Publications

The Museum publishes important scholarly research on aspects of the collection.

Wood, David F. An Observant Eye: The Thoreau Collection at the Concord Museum, 2006.

In 2006, on the occasion of the Museum's 120th anniversary, the Concord Museum published An Observant Eye: The Thoreau Collection at the Concord Museum exploring for the first time in a fully-illustrated book the role that objects - including those in the Museum's extraordinary collection - played in the life of Henry D. Thoreau. Written by David F. Wood, Concord Museum curator, the 160-page, full-color, hardcover book opens with a ground-breaking essay, "A Common Sense Applied to the Objects: Thoreau and Material Culture," followed by seven chapters examining some 150 objects from the collection, each pictured in color.

The book also includes a checklist of an additional 100 objects in the Thoreau collection. This award-winning book was designed by Gilbert Design Associates, Inc. of Providence, with 120 color illustrations by David Bohl. An Observant Eye was supported by a Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency; the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; and several private foundations and individuals.

To learn more about An Observant Eye, click here.

Wood, David F. “Is it Seymour?” in The Catalog of Antiques and Fine Art, August 2004.

Wood, David F. “Concord, Massachusetts, Clockmakers 1811-1831,” in The Magazine Antiques, CLIX, No. 5, May 2001, pp. 762-769.

Wood, David F. “‘An influential and useful man’: Samuel Bartlett of Concord, Massachusetts,” in New England Silver and Silversmithing 1620-1815. Edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2001.

Wood, David F. “Silver by Samuel Bartlett (1752 – 1821): Recent Acquisitions at the Concord Museum,” at http://www.AntiquesAmerica.com, 2000.

Wood, David F. “Concord, Massachusetts, Clockmakers, 1789-1817,” in The Magazine Antiques, CLVII, No. 5, May 2000, pp.760-769.

Wood, David F. “Cabinetmaking Practices in Revolutionary Concord: New Evidence,” in Rural New England Furniture: People, Place and Production. Boston: Boston University and the Dublin Seminar, 1998 Annual Proceedings, Spring 2000.

Wood, David F. “A group of Concord, Massachusetts furniture,” in The Magazine Antiques, Vol. CLI, No. 5, May 1997, pp. 742-747.

Wood, David, editor. The Concord Museum. Decorative Arts from a New England Collection. Concord: Concord Antiquarian Society, 1996.
Awarded Second Place in the New England Museum Association's Publication Design Competition, this beautifully illustrated catalog is filled with new research and major findings, with entries prepared by some of the foremost American researchers writing in their area of expertise.

Harry Little’s Concord: Public and Domestic Architecture, 1914-1941. Concord: Concord Museum, 1989.
The catalog for the exhibit that David Little organized in honor of his father, architect Harry Little, looked at the distinctive designs which contribute so much to Concord’s present-day appearance.

Robinson, Barbara. Native American Sourcebook: A Teacher’s Resource on New England Native Peoples. Concord: Concord Museum, 1988.
The popular Sourcebook includes a wealth of resources, facts and graphics which enhance classroom presentation and deepen our knowledge of the roles of Native Americans of the past and present.

Blancke, Shirley and Barbara Robinson. From Musketaquid to Concord: The Native and European Experience. Concord: Concord Antiquarian Society, 1985.
The catalog for this exhibit was the Museum's first opportunity to interpret, through its collections, the culture of the people who were living in the Concord area at the time of European settlement.

Haines, Carol and Lisa Foote. "Forms to Sett on": A Social History of Concord Seating Furniture. Concord: Concord Antiquarian Society, 1984.
The catalog for this 1984 exhibit in French Gallery looked at the people who made or owned the various pieces of seating furniture in the Museum’s collection.

Benes, Peter, editor. Two Towns: Concord and Wethersfield - A Comparative Exhibition of Regional Culture (1635 - 1850). Concord: Concord Antiquarian Society, 1982.
The catalog for this ground-breaking exhibit examines everyday objects and attempts a fresh look at early American life by comparing surviving 17th, 18th, and 19th-century artifacts from two communities located in separate regions of New England.

Wheeler, Ruth. Concord: Climate for Freedom. Concord: Concord Antiquarian Society, 1967; reprinted 2000.
Long a classic Concord history text, this fascinating story explores the people and places of Concord's revolutionary history.