photograph by Vallue
A one-sentence article in The New York Times on March 21, 1895 reported that the bill in the Assembly "consolidating the Lenox, Tilden, and Astor Libraries, in New-York City, was passed." The merger would would create a library of 350,000 items.
Two years later, on August 2, 1897, the trustees published, "Terms of Competition for the Building to be Erected for The New York Public Library." The lengthy and detailed pamphlet noted, "the building is to stand on the site of the present reservoir, at the east end of Bryant Park." It said, "The building is to be built for $1,700,000," excluding the furniture, bookstacks, lighting, and such, and stressed, "It is essential that this amount shall not be exceeded."
Of the eighty-eight plans that were submitted, three architects were selected to refine their designs. The competing firms selected a three-man jury of architects to select the winning design. On November 13, 1897, the Record & Guide reported, "The jury of awards in the final competition has selected the plans submitted by Carrere & Hastings...for the projected building of the New York Public Library." A month later, on December 18, the journal described the commission as "a personal triumph of the first magnitude for the successful architects."
Carrère & Hastings's winning design. Real Estate Record & Guide, December 18, 1897 (copyright expired)
Before work could begin, there was the matter of the massive granite Croton Reservoir to deal with. Its demolition was a herculean feat that began in 1897 and continued for three years. As the colossal walls were dismantled, the granite was salvaged for other projects. In his July 1, 1898 report, library president John Bigelow mentioned, "the materials composing the reservoir or some part thereof [will be used in] the erection and construction of the new building." (Granite blocks used for the foundation of the new edifice can be seen in lower levels of the current structure today.)
Finally, in 1900, work on the foundations of the new building began. The Record & Guide predicted that the city, "is assured of a dignified and notable public building of a very much higher standard than anything municipal effort has yet given to us." The article said, "The style of the architecture is Renaissance; it is based upon classical principals, but modern in feeling." While the style is described as Beaux Arts today, at the time, Carrère called it a blend of French and Italian Renaissance styles. The result was a dignified, monumental presence, enhanced by the block-wide terrace and sweeping staircase.
The exterior plans included sculptural elements. On either side of the triple-arched entrance would be tiered fountains. Atop each, within an arched alcove, marble statues of Truth and Beauty, executed by Frederick MacMonnies, would be placed. Guarding the stairs to the terrace would be two regal lion figures by Edward Clark Potter.
On November 10, 1902, the cornerstone was laid. Five years after the first shovel broke ground, on October 1, 1905, The New York Times addressed slow pace of construction. "Perhaps it is as well that great public buildings of this kind, intended to remain as monuments of an age for all times, should be erected with the upmost care and deliberation." John M. Carrère, was more direct, explaining the "glacial rate of progress" in The New York Times on June 10, 1906: municipal red tape. If there were proposed changes, he said, they had to be approved by the Library trustees and four city departments. The process could take months. (At the time, said The Times, the cost--originally capped at $1.7 million--had risen to $3 million.
A nagging detail was the three inscriptions to be inscribed on the plaques between Paul Wayland's allegorical sculptures above the main entrance cornice. A squabble arose between the Mayor's office and the trustees about, "what inscriptions shall appear above the Fifth avenue entrance to the new Public Library Building," according to the New-York Tribune on April 8, 1906. It was one more thing to annoy John M. Carrère, who snapped, "You must understand that this scheme of inscription on the front of the building was designed and fully worked out seven years ago...Something has got to go in those panels and something has got to go in the frieze."
On January 23, 1916, the New-York Tribune published the models of Paul Wayland's allegorical sculptures installed above the Fifth Avenue entrance cornice. (copyright expired)
In the meantime, the construction costs grew. On May 2, 1910, The New York Times began an article saying, "New York's $10,000,000 Public Library at Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street is really growing to its completion, and ought to be ready for use early next year, if not sooner. But so many delays have already hindered the growth of the building that it is hazarding to offer any definite forecast."
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A cross-section allowed readers to see the several floors beneath the street level for the book stacks. Scientific American, May 27, 1911 (copyright expired)
Sadly, the many delays resulted in John Merven Carrère's never seeing his masterpiece completed. The architect died in an automobile accident on March 1, 1911. Immediately prior to his funeral at Trinity Chapel on March 3, his body, "will lie in state, in the New York Public Library, at Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street, of which building he was one of the designers," as reported by The New York Times.
