Fact Sheet

The New York Public Library • Humanities and Social Sciences Library,
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York. NY
www.nypl.org

About The New York Public Library

The origins of the New York Public Library date to the time when New York was emerging as one of the world's most important cities, and needed a great library to serve its booming population.


The New York Public Library, Fifth Avenue building during construction, 1907. Photo: The New York Public Library Archives

When former Gov. Samuel J. Tilden left $2.4 million to establish a free library and reading room in the city, a Tilden trustee arranged for two existing institutions, the Astor and Lenox libraries, to join forces and create The New York Public Library. The plan, inked in 1895, was hailed as an unprecedented example of private philanthropy for the public good.

 

The new library took 12 years to build on the site of the Croton Reservoir, a popular two-block strolling spot on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets. The firm of Carrère and Hastings designed and built the library, which was completed in 1911. Considered the apogee of Beaux-Arts design, the building boasts 530,000 cubic feet of white Vermont marble, making it the largest marble structure in the United States at that time. In typical Beaux-Arts fashion, the library combined ancient Roman and Greek models with Italian Renaissance and 17th century French ideas to create a colossal and richly ornamented building, which guides patrons on a ceremonial progression through long hallways and up grand staircases to the space at its heart – the majestic reading room.

Today, the Fifth Avenue building is known as the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, one of four research libraries and 87 branches that serve the people of New York City and scholars throughout the world. The library’s collections include ancient Babylonian tablets, rare historical maps, and treasures such as a Guttenberg bible and a version of the Declaration of Independence written out by Thomas Jefferson. Over 1.2 million people pass through the Facade entrance annually.

Building History:

  • Date of library's original opening: May 23, 1911
  • Cost of original construction: $9 million
  • Construction Dates: 1899-1911
  • Building Status: Registered National Historical Landmark

Architects:

  • Original architects: John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings
  • Restoration design: WJE Engineers & Architects, P.C.

 

Building Exterior:

  • Attic figures are carved from Georgia marble
  • Fountains are Carrara stone
  • Grand exterior with allegorical sculptures pays tribute to accomplishments of poets, writers, scholars, artists, and humanism
  • Facade is dominated by a great triple-arched portico, a visual metaphor of welcome and ingress, and reference to antiquity
  • Every classical detail is hand-carved by masons and carpenters trained in Old World techniques; every fitting and fixture is custom designed
  • Facade Dimensions:
    Fifth Avenue—width: 390 feet, height: 75 feet
    Bryant Park—width: 390 feet, height: 100 feet
    40th and 42nd Street— width: 275 feet, height, 75 feet high
  • Plaza Dimensions: 450 feet long by 80 feet deep

Facade Details:


    The New York Public Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Fifth Avenue Facade. Photo: Peter Aaron/Esto
  • Artists George Grey Barnard and Frederick MacMonnies contributed to embellishment of the terrace and Fifth Avenue facade
  • A great pair of vases flanks the entry stairs, inspired by engravings of ancient Roman vases
  • Six colossal attic figures representing History, Drama, Poetry, Religion, Romance and Philosophy sit above the Corinthian columns of the front portico
  • Fountain representing Truth as a hoary man seated on a sphinx resides on the north side of the front facade
  • Figure of Beauty, sitting on the back of the winged horse Pegasus, sits on the south side of the front facade
  • Sculpture of ‘The Arts’ is carved into the south pediment, represented by a man with hammer and chisel and a woman with two large books;
  • Sculpture dedicated to History, with an armored man resting his elbow on a book, while a female figure inscribes the word LIFE on it is on the north pediment

 

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Contact :             Herb Scher   212.592.7700    |  hscher@nypl.org

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