St. Louis, MO 63121
Free admission. Parking is $1
http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/
The St. Louis Mercantile Library was established in 1846 and is the oldest surviving library west of the Mississippi. It was originally a subscription library and it was located in downtown St. Louis until 1988 when it moved to the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Although memberships are still available the library is now partially supported by the university.
When one enters the library it is immediately obvious that this is not a typical library.
From its founding the library considered art essential to its mission and over the years they have established a significant collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, etc. According to their Art Museum brochure: "these works relate to and complement the Library's archival and manuscript holdings by providing visual documentation of the physical and cultural development of our city, state, and nation."
Paintings, prints, and drawings literally cover the walls of the library.
True to their mission much of the artwork highlights our area such as this oil painting of Lafayette Square and the print of Union Station.
There are also a number of framed maps such as these fun detailed maps of the every-changing flow of the Mississippi River.
Sacajawea, or Birdwoman's Dream, 2000, bronze, by R. H. Dick
Lincoln from Life, 1860, painted plaster, by Leonard W. Volk
Rip Van Winkle Returned, 1871, painted plaster, by John Rogers
Beatrice Cenci, 1857, marble, by Harriet Hosmer
A number of the art works and artifacts are part of special collections or libraries within the Mercantile Library. The John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library is one of the largest and finest railroad collections in the USA. Among the shelves of railroad books are many railroad-related displays.
This bronze statue of Jesse James sits in this collection because of the many trains he robbed.
Naturally a St. Louis library would have an area highlighting waterways!
Another section is a political gallery.
Several display cases are filled with artifacts.
These painted plaster statues by John Rogers are called Politics, 1888, and Challenging the Union Vote, 1869.
These political buttons are among those in the exhibition entitled Presidents and War.
Anyone remember this button?
When you enter the museum you walk through a small African American Collection which includes 29 items.
Among the items is a framed engrossed early printing of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln.
Among the items in this area is this Ghost Dance Peace Pipe from 1885.
An unnamed beauty.
There is also a small section in the library on the St. Louis World's Fair including this model of the Chinese Pavilion in its entirety.
It is obvious that much of the library includes displays of donations such as this G. Duncan Bauman Memorial provided by his family.
A draw to the library is their changing exhibitions.
This political print gallery is on the lower level in the center of the library.
Currently the gallery includes 28 "faces" of George Washington.
Another temporary exhibit highlights three artists of early America's natural world.
This display includes 21 framed plates from a book of the the 18th century flora, as produced by Francois Andre Michaux.
Several display cases show off the Native American photographs of early 20th century photographer and ethnologist, Edward Sheriff Curtis.
The largest temporary exhibit is entitled Audubon and Beyond.
It covers a large area of the lower library.
The walls are filled with prints and other framed items.
As are all items on display these Audubon items are marked with numbers which are then explained in a free booklet.
These drawings were first done in the late sixteenth century by English artist and colonist John White.
There are many pamphlets and fact sheets available as you walk through the library and museum areas.
After our visit to the museum, we had lunch two miles away at the Ferguson Brewery Company which needless to say offered many different brews!
The brewery is known for their excellent smoked meats so we tried their brisket tacos and their pulled pork sliders. Yummy!
We thoroughly enjoyed wandering around for about two hours and looking at the different items of art, the opened books, and the few artifacts. We all agreed that we would like to go again but next time we would take one of the docent-led free tours offered on the week-ends. It is a little difficult to understand the layout of the two-level library and a number of the items do not include explanations. The tours are highly recommended so hopefully they would help answer some of our questions. If you are a group you can also arrange for a free group tour during the week.
On a Monday morning we were the only ones wandering about the library with the exception of staff. We have been told that the library is much busier during the academic year as many students do research in this library. The webpage recommends that you call the library first to confirm that there will be no tours in session at the time you want to come.
I was also once warned that parking was tricky but in reality it was not. There are good instructions on the webpage for driving on campus to the police station to get your daily parking pass and then to drive to the garage by the library. We were able to park in one of the reserved Mercantile spots on the third floor which is ground level to the library entrance. The Mercantile library is in the university library building.
We found the staff in both libraries very friendly and helpful. John Neal Hoover, the Executive Director of the Mercantile, stopped his work on a display and spent quite a few minutes with us sharing the library history and answering questions.
The webpage is helpful in preparing for a visit.
The brewery is highly rated. We found their meat dishes to be excellent but we were not too impressed with our sides. We did not try the brew!
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