LIBRARY NOTES
The City's Oldest Library
Sunday, September 1, 1996
Chief Justice John Jay, by Gilbert Stuart, 1794
On Thursday, October 24, 1997, in the second-floor Gallery, the Library will open its first exhibition in what will be a changing display of the Library's history, drawn from its archives.
The inaugural exhibition will illustrate the history of The New York Society Library from its founding in 1754 to 1937, the year the Library moved to its present location.
Highlights of the exhibition will include: the 1713 proposal by the Rev. John Sharpe for the establishment of a library; the Royal charter granted by King George II in 1772; an entry from the first charging ledger, showing books borrowed by Chief Justice John Jay (he took out 68 titles in one year); and a two-panel timeline showing the city's history, publishing landmarks, and books by member/authors from Washington Irving to W.H. Auden.
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