The volumes in this collection, mostly published between 1500 and 1700, were part of the personal library of John Winthrop, Jr. (1606-1676) and his descendants, and many of them contain annotations by Winthrop and others. Winthrop, a physician and the first governor of Connecticut, read widely in a variety of fields, including law, religion, medicine, and the sciences. The collection also documents his keen interest in alchemy, which he and many others at that time viewed as a means of spiritual transformation as well as a practical art.

Authors represented in the Winthrop Collection include Robert Fludd, Johannes Kepler, Michael Maier, Paracelsus, and Basilius Valentinus. Several volumes once belonged to John Dee, astrologer and advisor to the court of Queen Elizabeth, and bear Dee's annotations.

Winthrop's books were eventually distributed among several libraries, including Yale University and the New York Academy of Medicine. The New York Society Library received nearly 300 books in 1812, which were first recorded in the Library's 1813 Catalog. Lists also appeared subsequently in the 1841 Supplement and the 1850 Catalog.

The Winthrop Collection is now fully cataloged online. An author search for Winthrop Collection will bring up a complete list of titles in the collection today. Researchers wishing to use the collection should consult the online catalog when making their requests.

John Sharp's collection of theological books has been a part of the Library since its founding in 1754. Consisting of books printed from the 15th through the 17th century, Sharp's library is one of very few local collections to survive the Revolutionary War intact.

The collection today consists of 149 titles, many surviving in original bindings with personal markings by Sharp and other owners, from ownership inscriptions to marginalia. It is an as-yet-untapped resource for the study of colonial book ownership and evangelism, and remains the earliest surviving collection of books intended for public use in New York City. Works in the collection include a copy of the witch-hunting manual, Malleus Maleficiarum (Frankfurt, 1580 ed.), Thomas Edwards' The casting down of the last and strongest hold of Satan (London, 1647), and an incunable edition of the Homiliarus doctorum, printed in Basel in 1498 with Sharp's own annotations. There is more detailed information on John Sharp and the collection in this two-part article originally written for the Library Blog in 2013. Part 1 is a biographical sketch of Sharp's life, and Part 2 provides information on how Sharp built the collection, both in America and in England, taken from Sharp's own manuscript catalogs of his library and the books themselves.

The Sharp Collection is fully cataloged online. To find these materials, search for Sharp Collection in the author field. Researchers with interest in working with Sharp's books are welcome to contact Special Collections staff for more information.

Dating from 1720 to 1847 (bulk dates 1770-1820), the 1,153 titles in the Hammond Collection are a useful resource for anyone researching popular reading interests of that period. The collection consists almost entirely of fiction and plays, including many gothic novels, with scattered non-fiction items, chiefly poetry and biographies. Some of the novels are extremely scarce; in several cases, ours is the only known extant copy.

These books were part of the circulating library of the 19th-century merchant James Hammond, who lent them from his dry-goods shop in Newport, Rhode Island. They came to the New York Society Library in 1868. Many are in fragile condition and bound in deteriorating sheep boards, reflecting the heavy use they received from readers.

To browse the Hammond Collection, which is fully cataloged online, search by author for James Hammond's Circulating Library.

In 1993, the Library received a bequest of nearly 800 books from the estates of Irene Sharaff and her partner, Mai-Mai Sze. The collection reflects the interests of these New York women, both of whom were active in the worlds of fashion and drama.

Irene Sharaff (1910-1993) was an award-winning costume designer honored with both Academy and Tony awards for her work on the film and stage productions of West Side Story, Cleopatra, The King and I, and An American in Paris. She also worked as a set and costume designer for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo, the New York City Ballet, and the Royal Ballet in London. Mai Mai Sze was the daughter of a Chinese diplomat who grew up in Britain and Washington D.C. She also found success in the arts in New York City, working first as a landscape painter and later as a writer, actress, and model. Her translation of the 15th-century Chinese text, The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, published as The Tao of Painting, is still in use today by students of Chinese painting.

The Sharaff-Sze collection focuses on the arts and humanities: painting, literature, drama, eastern religions, and poetry. Many of the books are warmly inscribed by their authors to Sharaff and Sze. The collection as a whole thus forms a web linking these women and their social, cultural, and intellectual circles with the books they read, shared, and surely discussed.

