Grace Notes: The Texts
The Library is proud to be a source of inspiration, encouragement, and community for so many wonderful writers. In January and February 2023, our exhibition Grace Notes presented volumes by authors past and present who have thanked the Library in their acknowledgements. The acknowledgements that follow were collected by Head of Exhibitions Harriet Shapiro and displayed in the Peluso Exhibition Gallery alongside editions in our collection.
We are grateful to the many writers who have shared kind words about the Library and for the diverse writing community that has called us a home away from home for generations. We invite you to share any acknowledgements you find in our stacks with us for future exhibitions!
Barbara Lazear Ascher
Ghosting: A Widow’s Voyage Out
Wainscott, New York: Pushcart Press, 2021
“I am grateful to the New York Society Library for providing a writers’ room and brilliant staff, especially Steve McGuirl, Head of Acquisitions and Assistant Head, Patrick Rayner who somehow know just the book in the stacks that will shed light on my subject, whatever that might be.”
A former attorney, Barbara Ascher has written five nonfiction books, including Playing After Dark and Landscape without Gravity. Ghosting, an intense love story leading to death and beyond, was described by Kirkus Reviews as an “elegant, frank and tender memoir.” Ascher is a member of our Library.
Amanda Brickell Bellows
American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the people and institutions who offered guidance and support as I researched and wrote this book [including] the New York Society Library [which was] very helpful in providing access to their outstanding collections.”
Amanda Brickell Bellows lectures in history from a comparative and transnational perspective at the New School and Hunter College. She is a member of our Library.
Laurence Bergreen
In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
New York: HarperCollins, 2021
“My search for materials relating to John Dee led me to the New York Society Library, where I am a trustee, with its collection of rare Dee materials, including books from his library containing his extensive marginal notes. My thanks to the head librarian, Carolyn Waters, for her seemingly omniscient knowledge of the library.”
Laurence Bergreen is an award-winning biographer and historian. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide.
Susan Cheever
Drinking in America: Our Secret History
New York: Twelve/Hachette Book Group, 2015
“I live in a city where you can run into a writer at the drug store or in a coffee shop, where a nearby library—the New York Society Library—offers open stacks for browsing and helpful staff.”
PEN New England Award-winner Susan Cheever has written extensively about her father, the American writer John Cheever, as well as novels and biographies of other writers. Her memoir Home Before Dark was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Ron Chernow
Alexander Hamilton
New York: Penguin, 2004
“At the New York Society Library, Mark Piel, Edmeé B. Reit, and Sara Holliday helped with the reading habits of Hamilton and Burr.”
Prize-winning writer and journalist Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton inspired the popular Broadway musical. Both this book and his biography of John D. Rockefeller were nominated for National Book Critics Circle Awards. The House of Morgan, his chronicle of the banking dynasty, won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1990.
Richard Cohen
Making History: The Storytellers Who Shaped the Past
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022
“I am also indebted to the Society Library of New York (although I do wish they would change the signs above low-slung doorways from ‘Duck or Complain’ to ‘Duck or Grouse’). Both the institution and the people who work there have been helpful beyond the call of duty.”
A former director of two leading London publishing houses, Richard Cohen turned to the Library when writing Making History. Outside his publishing career, he is a five-time British fencing champion and a three-time Olympian.
Benita Eisler
O’Keeffe and Stieglitz: An American Romance
New York: Doubleday, 1991
“[Former director of the New York Society Library] Mark Piel solved countless research problems.”
Benita Eisler, a former trustee of our library, is well known for her highly praised biographies of Lord Byron, Frédéric Chopin and George Sand.
Helen Ellis
Kiss Me in the Coral Lounge
New York: Doubleday, forthcoming in June 2023
“The New York Society Library is my sanctuary.”
Library member Helen Ellis is a nationally ranked poker player, former Alabaman, and all-around funny lady. She writes both fiction and essays, and is the author of American Housewife, Eating the Cheshire Cat, and Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light. Ellis can usually be found working (and when interrupted, smiling) on her upcoming book in a secret corner of the Library.
Ellen Feldman
Terrible Virtue
New York: HarperCollins, 2016
“I am indebted to [Library member] Alex Sanger, who was kind enough to share memories of his grandmother with me; and to Carolyn Waters and the entire extraordinary staff of the New York Society Library for help in research and for creating safe harbors for writers.”
