Salomon Room & the Library‘s Founding

Alison Stewart: The New York Public Library’s extensive collections include all manner of objects and artifacts—they always have since their beginning.

In 1895, when the Library was founded, the resources of the Astor and Lenox libraries—two of the city’s richest holdings of books, reference material, and rare and historical artifacts—were combined to form the basis of the new public library’s collections. Julie Golia is one of the Library’s lead curators of manuscripts, archives, and rare books.

Julie Golia: The Astor Library, located in present-day East Village, was renowned for its rich research and reference books. Located a little further uptown, the Lenox Library was comprised largely of the collections of rare books and manuscripts collected by its namesake, James Lenox. The users of both of these libraries were largely learned bibliophiles and scholars, not your average citizen. And while both libraries were technically open to the public, researchers had to apply for entry, and its hours were very limited, unlike ours today.

Alison Stewart: This room was originally designed to showcase the Library’s collection of art—much of which came from those founding collections. Keith Glutting.

Keith Glutting: The Edna Barnes Salomon Room contains paintings that reflect the history of The New York Public Library and its collections. The largest painting that you can see at the south end of the hall is Milton Dictating “Paradise Lost“ to His Daughters while he’s blind by the Hungarian painter Mikhaly Munkacsy. And there are two remarkable paintings of George Washington from the Lenox collection.

Alison Stewart: Portraits of some members of the Lenox Family, including Library founder James Lenox, are on the wall to the right of the doorway.

Keith Glutting: Among the many portraits in this room are those of our founders and our first president and director. To the southern end of the room, you will see a portrait of John Jacob Astor, and it is reflective of the legacy the Astor collection holds for contemporary users of The New York Public Library’s research collections.

Alison Stewart: Additional members of the Astor family hang on the wall to the left of the doorway.

Today, the portraits of the founding families keep watch over the Library as it continues to evolve and grow, while maintaining the traditions of collecting, protecting, and providing access to innumerable sources of learning.