Recommended Reads: Massachusetts Literary Locations

"That is a good book which is opened with expectation and closed with profit.” - Amos Bronson Alcott

New England and the great minds and thoughtful souls of the region played a pivotal role in the American Revolution. Massachusetts and its dedicated patriots led the way in the fight for independence from the British Empire.

In the 19th century, Massachusetts was a literary mecca for innovative thinkers. Transcendentalists, abolitionists, and other landmark authors made their home in our commonwealth and produced historic works.

Learn about local historic and literary attractions in the region. Then check out the books by the famous authors who lived in these houses.

Recorded cassette (RC or RCM), digital book (DB or DBM), braille (BR), and large print (LT) copies of these books are available from the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.

Prepared by Rachel Gould, Children & Youth Services Librarian
Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library

Herman Melville’s Arrowhead: Located in Pittsfield, MA

Arrowhead was the home of Herman Melville from 1850-1863. It was at Arrowhead, while gazing out at Mt. Greylock, that Melville wrote his most famous work, Moby Dick, other novels, short stories, magazine stories, and poetry. (www.mobydick.org, 413-442-1793)

"Billy Budd, Sailor" and Other Stories
RC 34260, DB 34260 (BARD download only), BR 3614 
The title story is a classic nineteenth-century novel about naive, innocent, young Billy Budd, who is cruelly antagonized and unjustly accused by his evil master-at-arms, John Claggart. Speechless with rage, Billy strikes and kills Claggart, forcing Captian Vere to order his execution. Also included are Bartleby, The Piazza, The Encantadas, The Bell-Tower, and Benito Cereno.

Moby Dick
RC 47779, DB 34184 (BARD download only), BR 14641, LT 7337 
Sailor Ishmael narrates this allegory of human potential and limitations. Seeking adventure, Ishmael signs on as a harpooner with Captain Ahab's whaling ship. Once at sea, the crew discovers that, despite dire warnings from other ships and a prophet, Captain Ahab is obsessed with killing Moby Dick, the white whale responsible for his missing leg.

The Shorter Novels of Herman Melville
RC 23332, DB 23332 (BARD download only)
A collection of Melville's shorter novels, including the tale of an inefficient law clerk's odd power over his employer, sketches demonstrating man's inhumanity, and two sea stories.

The Emily Dickinson Museum: Located in Amherst, MA

The Homestead, where poet Emily Dickinson was born and lived most of her life, and The Evergreens, home of the poet’s brother and his family, share three beautiful acres of the original Dickinson property in the center of Amherst, Massachusetts. (www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org, 413-542-8161)

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
RC 56797, BR 12581
The poetry of nineteenth-century writer Emily Dickinson collected in one volume. Includes all 1,775 poems in rough chronological order.

Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson
LT 5577
Dickinson's tightly compressed poems have astounded readers since they were first published a few years after her death. They deal with typical poetic subjects, nature, death, love, religion, but their utter individuality owes little to any earlier poet. Lacking poetic ancestors or heirs, Dickinson remains, in all ways, unique.

Longfellow House: Located in Cambridge, MA

This is the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the world’s foremost 19th century poets. The house also served as headquarters for General George Washington during the Siege of Boston, July 1775 - April 1776. (www.nps.gov/long, 617-876-4491)

Hiawatha
RC 22692, DB 22692 (BARD download only), BR 6112
Selected verses from Longfellow's classic epic poem depict the boyhood of young Hiawatha. For grades K-3 to share with older readers.

Paul Revere's Ride
RC 32528, BR 2137
Paul Revere's ride took place on the eve of the American Revolution. On the night of April 18, 1775, the British soldiers secretly left Boston for Concord where the colonists' arms were stored. Paul Revere, told of their movement by his friend who watched from the Old North Church, rode the countryside to warn that the British were coming. Longfellow's famous poems tells of that night. For grades 2-4 and older readers.

Poems and Other Writings
RC 53100
Collection of 127 poems and 15 translations of poems published by the nineteenth-century American poet during his lifetime, selections from unpublished manuscripts, the novella Kavanagh, a Tale, and three essays. Includes Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha, The Courtship of Miles Standish, and selections from Tales of a Wayside Inn.

Selected poems: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
RC 22580, LT 10523, BR 14221 
Includes such famous poems as The Children's Hour, Paul Revere's Ride, and The Village Blacksmith.

Orchard House: Located in Concord, MA

Visit the historic home of thse extraordinary Alcott family, where Louisa May Alcott wrote and set Little Women. (www.louisamayalcott.org, 978-369-4118)

A Double Life: Newly Discovered Thrillers
DB/RC 30348
Collection of five eerie tales originally published anonymously during the late 1800s. Subjects include a family cursed by an Indian princess, an ambitious artist held in mesmeric bondage by his wife, and a Russian prince who falls under the spell of an Englishwoman.
 
Little Men
RC 23646, DB 23646 (BARD download only), BR 12486, LT 5293
Describes life at Plumfield, the progressive school established by Jo and her husband. Advanced theories of education mingle with the escapades of the students. Originally published in 1871.

Little Women
RC 58830, BR 11778
Recounts the lives of the four March sisters--quick-tempered Jo, who is restless for freedom; Beth, who loves her home and family; Meg who longs for pretty clothes; and self-absorbed Amy. 1868.

Louisa May Alcott's Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories
RC 42939, DB 42939 (BARD download only)
Thirty-nine didactic tales spanning Alcott's entire literary career, including The Frost King, Ripple, The Water Spirit, Little Gulliver, A Strange Island, Fairy Pinafores, The Candy Country, Cockyloo, and Mermaids.

Walden Pond: Located in Concord, MA

Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond from July 1845 to September 1847. His experience at Walden provided the material for the book Walden, which is credited with helping to inspire awareness and respect for the natural environment. (www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden, 978-369-3254)

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
RC 47885, LT 4424 
Henry David Thoreau's account of a week he and his brother John spent on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers of New England in 1839. Written at Walden Pond (after John's death), it includes digressions on topics such as Native American history, friendship, literature, and sacred writings.

Autumnal Tints
DBM/RCM 749 
Philosopher and essayist Thoreau believed that living simply and close to nature would help him to understand life. He built a single-room cabin at Walden Pond, from which he roamed the fields and woods of Concord, Massachusetts, observing and taking notes. This essay about autumn was first published in the October 1862 issue of Atlantic Monthly.

Walden, or Life in the Woods
RC 50835, BR 12576, LT 4373
Philosophical observations recorded during an experiment in simple living at a small pond near Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau's essays include his detailed observations of nature and his comments on the world's problems. He says that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

Wild Fruits: Thoreau's Rediscovered Last Manuscript
RC 50242
Scenes from nature described by Thoreau on his long daily walks during a twenty-four-year period. The selections are arranged by season, giving sensory impressions of the woodland plants, earth, and animals that the nineteenth-century philosopher encountered.