Edward Everett: "Introductory Lecture" • William H. Gardiner: "Ancient Mexico" • George Putnam: "The Circuit of the Waters" • Edward T. Channing: "Modern Demonstrative Eloquence"; "Mental Habits of Writers" • 1838 • Edward T. Channing: "Richard Steele and the Periodical Essays of Queen Anne's Time"; "Literary Decisions"; "The Education of an Orator" • James Walker: "The Progress of Civilization as Affected by Systems of Philosophy"; "Materialism"; "Transcendentalism"; "Phrenology"; "Animal Magnetism" • Horace Mann: "Education-Its Necessity"; "Education-Its Processes"; "Education-Its Objects" • Jared Sparks: American Revolution • 1839 • William Adam: "India" • Francis C. Gray: English Language and Literature • Orville Dewey: "The Moral Philosophy of Human Life"; "The Moral Philosophy of History" • 1840 • Convers Francis: "The Relation of Literature to the Time"; "The Interpretation of the Past"; "The Huguenots in America" • John Brazer: "The Difference between English and Ancient Classical Poetry" • John Quincy Adams: "The Social Nature of Man and Its Influence upon the Moral Condition" • William H. Simmons: "The British Poets"; "The Poetry of Milton"; "Cowper and the Satirical Poets"; "The Poetry of Byron"' • Henry R. Cleveland: "Characters of Classical and Romantic Fiction" • 1841 • Charles Francis Adams: "Shakespeare"" • John Quincy Adams: "The Chinese War" • Henry W. Bellows: "The Formation of Opinions" • John S. Dwight: "The Musical Life" • Henry Giles: "The Poet Burns"; "The Poet Crabbe" • Frederic Henry Hedge: "The Philosophy of Literature" • William Mitchell: Astronomy • John Lord: "Institutions of the Middle Ages" • 1842 • George Bancroft: "American Independence: A Consequence of the Reformation-Mayhew"; "The French War, A War of Revolution"; "Increase of Despotic Power in the European World"; "Boston in 1765" • Charles Eames: "The Spirit of American History"; "The Commercial System"; "The Unity and Result of Ancient History" • Henry Giles: "Elements and Illustration of Irish Character"; "Byron" • Francis C. Gray: "Shakespeare" • Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Astrology and Alchemy"; "Medical Delusions of the Past"; "Homeopathy" • Ephraim Peabody: "The British Power in India" • Josiah Quincy: "Introductory Lecture" • 1843 • Richard Henry Dana Jr.: "The Foundation of Influence"; "American Loyalty" • E. T. Fitch: "Music as Fine Art" • Edward Reynolds: Human anatomy • Thaddeus W. Harris: "Zoology" • 1847 • Louis Agassiz: "The Alps and Glaciers"