Handbook of The New York Public Library Part 1

Handbook of The New York Public Library.

by New York Public Library.

_NOTE_

_Although the purpose of this Handbook is to tell the princ.i.p.al facts about the Library as an inst.i.tution, its chief use is likely to be that of a guide to the Central Building. The section about the Central Building is therefore given first place. Any visitor who cares to take the trouble, before beginning his tour of the Building, to read the brief historical sketch (on pages 63-73) will have a better understanding of the organization and work of the Library, and see the reasons for a number of things which might not otherwise be clear._

THE CENTRAL BUILDING

OPEN: WEEK DAYS, INCLUDING HOLIDAYS, 9 A.M. TO 10 P.M. SUNDAYS, 1 P.M.

TO 10 P.M.

(Except where otherwise noted these are the hours of the special reading rooms.)

THE CENTRAL BUILDING

=The Central Building= of The New York Public Library is on the western side of Fifth Avenue, occupying the two blocks between 40th and 42nd Streets. It stands on part of the site of the old Croton distributing reservoir, and it was built by the City of New York at a cost of about nine million dollars.

Compet.i.tions to choose the architect for the building were held in 1897, two years after The New York Public Library was incorporated. The result of the compet.i.tion was the selection of Messrs. Carrere and Hastings, of New York, as architects. In 1899 the work of removing the old reservoir began. Various legal difficulties and labor troubles delayed beginning the construction of the building, but by November 10, 1902, the work had progressed so far that the cornerstone was laid. The building was opened to the public May 23, 1911, in the presence of the President of the United States, the Governor of the State of New York, the Mayor of New York, and an audience of about six hundred persons.

=Exterior.= The material of the building is largely Vermont marble, and the style that of the modern Renaissance, somewhat in the manner of the period of Louis XVI, with certain modifications to suit the conditions of to-day. It is rectangular in shape, 390 feet long and 270 feet deep, built around two inner courts. It has a cellar, bas.e.m.e.nt or ground floor, and three upper floors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAIN ENTRANCE]

"The Library," wrote Mr. A. C. David, in the _Architectural Record_[1], "is undeniably popular. It has already taken its place in the public mind as a building of which every New Yorker may be proud, and this opinion of the building is shared by the architectural profession of the country. Of course, it does not please everybody; but if American architects in good standing were asked to name the one building which embodied most of what was good in contemporary American architecture, The New York Public Library would be the choice of a handsome majority."

Mr. David continued: "The Library is not, then, intended to be a great monumental building, which would look almost as well from one point of view as another, and which would be fundamentally an example of pure architectural form. It is designed rather to face on the avenue of a city, and not to seem out of place on such a site. It is essentially and frankly an instance of street architecture; and as an instance of street architecture it is distinguished in its appearance rather than imposing.

Not, indeed, that it is lacking in dignity. The facade on Fifth Avenue has poise, as well as distinction; character, as well as good manners.

But still it does not insist upon its own peculiar importance, as every monumental building must do. It is content with a somewhat humbler role, but one which is probably more appropriate. It looks ingratiating rather than imposing, and that is probably one reason for its popularity. It is intended for popular rather than for official use, and the building issues to the people an invitation to enter rather than a command....

[Ill.u.s.tration: TERRACE IN FRONT OF LIBRARY

LOOKING SOUTH]

"The final judgment on the Library will be, consequently, that it is not a great monument, because considerations of architectural form have in several conspicuous instances been deliberately subordinated to the needs of the plan. In this respect it resembles the new Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The building is at bottom a compromise between two groups of partly antagonistic demands, and a compromise can hardly ever become a consummate example of architectural form. But, on the other hand, Messrs. Carrere and Hastings have, as in so many other cases, made their compromise successful. Faithful as they have been to the fundamental requirement of adapting the building to its purpose as a library, they have also succeeded in making it look well; and they have succeeded in making it look well partly because the design is appropriate to its function as a building in which books are stored, read and distributed. A merely monumental library always appears somewhat forbidding and remote. The Library looks attractive, and so far as a large building can, even intimate....

