loading loading
Search this catalogue
 [?]
 [?]
 [?]
 [?]

Catalogue Entry

enlarge
Photo: © Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)
inv. 482
Horticultural Hall, School St. Boston
Alternate title: Horticultural Hall
c.1845
Lithograph on paper
11 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (28.6 x 22.5 cm)
Sheet: 15 x 10 1/8 in. (38.1 x 25.72 cm)
Inscribed across bottom: Printed left to right: F. H. Lane del., Lane & Scott's Lithography, Boston
Commentary

Incorporated in 1829, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was founded to share information on horticulture with the public and was first housed on Tremont Street in Boston. In 1844, the Society built Horticultural Hall on School Street, the structure shown in this lithograph. The original sketch for the print was drawn by Fitz Henry Lane and the lithograph was printed by Lane & Scott. The Horticultural Society used the building as meeting space and for weekly exhibitions of flowers, fruit and vegetables. The building also housed a library. The first floor provided retail space for Samuel Walker who sold plants, seeds, gardening equipment and books. 

Explore Catalogue Entries by Keywords view all keywords »

Historical Materials

Below is historical information related to the Lane work above. To see complete information on a subject on the Historical Materials page, click on the subject name (in bold and underlined).
[ top]
publication
Catalogue of vegetable seeds, for sale at the Massachusetts Horticultural Seed Store, School Street, Boston,[.]
Boston, Mass.
Samuel Walker, School Street.
1845-1846.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
http://ia800504.us.archive.org/18/items/catalogueofveget1845mass/catalogueofveget1845mass.pdf

Link to object

Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library

Filed under: Horticultural Hall »

[ top]
Boston Locales, Businesses, & Buildings: Horticultural Hall

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society was incorporated in 1829 and first housed on Tremont Street. Horticultural Hall was built on School Street in 1844, the first permanent building by any horticultural society; a new building was built after 1860. The building housed annual and weekly exhibitions, a library and meeting space, and a seed store on the street level.

publication
Catalogue of vegetable seeds, for sale at the Massachusetts Horticultural Seed Store, School Street, Boston,[.]
Boston, Mass.
Samuel Walker, School Street.
1845-1846.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
http://ia800504.us.archive.org/18/items/catalogueofveget1845mass/catalogueofveget1845mass.pdf

Link to object

Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
[+]
artwork
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society membership certificate
c.1829
Lithograph
Printed by Pendleton's
18 3/8 x 15 5/8 in.
Boston Athenaeum
Image: Boston Athenaeum

Also filed under: Pendleton's, Lith. – Boston »

[+]
[ top]
Fitz Henry Lane Biography • Lithography: Lane & Scott's, Lith. – Boston
View related Fitz Henry Lane catalog entries (16) »

Lane & Scott's Lithography was a Boston-based firm formed by Fitz Henry Lane and John W. A. Scott. The partnership spanned 1844–48, after both artists had apprenticed for prominent Boston lithographer, William Pendleton. The firm was located at 16 Tremont Temple, Boston and created sheet music covers, book illustrations, advertisements, prints, and town views. Lane left the firm around 1847 or 1848 and Scott printed some works under his own name.

This information has been summarized from Boston Lithography 1825–1880 by Sally Pierce and Catharina Slautterback. 

map
1837 plan of the City of Boston
Charles Stimpson

1837 9 x 14 in. Cape Ann Museum Library & Archive

Showing Lane's neighborhood while working in Boston. Lane had studios at the intersection of Washington and State Streets, Summer, Tremont and School Streets.

Also filed under: Boston City Views »   //  Maps »   //  Professional »   //  Residences »   //  Tremont Temple »

[+]
map
A Map of Plymouth Village
Lane & Scott Lith.
Frontispiece of " Pilgrim memorials, and guide for visitors to Plymouth Village: : with a lithographic map, and seven copperplate engravings." / By Wm. S. Russell, recording secretary of the Pilgrim Society. ; [Eight lines from Oliver Wendell Holmes]
Boston: : Printed for the author, by C.C.P. Moody, Old Dickinson Office–52 Washington Street., 1851
Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester.
Call Number LML Plym Russ P851

American Antiquarian Society copy of book inscribed: Belonging to J.G. Orton. Bought in Pilgrim Hall Plymouth, Mass. Oct. 10th 1851

Map of Plymouth Village in 1846 signed: Lane & Scott's Lith., Boston

Image: American Antiquarian Society
[+]
publication
The Voyage of the "Jamestown" on her Errand of Mercy
Robert Bennet Forbes
1847
Boston
Eastburn's Press

Link to Google Books.

Also filed under: "Jamestown" (U.S. Sloop of War) »   //  Forbes, Robert Bennet »   //  Professional »

[+]
Provenance (Information known to date; research ongoing.)
See IMPRESSIONS tab for individual provenance.
Exhibition History
2017–18 Cape Ann Museum
Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Drawn From Nature & on Stone: The Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane, October 7, 2017–March 4, 2018. (Exhibition catalogue: Cape Ann Museum 2017) (Impression: Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)).
Published References
Farnsworth 1974
Fitz Hugh Lane 1804-1865. Rockland, ME: William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, 1974. Exhibition catalogue (1974 Farnsworth Art Museum), as Horticultural Hall.
Crossman 1985
Crossman, Carl L. "Lithographs of Fitz Hugh Lane." In American Maritime Prints, edited by Elton W. Hall. New Bedford, MA: The Whaling Museum by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 1987, p. 71, fig. 4 p. 72 (Impression: Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)).
Wilmerding 2005
Wilmerding, John. Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Historical Association, 2005, ill. 15, as Horticultural Hall (Impression: Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)).
Craig 2006a
Craig, James. Fitz H. Lane: An Artist's Voyage through Nineteenth-Century America. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2006, fig. 18, text, p. 50, as Horticultural Hall (Impression: Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)).
Cape Ann Museum 2017
Barnhill, Trafton. Drawn from Nature & on Stone: the Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum, 2017. Exhibition catalogue (2017–18 Cape Ann Museum), fig. 16, text, p. 29, as Horticultural Hall (Impression: Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)).
Impression Information

Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)

Horticultural Hall, School St. Boston, c.1845 (inv. 425)
Photo: © Boston Athenaeum (inv. 425)
Boston Athenaeum (1955.4)

Provenance

Boston Athenaeum, 1955
Record last updated May 7, 2024. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: "Horticultural Hall, School St. Boston, c.1845 (inv. 482)." In Fitz Henry Lane Online. Gloucester, MA: Cape Ann Museum. www.fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=482 (accessed on August 8, 2025).