ated gentleman of New York, who determined to establish
permanently in his native city his fine collection of manuscripts,
printed books, engravings and maps, statuary, paintings, drawings, and
other works of art, by giving the land and money necessary to provide a
building and a permanent fund for the maintenance of the same. In
January, 1870, the legislature of New York passed an act "creating a
body corporate by the name and style of 'The Trustees of the Lenox
Library.'" Nine trustees were named, and these gentlemen organized by
electing Mr. Lenox president and Mr. A.B. Belknap secretary. In the
succeeding March Mr. Lenox conveyed to the trustees three hundred
thousand dollars in stocks of the county of New York and bonds and
mortgage securities, and also the ten lots of land fronting on Fifth
Avenue on which the library-building now stands. One hundred thousand
dollars were set apart for the formation of a permanent fund, and two
hundred thousand dollars for a building-fund. Contracts for a
library-building were made early In 1872, and work on it was begun in
May of the same year,--the structure being finished in 1875. It has a
frontage of one hundred and ninety-two feet on Fifth Avenue, overlooking
the Park, and a depth of one hundred and fourteen feet on both
Seventieth and Seventy-first Streets. The general plan is that of a
central structure connecting two turreted wings which enclose a spacious
entrance-court. From the court the visitor enters a grand hall or
vestibule, from which every part of the building is reached. At either
end is a spacious library-room. Stone stairways lead from each end of
the vestibule to the mezzanine, or half-story, and the second-story
landings. From the latter one enters the principal gallery, ninety-six
by twenty-four, devoted to sculpture, and opening on the east into the
picture-gallery. At either end of the hall of sculpture are library- and
reading-rooms similar to those on the first floor. The stairway on the
north continues the ascent to an attic or third-floor gallery. The
building throughout is fitted up in a style befitting a shrine of the
arts. The first-floor library-rooms are one hundred and eight feet long
by thirty feet wide and twenty-four feet high, with level ceilings,
beautifully panelled and corniced. The sides of the hall of sculpture
are divided by five arcades, resting on piers decorated with niches,
pilasters, and other architectural ornaments; the ceiling has