The Living and the Lost, Paris Never Leaves You, Terrible Virtue, and Lucy are among the beautifully written novels by Library member Ellen Feldman found on stack 5. They enjoy great popularity with Library readers, most of whom likely don’t know that she’s just upstairs in the Hornblower room, writing her next book.
Tom Glynn
Reading Publics: New York City’s Public Libraries, 1754-1911
New York: Fordham University Press, 2015
“Finally, and appropriately for a book on the history of libraries, I thank all of the librarians and archivists who helped with my research, including but not limited to Mark Bartlett, Erin Schreiner, and Edmeé Reit at the New York Society Library. Without the help and guidance of these dedicated professionals, this book would never have come to fruition.”
Tom Glynn has been a librarian at Rutgers University-New Brunswick since 2000. Reading Publics traces the history of libraries in New York, from the founding of the New York Society Library in 1754 through the opening of the New York Public Library’s Central Building on Fifth Avenue in 1911. In 2015, our Library awarded it the Hornblower Award for New York City-related debuts.
David Halberstam (1934-2007)
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
New York: Hyperion, 2007
“I was welcomed and treated with uncommon kindness at a number of libraries. As ever, the entire staff of the New York Society Library was helpful and helped create what is an oasis for me and other writers in the city.”
In 1964, David Halberstam won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. The New York Society Library counts 23 titles by Halberstam in its catalog, written throughout his remarkable career. A long-time member of our Library, Halberstam was killed in a car crash in 2007.
Sara Holliday
A Thousand Dances: A Novel of the British Blues Boom
New York: Coral Press, 2018
“I said I was writing a novel, and a surprising number of people acted like that was a cool thing to do. Thanks to sharp-eyed manuscript readers [including] Cathy McGowan; Carolyn Waters and Jenny Lawrence for material, emotional, and practical support in the writing life; Katie Fricas for lots and lots of help—and for making life as a full-time artist/library staffer look cool; Mark Bartlett, Randi Levy, Doreen Pastore, Edmeé Reit, and everyone else in the New York Society Library community who offered encouragement and enthusiasm.”
Sara Holliday, the Library’s Head of Events, conceived this story based in the 1960s music scene and the legacy of the Second World War after serendipitously finding in the stacks Philip Norman’s John Lennon and Laurens Van der Post’s The Prisoner and the Bomb. When not authoring or Librarying, Sara enjoys movies and community theatre.
Maggie Jackson
Distracted: Reclaiming Our Focus in a World of Lost Attention
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2018
“Many thanks to the wonderful staff of the New York Society Library; and especially Carolyn Waters; Steve McGuirl; and Sara Elliott Holliday.”
Award-winning author Maggie Jackson is a long-time member of our Library. Highly praised for her social justice reporting, she is known for her prescient writing on social trends and technology’s impact on humanity.
Margaret McNamara
Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2018
“The author [Margaret McNamara] and artist [Esmé Shapiro] wish to acknowledge the invaluable aid in the research of this book provided by the staff of the New York Society Library.”
Margaret McNamara is the pen name for literary agent Brenda Bowen, who has written more than three dozen books for young readers. In 2008, she won the Christopher Award for How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? from her Mr. Tiffin series. Esmé Shapiro is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and has exhibited at The Society of Illustrators, and Plansponsor Magazines. Her first book, Ooko, was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award.
Lloyd Morris (1893-1954)
Incredible New York: High Life and Low Life from 1850 to 1950
New York: Random House, 1951
“For their courteous and helpful cooperation, I wish to thank the New York Society Library.”
A respected literary figure during the 1930s and 40s, Lloyd Morris was known for his critical studies, fiction, and books about American culture.
Janice P. Nimura
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine
New York: W.W. Norton, 2021
“Profound thanks to Carolyn Waters, Catherine McGowan, Barbara Bieck, and the entire staff of the New York Society Library, my second home.”
Library member Janice Nimura’s biography The Doctors Blackwell was a 2022 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her earlier book, Daughters of the Samurai, was inspired by and references a dusty copy of A Daughter of the Samurai she found in the sub-basement of the Library. She later wrote, “I never imagined the voyage it would send me on, or the extraordinary people I would meet along the way.”
Roger F. Pasquier
Painting Central Park
New York: Vendome Press, 2015
“Research was a pleasure, thanks to the rich resources and helpful staff of the New York Society Library.”
Roger Pasquier has worked with a number of conservation organizations, including Bird Life International, National Audubon Society, and the Friends of the Peruvian Rainforest, which he founded. His knowledge of birds in Central Park (just down the block from our Library) and the rest of the world form the foundation of his books, including Birds in Winter, Masterpieces of Bird Art and Watching Birds.
