Besotted with tales of medieval knights and ladies, Abbey collected fabrics, read histories, and studied original artifacts to ensure the authenticity of his work. He described this troubadour (a traveling musician and poet) as a “Gringoirish Barnaby Rudge kind of Blondel-like person,” naming two medieval minstrels and the character of a fool from Barnaby Rudge, by Charles Dickens. Abbey is best known for his historical and literary scenes, including murals of The Quest for the Holy Grail, at the Boston Public Library. Charles H. Bayley Picture and Painting Fund, 2008 2008.2 Henry Hobson Richardson American, 1838-1886 Made by Irving and Casson Bench for the Woburn Public Library Massachusetts (Boston), 1878 Oak, leather Richardson, who designed Boston’s Trinity Church, was probably the most influential American architect of the late nineteenth century. He was inspired but not bound by medieval architecture and described his style as “a free rendering of the French Romanesque.” He oversaw all aspects of his buildings, often including the furniture, and designed this bench for the public library in Woburn, Massachusetts. His coordinated interiors and focus on materials matched well with the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement and influenced a generation of architects and craftspeople.