[Ill.u.s.tration: BY EDWARD C. POTTER]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TERRACE LOOKING NORTH]

"The popularity of the Library has, consequently, been well earned. The public has reason to like it, because it offers them a smiling countenance; and the welcome it gives is merely the outward and visible sign of an inward grace. When people enter they will find a building which has been ingeniously and carefully adapted to their use.

Professional architects like it, because they recognize the skill, the good taste and the abundant resources of which the building, as a whole, is the result; and while many of them doubtless cherish a secret thought that they would have done it better, they are obliged to recognize that in order to have done it better they would have been obliged to exhibit a high degree of architectural intelligence. In the realism of its plan and in the mixture of dignity and distinction in the design, The New York Public Library is typical of that which is best in the contemporary American architectural movement; and New York is fortunate, indeed, that such a statement can be made of the most important public building erected in the city during several generations."

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROMANCE BY PAUL BARTLETT]

=Sculpture.= Of the sculptural designs, the two lions on either side of the main approach are by E. C. Potter. They have been subjected to much criticism, mainly of a humorous nature, and in the daily press. This adverse comment has not been endorsed by critics of art and architecture. Mr. Potter was chosen for this work by Augustus St.

Gaudens, and again, after Mr. St. Gaudens' death, by Mr. D. C. French, also an eminent sculptor. Any layman can satisfy himself, by a brief observation of the building as a whole, that the architectural balance of the structure demands figures of heroic size to flank the main approach. With that requirement in view, the designer of such figures has but a limited choice of subject, since there are few living creatures whose forms possess dignity without being c.u.mbrous. The sculptor in this instance has followed well-established precedents in designing the lions according to the canons of decorative art. They are as realistic as would be suitable for figures of this size, and in this position.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PHILOSOPHY BY PAUL BARTLETT]

The groups in the pediments are by George Gray Barnard; the one in the northern pediment represents History, and the one in the southern, Art.

The figures above the fountains on either side of the main entrance are by Frederick MacMonnies; the man seated on the Sphinx, on the northern side of the entrance represents Truth. On the southern side, the figure of the woman seated on Pegasus represents Beauty. Above the figure of Truth is this inscription from the Apocrypha (1 Esdras, chapter 3):

BUT ABOVE ALL THINGS TRUTH BEARETH AWAY THE VICTORY

The inscription above the figure of Beauty is:

BEAUTY OLD YET EVER NEW ETERNAL VOICE AND INWARD WORD

This is from the twenty-first stanza of Whittier's poem, "The Shadow and the Light."

The six figures above the main entrance are by Paul Bartlett; naming them from north to south they are: History, Drama, Poetry, Religion, Romance, and Philosophy. Above the entrance are inscriptions concerning three of the component parts of The New York Public Library. They are as follows:

THE LENOX LIBRARY FOUNDED BY JAMES LENOX DEDICATED TO HISTORY LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS MDCCCLXX

THE ASTOR LIBRARY FOUNDED BY JOHN JACOB ASTOR FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE MDCCCXLVIII

THE TILDEN TRUST FOUNDED BY SAMUEL JONES TILDEN TO SERVE THE INTERESTS OF SCIENCE AND POPULAR EDUCATION MDCCCLx.x.xVI

Beneath these is this inscription:

MDCCCXCV THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY MDCCCCII

Of the dates in this inscription, the first, 1895, is that of the incorporation of The New York Public Library; the second, 1902, is that of the laying of the cornerstone.

The statue of William Cullen Bryant, behind the Library, is by Herbert Adams.

=The rear of the building= should be viewed from Bryant Park. The long windows are to light the bookstack. Some critics have commended the rear of the building very highly. Mr. A. C. David, in the article previously quoted, says:

"This facade is very plainly treated, without any pretence to architectural effect. It is, indeed, designed frankly as the rear of a structure which is not meant to be looked at except on the other sides. Any attempt, consequently, at monumental treatment has been abandoned. The building is designed to be seen from Fifth Avenue and from the side streets. The rear, on Bryant Park, merely takes care of itself; and one of the largest apartments in any edifice in the United States is practically concealed, so far as any positive exterior result is concerned."

[Ill.u.s.tration: A RAINY DAY--FIFTH AVENUE

FROM AN ETCHING BY CHARLES B. KING]