What makes a building special? Is it the location? The architecture, or the people who come and go every day? Is it the conversations happening inside, or the impact it makes on the outside world? On very rare occasions, the answer is “all of the above”.
As part of the Bicentenary series celebrating BRLSI’s 200th year – and the 200th birthdays of other significant organisations – BRLSI is delighted to be welcoming Michael Wheeler (author of The Athenaeum: More Than Just Another London Club, Yale University Press, 2020) on Thursday 17th October 2024 for a talk on the history of the Athenaeum Club.
Founded in 1824 as a “literary” club – as opposed to a political one – the Athenaeum was intended as a gentleman’s club and a non-partisan meeting place for writers, artists and scientists, as well as politicians and members of the clergy. Six years later, it would move to its permanent home in Waterloo Place on Pall Mall, where it remains today; its distinctive blue and white bas-relief frieze a copy of the one on the Parthenon.
Members have included Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (whose legacy can still be seen outside the club, in the shape of the mounting stones he asked to be constructed at the entrance) and Charles Darwin, as well as William Hooker – friend and supporter of Darwin’s work, and the accidental inspiration behind Sir Michael Palin’s (also a member) bestselling book, Erebus: the Story of a Ship. Coincidentally – or perhaps not, as another “Athenian” – Sir John Franklin’s statue stands just outside the club, commemorating his expedition to navigate the Northwest Passage, on which HMS Erebus was lost in 1848.
Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan-Doyle were also both members, as were Benjamin Disraeli, John Nash, Robert Peel and John Ruskin. Herbert Spencer and Edward Elgar all counted themselves as “Athenians” – as does Alan Titchmarsh. PD James did too: in 2001, the club voted to admit women on equal terms to men, and current members now include Lady Hale, Theresa May and Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
An introduction to the Athenaeum, with Professor Michael Wheeler & Sir Michael Palin
Join BRLSI for a fascinating glimpse behind the door of a club with connections, as Professor Wheeler delves into the history of the Athenaeum, its members – and their influence.
The Athenaeum Club: A History – Michael Wheeler
Thurs 17 October 7.30 pm – 9 pm BST £3 – £6
