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Lenox Library

New York, Italy

Lenox Library

The Lenox Library was a library incorporated and endowed in 1870. It was both an architectural and intellectual landmark in Gilded Age–era New York City. It was founded by bibliophile and philanthropist James Lenox, and located on Fifth Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets on the Upper East Side of

Manhattan. Architect Richard Morris Hunt designed the building, which was considered one of the city's most notable buildings until its destruction in 1912. The library's collection of Bibles was unsurpassed and included the first Gutenberg Bible to cross the Atlantic. It was also known for its collection of Shakespeare, Milton, and early American literature. The library became a part of the founding collection of the New York Public Library (NYPL) in 1895, and it opened to the public as part of the NYPL's Main Branch in 1911.

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