“Ration Challenge”, Proprietor Alex Lennon

Fellow proprietors, I have committed to undertake “The Ration Challenge” this year from 13th to 19th June. During this time I will eat the same rations as a Syrian refugee living in a camp in Jordan. I am doing this because I feel I am lucky to live a comfortable life here in the UK, … Read more

Doing Something Useful During Lockdown

Lockdown has put many voluntary and charitable activities on pause particularly where social contact was key to the services provided. This has certainly been true for my charitable activities which are around helping young people towards employment by providing work placements, internships, training etc. With no provision in schools for careers advice the activities of … Read more

Member Monday #033 – Professor John Ashton CBE

Every Monday we profile one of our Members. This week in we are joined by Proprietor 369, John Ashton. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of The Athenaeum. Following John’s appointment to the Governing Board, we asked him to introduce himself. Who are … Read more

From The Library: Gladstone’s Silver Buttons

Arguably, Robert Gladstone was the most prolific donor to the Athenaeum’s library. Bookplates testify to donations made during his lifetime and to the scale of his probate bequest – all of his books and papers, of which there are many, many. Gladstone (Bertie to his family) was born in 1866 into a wealthy Woolton family; … Read more

Sir David Maddison Opera Prize 2021

I am delighted to announce that the Sir David Maddison Opera Prize 2021 held in association with The Royal Northern College of Music, will be staged at The Liverpool Athenaeum on the evening of Friday June the 18th, with arrivals from 6.30pm and commencing at 7pm.  The evening will follow the same format as in … Read more

Far East To West: The Life of John James Snodgrass 1796 – 1841

In the “Good Old Days” when we were able to welcome visitors to the Athenaeum one of the things usually shown to them was a package in the Committee Room.  This contains two gilded palm leaves which bear long inscriptions in an eastern script.  It had been determined by experts that this was a Burmese … Read more

Interested In Photography

Photography is something that most people do from time to time whether to record a family event or to record their travels and adventures. Some people develop real skills and pursue excellence making it a hobby or profession but for many it is just matter of making a record maybe of a wedding or birthday … Read more

From The Library: History of Monsters

This is the first of what we hope will be a series exploring some of the many treasures in our fabulous library. Today’s highlight from the collection dates from 1642 and is one of the many natural history books that we hold.  Monstrorum Historia  (A History of Monsters) is one of a 13 volume series … Read more

The Athenaeum in WW1 , P.S

In the days when you could visit the Athenaeum and look at the various memorial tablets on the walls it may have struck you that there is not an Athenaeum war memorial It is a remarkable thing, given the spirit of the times and the enthusiasm with which memorials to the fallen and those who … Read more

Member Monday #031

Every Monday we profile one of our Members. This week in we are joined by Proprietor 212, Nathan Di Carlo! The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of The Athenaeum. Who are you ? An optimistic motivated entrepreneur. What is your greatest achievement  ? … Read more