Anna Pitoniak
Our American Friend
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2022
“Writing this novel gave me the chance to let my mind roam free in a new way. Which leads me to the New York Society Library. Thank you to the Society Library for the dozens (and dozens and dozens!) of books that helped shape my thinking around this novel. Thank you to Carolyn Waters and to all of the people who make the Society Library what it is. It’s the most beautiful home-away-from-home that a writer could dream up.”
Anna Pitoniak, a former senior editor at Random House, lives and works in New York City. A lively political thriller, Our American Friend was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. Pitoniak is a member of our Library.
Phyllis Rose
The Shelf: From LEQ to LES: Adventures in Extreme Reading
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014
“Warm thanks to [New York Society Library staff members] Mark Bartlett, Susan Chan [and] Steve McGuirl for help that ranged from inspirational to forbearance and from useful remarks to generous participation and invaluable editorial readings.”
Phyllis Rose’s experiment in democratic reading led her into the New York Society Library’s stacks, where she chose a shelf of fiction at random and read her way through it, creating a portrait of literature that bucks the preselected canon. Recently, a librarian from Austin, Texas stopped by the Library on a visit to New York in order to take a picture of the eponymous shelf.
Stacy Schiff
Cleopatra: A Life
New York: Little, Brown, 2010
“At the New York Society Library, Brandi Tambasco worked her customary interlibrary loan magic.”
Library member Stacy Schiff actively uses our collections while working on her biographies. They include The Witches: Salem, 1692 and Saint-Exupéry. Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) was awarded the 2000 Pulitzer Prize, and Schiff has just released The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams to wide acclaim.
Francis Steegmuller (1906-1994)
Cocteau: A Biography
Boston: Little, Brown, 1970
“I wish to express my gratitude to the New York Society Library.”
French scholar Francis Steegmuller won the 1971 National Book Award for his biography of Jean Cocteau. A longtime member of our Library, he expressed his recognition of an institution he valued in a few deeply felt words.
Strobe Talbott
Our Founders’ Warning: The Age of Reason Meets the Age of Trump
Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2020
“I have spent many hours in the Writers’ Room on the fifth floor of the New York Society Library. The head librarian, Carolyn Waters, guided me through the stacks and records going back to the early Federal period when New York was the provisional capital of the nation. George Washington, John Adams, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton availed themselves of the library’s collection.”
While working on Our Founders’ Warning, Brookings Institution scholar Strobe Talbott was a member of our Library.
Elswyth Thane (1900-1984)
The Fighting Quaker: Nathanael Green
New York: Hawthorn Books, 1972
“As always, the prompt and efficient service of the New York Society Library has been of enormous assistance.”
Library member Elswyth Thane was also a close friend of longtime staff member Marion King, who in turn documented her time here in Books and People. In Reluctant Farmer, Thane writes more fully about our institution.
Lowell Thing
Cover Treasure: The Life and Art of Margaret Armstrong
Catskill, NY: Black Dome, 2022
“I would also like to [thank] Harriet Shapiro, Barbara Bieck, Sara Holliday, Doreen Pastore, and Carolyn Waters, for the exhibit in 2020 about Margaret and her family [The Book Beautiful] at the New York Society Library.”
Lowell Thing is a former Friends of Historic Kingston board member. Today, Thing is considered the foremost expert on the book art of Margaret Armstrong. His collection of Margaret Armstrong’s work (some 30 years in the making) is the envy of Armstrong collectors everywhere.
Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989)
The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I
New York: Macmillan, 1962
“My thanks go to the New York Society Library for the continuing hospitality of its stacks and the haven of a place to write.”
A masterful history of the run-up to World War I, The Guns of August won the 1963 Pulitzer Prize. Barbara Tuchman was a long-time trustee of our Library.
Catherine Hoover Voorsanger (1950-2001) and John K. Howat
Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825-1861
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000
“During the course of the project, the staffs of the libraries of many institutions graciously assisted our researchers. We thank the New York Society Library, especially Heidi Haas, Janet Howard and Mark Piel.”
Catherine Hoover Voorsanger was the associate curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she actively contributed to the field of post-Federal American decorative arts. Art historian John K. Howat is known for his work on American landscape painters. His titles include Frederic Church and The Hudson River and Its Painters. Until his retirement in 2001, Howat was the Lawrence A. Fleischman chair of the American Art department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