Click here to browse the collection or search Sharaff-Sze Collection (New York Society Library) in the author field.

The Da Ponte Collection of Italian language books consists primarily of literary works by classical and Italian authors, mostly published in Italy in the early 19th century. They came to the New York Society Library through the poet and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838), who is chiefly remembered for having written the libretti for several of Mozart's operas. Da Ponte came to the United States in 1805, became a professor of Italian literature at Columbia College, and established the Italian Library Society within the New York Society Library, placing several hundred volumes here for the use of his students. Fifty-five of Da Ponte's books are currently in our online catalog.

In 1877, the Library received a generous bequest from the merchant and philanthropist John Cleve Green (1800-1875) to be used for the acquisition of books pertaining to the fine arts, thus establishing the Green Collection.

Four years after Green's death, Robert Lenox Kennedy created the John C. Green Alcove at the Library (then located at University Place) with a stained glass window, furniture, a carved plaque, and a portrait by Raimondo Madrazo. Much of the original alcove was moved to this building in 1937, where it is located at the east end of Stack 12.

The collection contains works on a broad spectrum of art-related topics, including painting, sculpture, architecture, design, antiques, and gardens. Notable items include first editions of Max Beerbohm's Rossetti and His Circle, Eugene Delacroix's Journal, and Franz Manzereel's Mein Stundenbuch.

City Readers is a database of historic records, books, and readers. Search, browse, and visualization tools support the discovery and analysis of over 100,000 biographic, bibliographic, and transaction data, derived from digitized content from our archives. Circulation records from 1789 to 1805, when the Library shared Federal Hall with the first American Congress, have been fully digitized and transcribed, and the data is now available for free through City Readers. By providing detailed metadata for the books and readers documented in the charging ledgers, City Readers is a virtual reconstruction of the Library as a social and literary institution in New York at the turn of the eighteenth century. We plan to expand the project as funding becomes available.

The New York Society Library began collecting ephemeral materials such as newspapers, pamphlets, and broadsides in the late 18th century. In 1791, the Library placed an ad in the Daily Advertiser asking members to deposit "pamphlets and other publications that in any manner relate to the history or politics of this country, before or since the revolution." The Library now holds an impressive collection of 18th century newspapers, pamphelts, and broadsides that was built as the events these materials documented took place.

Newspapers

The Library has subscribed to local newspapers throughout its history, and a particular strength of our collection is the wide coverage of New York City's early newspapers. Among the highlights are copies of William Bradford's New York Gazette, the city's first weekly newspaper; John Peter Zenger's New York Weekly Journal, famous for the role it played in establishing freedom of the press; and newspapers printed by then-members Hugh Gaine (The New-York Mercury and The Plebian) and James Rivington (Rivington's New York Gazetteer). 

Researchers can find the Library's holdings of 18th- and 19th-century newspapers by searching New York (N.Y.) -- Newspapers in our online catalog. A copy of Frank B. Bigelow's "Early files of newspapers in the New York Society Library" (The Literary Collector, v. 2, Dec. 1902) is also available online via Google Books, and appears here in list form. 

Pamphlets and Broadsides

In the 18th-century, pamphlets and broadsides served as a public outlet for political discourse much in the same way as television or the Internet do today. Leaflets were printed, handed out, exchanged between friends, and usually discarded shortly thereafter. 

Our broadsides collection is fully cataloged online, with a link to a contents list. Our pamphlets collection is also fully cataloged online and searchable by title, author, date, subject, and keyword, but individual items are not linked together there as a collection. It is possible to browse the complete holdings of our pamphlet collection as a group in our card catalog, which researchers are welcome to consult by appointment.

Please review the information below to learn more about acquiring photocopied and digital reproductions of materials from the Society Library’s collections. Requests for reproductions and general inquiries should be directed to rare_books@nysoclib.org.

While we do try to accommodate all requests, our ability to provide publication or exhibition quality images depends upon the size and condition of an item, or the complexity or scale of the request.

The Society Library’s reference services can help you find digital versions of certain items available via Google Books, the Internet Archive, or other databases. Please feel welcome to contact a reference librarian for assistance by writing to reference@nysoclib.org or calling the Reference Desk at 212.288.6900 x202. The Digital Public Library of America is an excellent source of high-quality images in the public domain.

