ROYAL.) The Academy of Ancient Music was established in London in 1710, with the view of promoting the study and practice of vocal and instrumental harmony. About 1734 the academy became a seminary for the instruction of youth in the principles of music and the laws of harmony. The Royal Academy of Music was formed for the performance of operas, composed by Handel and conducted by him at the theatre in the Haymarket. A contest be tween Handel and Senesino, one of the performers, in which the directors took the part of the latter, occasioned the dissolution of the academy after it had existed with honour for more than nine years. The present Royal Academy of Music dates from 1822, and was incorporated in 183o. It instructs pupils of both sexes in music. (See also the article CONSERVATOIRE for colleges of music.) The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (incorporated in 1920), was originally founded by Beerbohm Tree in It provides a thorough training for the stage. Like the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music it receives a grant of £5oo a year from the Government. It awards annually certain scholarships, and also prepares for the diploma in dramatic art of Lendon university. A somewhat similar institution is the School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art (incorporated), founded by Miss E. Fogerty, which also prepares for the stage.
See also SOCIETIES, LEARNED.
The volume of excerpts from the general catalogue of books in the British Museum, "Academies," five parts and index, furnishes a complete bibliography. See also Minerva published in Berlin and Leipzig and Index Generalis published in Paris. (C. BR.) United States.—The early organization of scholars in America took a form frankly imitative of that prevalent in Europe. Acad emies were organized in Philadelphia and Boston in the i8th century, which, like their European prototypes, were divided into different classes. Election to membership in them was in recogni tion of scholarly or scientific attainment, and they still closely resemble their European counterparts.
American scientists and scholars, however, have found their most effective organization in societies and associations of open membership, described in the article on Learned Societies. These frequently maintain a national headquarters at either Washington, D.C., or New York city, co-ordinate the work of the affiliated societies throughout the United States and even Canada and often issue an annual or quarterly publication, sometimes in addition to a more popular monthly magazine. There are, for example, the Archaeological Institute of America, organized in 1879, and the American Federation of Arts, which was organized in 1909 to further art in the United States by means of lectures, exhibi tions and publications. There are, too, many so-called academies, clubs, societies, guilds, leagues and associations devoted to the preservation, study and furtherance of the fine arts, the physical and natural sciences, natural scenery and historic landmarks and to the improvement of cities (see American Art Annual, v. XXIV 1927). Finally, there are various Federal, State and municipal art commissions that generally supervise the embellishment of public works.
Of the American organizations the following most nearly ap proximate the European academy as it has been considered here: The American Academy of Arts and Letters was organized in 1904 from within the membership of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Founded in 1898 by members of the American Social Science Association, the National Institute of Arts and Letters now has a membership limited to 25o and divided into three sections : literature, art and music. To be elected to the Institute a candidate must be proposed by a member of his own group and receive a vote of the majority of his section and later a majority vote of those present at the annual meeting. Its execu tive office is in the Academy building at 633 West 155th street, New York city. The American Academy of Arts and Letters operates under a Federal charter. It is limited to 5o members, chosen from the membership of the Institute only. Unlike the Institute, it functions as a whole and a literary man is not necessarily elected to fill the chair formerly occupied by a literary man. Apart from the honour conferred by membership, the actual work of the Academy is to promote American literature and art by giving the stamp of its approval of the best that both the past and the present have to offer, by means of public addresses, by bringing to the United States representatives of other Academies and, through conferences and discussion, thereby helping to estab lish a literary and artistic entente between nations, and through its exhibitions, publications, collections and awards.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, the sec ond oldest scientific society in the United States, was chartered in 1780 by a group of distinguished citizens of Massachusetts, in cluding John and Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The mem bership is divided into three classes, covering the physical and mathematical, the natural and physiological, and the moral and political sciences. It includes fellows (limited to 600), associates and foreign honorary members, elected on the basis of recogni tion of scholarship or professional eminence. The academy pub lishes Proceedings and Memoirs. It administers various trust funds in aid of physical and chemical research, and awards the Rumford medal to the authors of "any important discovery or useful improvement in light or heat which shall have been made in any part of America." It has a commodious building but no considerable endowment. The library is rich in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics and in the publications of learned societies of other countries.
The American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge is the oldest scientific association in the United States. The society is the outgrowth of the Junto founded by Franklin in 1727. In 1743 Franklin published A Pro posal for Promoting Useful Knowledge among the British Planta tions in America, which was so favourably received that in the same year the society was organized, with Thomas Hopkinson (1709-51) as president and Franklin as secretary. In 1769 it united with another scientific society founded by Franklin, called the American Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Use ful Knowledge, and adopted its present name, adding the de scriptive phrase from the title of the American Society, and elected Franklin president, an office which he held until his death (1790). The American Philosophical Society is national in scope and comprehends all departments of learning; its Transactions date from 1771, and its Proceedings from 1838. It has a hall in Philadelphia with meeting-rooms and a valuable library and col lection of interesting portraits and relics. David Rittenhouse was its second and Thomas Jefferson its third president. In 1786 John Hyacinth de Magellan, of London, presented a fund, the income of which was to supply a gold medal for the author of the most important discovery "relating to navigation, astronomy or natural philosophy (mere natural history excepted)." The National Academy of Sciences (1863) was incorporated by Congress with the object that it "shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experi ment and report upon any subject of science or art." Its member ship was first limited to so; after the amendment of the act of incorporation in 1870 the limit was placed at loo; and in 1907 it was prescribed that the resident membership should not exceed 15o in number, no more than ten members to be elected in any one year, and that the number of foreign associated be restricted to 5o. The constitution was later amended to provide that the mem bership shall not exceed 25o and that not more than 15 members shall be elected at one annual meeting. The academy is divided into ten sections : mathematics, astronomy, engineering, chemistry, geology and palaeontology, botany, zoology and anatomy, physi ology and pathology, anthropology and psychology. It gives sev eral gold medals for meritorious researches and discoveries, and holds also a number of small trust funds, from the income of which grants are made for scientific research. It publishes scien tific and biographical memoirs, an annual report and monthly pro ceedings.
The National Academy of Design was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1828. The first president was Samuel Finley Breese Morse, a portrait painter who subsequently invented the telegraph. The number of "associates" is unlimited but the num ber of "academicians" is limited to 125 painters, 25 sculptors and 25 architects or engravers. Two exhibitions are given annually and each member is entitled to exhibit one work without approval by the jury of selection.
The American Institute of Architects was chartered in 1857 with Richard Upjohn as president and Richard M. Hunt as secretary. It merged with the Western Association of Architects (founded 1884) in 1889 and has since been national in scope.
Since 1902 admission to membership has required an accredited diploma, or scholarship, or passing an examination either technical or on the candidate's work and standing. An annual convention is held and an annuary and monthly journal are issued.