PRESS
RELEASES
Friday, May 21, 2010:
Historic Mount Vernon Returns Copy of Rare Book
Borrowed by George Washington in 1789
to The New York Society Library
New York, NY – A small missing piece of American history came home on May 19 after 221 years: a copy of
a book borrowed by the first President of the United States was returned to the library from which he borrowed
it in New York City.
In October 1789, The New York Society Library, New York City’s oldest library, shared a building with the
federal government in Federal Hall, at Wall and Broad Streets in lower Manhattan. The Library’s collection
was used by Members of Congress, the Cabinet and the President himself. According to the Library’s meticulous
borrowing records or what is called a "charging ledger," President Washington took out The Law of
Nations by Emer de Vattel on October 5, 1789. The book was not returned, nor any overdue book fine paid.
Earlier this year the New York Society Library completed restoration of its 1789-1792 charging ledger, which
will be available to the public in a digital version on its website in the fall of 2010. The ledger features the
borrowing history of Washington, John Adams, John Jay, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, George Clinton,
James Duane, and over 450 other New Yorkers. The Library also conducted an inventory of books mentioned
in the ledger and confirmed that the book checked out by President Washington was still missing.
Although this was a well-kept secret at the Library for years, it became public recently in an article in The New
York Daily News. A few days after learning of the situation, staff at Washington’s home in Virginia, Mount
Vernon, offered to replace Vattel’s Law of Nations with another copy of the same edition. To observe this
auspicious occasion, the Library hosted a ceremony on May 19 at 11 a.m. at which Mount Vernon’s President,
James C. Rees, and Librarian, Joan Stahl, presented the errant volume to Charles G. Berry, Chairman of the
Library’s Board of Trustees and Mark Bartlett, Head Librarian. The event took place in the Members’ Room at
the building the Library has occupied since 1937, 53 East 79th Street.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007:
The New York Society Library
Receives $500,000 from the Peluso Family
New York, NY- The New York Society Library, the oldest library in New York City, is pleased to announce a generous gift of $500,000 by Ada Peluso and Romano I. Peluso. The Pelusos are making this gift in honor of their parents, the late Assunta Sommella Peluso and Ignazio Peluso.
Charles G. Berry, Chairman of the Board of the Library, commented, "The Peluso Family exemplifies the intellectual accomplishments and love of reading, literature and history that the Library has fostered and enjoyed among its members over its 253-year history. We are extremely grateful to them for this generous gift."
Ignazio Peluso was a member of the Library for several years before his death in 1981. His daughter, Ada, has continued the membership in her name since then and frequents the Library often.
Ignazio Peluso joined the Library after his retirement as Chief Chancellor of the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations. He previously was associated with the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC. Mr. Peluso, who lived nearby, joined the Library because of his love of books and reading, and he appreciated the restful haven the Library provided for those pursuits. Having a PhD in International Law and Economics, he particularly enjoyed history and other non-fiction and was also a collector of foreign antique books.
Assunta Sommella Peluso earned a PhD in Economics and was also a great reader, with a particular passion for Italian novels. Before her marriage, she was a teacher.
Ada Peluso is Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Hunter College, where she has been on the faculty for 40 years.
She earned her BA degree there and a PhD in Mathematics from the Courant Institute at New York Univeristy.
Romano Peluso is a Vice President at JPMorgan Chase Bank and holds a MBA from New York University. An expert on corporate trust matters, he is a frequent author of articles for the American Bankers Association.
The Peluso Family has a distinguished record of philanthropy, having made prior gifts and donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Hunter College.
In recognition of the generous gift of the Pelusos, the Library is naming the Exhibition Gallery/Hall on the second floor of its building at 53 East 79th Street as the "Assunta, Ignazio, Ada and Romano Peluso Exhibition Gallery." This space has been used for exhibitions of selected items from the Library's collection and other materials of literary and historical interest.
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