Isabella Stewart Gardner: ‘One of the Seven Wonders of Boston’

By Jon Hersey

Mrs. Jack Gardner is one of the seven wonders of Boston. There is nobody like her in any city in this country. She is a millionaire Bohemienne. She is the leader of the smart set, but she often leads where none dare follow. . . . She imitates nobody; everything she does is novel and original. ¹ —A Boston reporter

Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) was a…