Photocopies (Self-Service Only)
A self-service photocopier is available onsite for members and the general public. The machine produces black and white and full-color copies on 8½x 11” and 8½x14” paper. Black and white copies cost 15¢ per page; color copies cost 50¢ per page.

If you are unable to visit the Library in person and require a photocopy from circulating materials, please make an Interlibrary Loan request.

Special collections materials may only be photocopied at the discretion of the Special Collections Librarian. Fragile and oversized materials may not be photocopied at all. Consult the Special Collections Librarian regarding possible alternatives, including photography.

Digital Images
The New York Society Library provides digital images of Special Collections materials only. Outside researchers seeking reproductions of circulating materials should request a scan via Interlibrary Loan.

Researchers are permitted to photograph circulating and non-circulating materials for study purposes. Digital cameras are allowed in the Library’s Rare Book Reading Room, subject to certain conditions outlined in our Using Special Collections guide. We encourage you to visit the Library and photograph what you need in person.

For researchers unable to visit the Library, staff will provide up to 15 JPEG images of Special Collections materials, gratis. If you require a large number of images for study purposes and cannot visit the Library in person, independent researchers are available in New York City to assist you for a fee.

Publication quality TIFFs for many of Library’s digitized archival collections are available for download in City Readers, our digital collections portal. These images are watermarked with the New York Society Library logo.  If you require an image without a watermark, please write to rare_books@nysoclib.org.

The Society Library will provide publication and exhibition quality TIFF images (600 dpi) of Special Collection materials, including archival items not yet digitized in City Readers for a fee.  Please see below for fee schedule.

Some materials cannot be scanned due to format or fragility. These include:

• Any bound or unbound oversize materials that do not fit within the confines of the scanner (maximum size: 11x17”)
• Maps larger than 11x17”
• Newspapers
• Telephone  and city directories
• Foldouts
• Parchment
• Art originals, artifacts

For Digital Images Available in City Readers, the New York Society Library’s Digital Collections Portal
All of the images of collections materials available for download in City Readers are open to public use via a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. You may share or adapt these images for personal use, but you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if any changes were made to the image.  For commercial use of these images, please complete the Letter of Agreement for Use of Digital Reproductions. The Letter of Agreement grants permission to use digital reproductions produced by our staff; it does not grant copyright permissions. Use of images from these collections is not an endorsement of you or your use of collections materials by the New York Society Library. 

Credit Line:
New York Society Library Institutional Archive, The New York Society Library.

For Images of All Other Collections Material

Materials from the New York Society Library’s institutional archive which are not yet available for download in City Readers are open to public use via a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. You may share or adapt these images for personal use, but you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if any changes were made to the image. For commercial use of these materials, please complete the Letter of Agreement for Use of Digital Reproductions. Use of images from these collections is not an endorsement of you or your use of collections materials by the New York Society Library.

Credit Line:
[Item Call Number, or Collection Title], The New York Society Library.

Sample credit lines for images from printed books:
                Win 188, The New York Society Library.
                Z-L S997 T1517, The New York Society Library.

Sample credit lines for items from archival collections:
 New York Society Library Institutional Archive, The New York Society Library.
Goodhue Collection, The New York Society Library.

To use images of printed books and other materials in the Library’s Special Collections, please complete the Letter of Agreement for Use of Digital Reproductions. The Letter of Agreement grants permission to use digital reproductions produced by our staff; it does not grant copyright permissions. Obtaining permission to publish copyrighted materials is the sole responsibility of the applicant. The Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office website is an excellent place to start your research into identifying a copyright holder and obtaining copyright permission. Conditions for the Use of Photographic Reproductions are listed on the back of the Letter of Agreement. The user agrees to abide by these conditions when signing the letter.

What About Blogs?

The Society Library permits the publication of images taken for study purposes on personal, educational, and scholarly blogs, so long as those images are credited as described above. 

Digital Reproductions - In TIFF format, with a minimum 8-bit RGB color depth. Digital files can be either uploaded onto an ftp at no cost (maximum 5 images) or can be placed on a CD and mailed for an additional $5. 

Existing Digital File

New Scan

20-40 MB

Min. 300 dpi file

$10 per image

+ $15 surcharge per order

$35 per image

+ $15 surcharge per order

Discounts
Please indicate on your request if you are a current New York Society Library Member to receive a 20% discount on your order.