Antique & Vintage Postcards

A red streetcar rumbles past the grand Renaissance Revival façade of the Boston Public Library on Copley Square — a vivid snapshot of Edwardian-era city life captured in rich chromolithographic color, circa 1908. The McKim, Mead & White masterpiece dominates the frame, its arched windows and rusticated granite walls glowing warm ochre beneath a terracotta roof, while a horse-drawn vehicle and pedestrians animate the foreground. To the right, the soaring Romanesque tower of New Old South Church punctuates the skyline. On the reverse, a flowing cursive hand addresses the card to Ida at 86 Marlboro Street, Boston — a short journey across the Back Bay — making this a charming neighborhood correspondence between two city dwellers who never needed to leave the square mile.