New exhibit: Three Letters

In 1938 and 1939, the author Henry Beston wrote three letters to Kingston resident Mrs. Alexander Holmes. The two had met at a retreat on Star Island, N.H. Beston is perhaps best know for his 1928 work Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod. Included with the letters is an autographed first edition inscribed by the author for Mrs. Holmes.

Inscription from Henry Beston to Mrs. Alexander Holmes, circa 1938

There is a wealth of online information available on Henry Beston. The Henry Beston Society focuses on Beston, his wife, the poet and novelist Elizabeth Coatesworth, while the Friends of Henry Beston place more emphasis on the Outermost House and Beston’s philosophy.  To complement the photographs of Beston available on these sites, here is one you won’t see anywhere else — Mrs. Alexander Holmes at Star Island.

Mary Russell Adams Holmes at Star Island, no date
Mary Russell Adams Holmes at Star Island, no date

Please stop by and have a look at this unique sample of a great writer’s work.

Why they called it Rocky Nook

View from Rocky Nook, no date
View from Rocky Nook, no date

This picture postcard shows the view from Rocky Nook across Kingston Bay toward the Standish Monument in Duxbury. Oh, and lots of rocks.