Carrère's casket sat in the marble Rotunda prior to his funeral. Construction magazine, April 1911 (copyright expired)
The space today. photograph by Carlos Delgado
Two months later, on May 23, 1911, President William Howard Taft traveled from Washington to participate in the dedication. Perhaps because of the President's presence, the ceremony was held in the third floor boardroom and only 500 invited persons were admitted. Taft opened his remarks saying, "This day crowns a work of National importance."
Among the invited guests that day was Taylor St. Paul, whose most lasting impression was a grammatical error he found in an inscription in the entrance hall: "Upon the diffusion of education among the people rest the preservation and perpetuation of our institutions." He wrote to The New York Times on May 27, 1911, to point out the correct word would be "rests." He ended his letter saying, "Possibly W. J. Lampton wrote it. I enjoyed the library." An unnamed trustee replied succinctly to the editor of The Times two days later, "The author of the inscription in the rotunda of the Public Library, which Mr. Taylor St. Paul criticises...was Daniel Webster."
Carrère & Hastings had created a world-class masterpiece, the largest marble building in the country. In its June 1911 issue, Construction said the New York Public Library, "without question is one of the most remarkable examples in the United States of the typical American aspiration in architecture." James A. Edgerton, writing in The Daily Tribune of Marysville, Missouri on June 19, 1911 called it, "one of the most beautiful edifices in America." Edgerton gave a back-handed slap to New York City, saying, "In a city architecturally hideous...the New York Public Library building shines like an oasis in a desert or a temple in a wilderness."
In this early postcard view, none of the sculptural elements, including the lions, had been installed.
The interiors of the Dorset marble structure were as palatial as the exterior. Visitors entered a marble-lined grand entrance hall, or rotunda. In the 1897 "Terms of Competition," the trustees said, "ample opportunity will exist for architectural and decorative effect; but it is desired that the Reading Rooms at least should be plainly treated." Like the budget, that caveat went out the window. The Main Reading Room, known as the Rose Reading Room today, was reportedly the largest reading room in the world. It was divided into two spaces by a wooden screen. The room rose to a magnificent, coffered ceiling with paintings of cloud-filled skies.
The Main Reading Room (today the Rose Reading Room) in 1911. Construction magazine, April 1911 (copyright expired)
...And today. photograph by Max Touhey from the collection of the New York Public Library
Other spaces included additional, smaller reading rooms (like the Periodical Reading Room), the Map Division, the Exhibition Room, and the Bible Room--each as sumptuously outfitted as the last.
A portion of the Map Division ceiling. photograph by Bestbudbrian
Three "important exhibitions" were immediately staged in the new building. On June 1, 1911, The New York Times reported that the crush of people who crowded in just to see the building made getting to the exhibitions difficult. The article said, "it is estimated that a quarter of a million persons inspected the building in the first week."
The Trustees' Room (top) and the Exhibition Room. Construction magazine, April 1911 (copyright expired)
Interestingly, after Thomas Hastings's death in October 1929, it was discovered that he had never been satisfied with the facade of the New York Public Library building. He left a substantial bequest to the library, explained by The New York Times on November 7, 1929. "He had drawn up plans for alterations in the facade and expressed the hope in his will that the $100,000 would be used for this purpose." The plans never went forward.
The Periodical Reading Room as it appeared in 1911. Construction magazine, April 1911 (copyright expired)
...and today. photograph by Bestbuddybrian.
The second half of the 20th century did not treat the library building kindly. During World War II, the panes of the 15 arched windows of the Main Reading Room were painted black; in 1950, the rear of the main hall was partitioned off to create a bursar's office; and the main exhibition room was converted to an accounting office. According to the Press & Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton, New York, decades of grime eventually obliterated the ceiling paintings in the Main Reading Room. Rita Reif, writing in The New York Times reported, "Over time, entire tiers of bulbs in the chandeliers short-circuited and lighting fixtures on the book stands and reference shelves burned out, never to be repaired or replaced." As "garish yellow chairs multiplied" in the space, she said, "the room became dowdy."
In December 1981, the D. S. and R. H. Gottesman Foundation provided $1.25 million for the restoration of the Main Reading Room. Designed by Davis Brody and Cavaglieri, it reopened the following year. (It received a second, $12 million restoration in 2014.) The Periodical Room was restored in 1983 and the Exhibition Hall the following year.
photograph by C. S. Imming.
In designating the New York Public Library building an individual New York City landmark on January 11, 1967, the Landmarks Preservation Commission called it, "a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture" and "a magnificent civic monument."
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