Lenox Library, New York, New York;(1871-1877); Neo-Grec
James Lennox, born 1800 and
died 1880, was the richest man in the 19th century, because he
was the most influential philanthropist and bibliophile. Being one of the
earliest buildings to open to all of the public, the Lenox Library was a full
collection of over eighty-five thousand books. Originally, these books resided
at James Lenox’s house in his personal collection on the corner of fifth and
twelfth street where he lived in large piles of collections that he collected
since 1845. It was mainly books that James Lenox collected for his collections,
but on the side he also liked to dip his foot into the world of fine art and
sculptures. As James Lenox became older this system of managing books became
less and less reliable as it was hard to find books in stacks and stacks, and
so he began looking towards the decision to build a house for his collections.
He chose a site in which he
had inherited from his father in eighteen thirty-nine and decided this was the
land to place the building on. The building resided on Fifth Avenue between 70th and
71st street, in a rural area that was developing at a high
speed. The building was constructed by a highly regarded architect who went by
the name Richard Morris Hunt, born in 1827, and passed in 1895. The
construction of the library went from eighteen seventy-one to eighteen
seventy-seven housing every book from his collection, along with all of his
paintings, and sculptures. This building was then opened to the public, and alongside
it a hayfield was planted and began growing around the site. Later that same
year he expanded his library to include rare books (such as the Mazarin Bible,
the first Gutenberg Bible, along with works by Milton, Shakespeare, and
Americana) which he had. The remaining two reading rooms were setup for
visitors to come only by invitation, or as an admission ticket was approved
beforehand. Over time the area began developing by wealthy land owners, and
James Lenox chose to begin selling the crops to developers after market pricing
began rising making him even more wealthy than before and helping him to expand
his library. After this time his library become a part of notable architecture.
The Neo-Grec style building
was a notable architectural building and attraction that was housed in New
York. The building was the length of its city block, and contained several
courtyards, most notably its central courtyard, which faced Fifth Avenue. At
the time of construction it cost over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
along with its land, which was valued the same. Everything was fireproofed and
made from limestone. The building was two hundred feet at its frontal length,
and one hundred and fourteen feet deep. The books in the collection
held today are eighty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-one books, made
up of books from Evert Augustus Duycknck who owned fifteen thousand books,
Felix Astoin who owned four thousand five hundred books, Joseph William Drexel
who owned six thousand books, George Bancroft who owned fifteen thousand books,
and Wendell prime who only had four hundred and fifty books, but also accounted
for the libraries fourty-five thousand newspapers.
From the exterior of the
building the library had a central entrance and two wings that protruded
towards the street. Once you have entered the building the exterior light
penetrated the building through its large arched windows, which created vastly
lit reading rooms and gallery spaces that contained all of the thousands of
books and works collected to be displayed prominently on shelves other works in
cases. The Interior floors changed from space to space to create rooms that
signified their function. In the main hall there were long tables that
stretched to make way for seating inside of the library. The gallery contained
art pieces on pedestals, and famous works placed on display inside of wooden
boxes with glass windows for the audience to observe through. The private rooms
contained a more comfortable seating area, and some of the more famous works that
were maintained.
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| Lenox Library |
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| Lenox Library Interior spaces |
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| Floor Plan Showing Emphasis on Wings |
Work Cited
NYPL. Hudson-Fulton Exhibition Made by the New York
Public Library (Lenox Library Building) September 1909. 1909.
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