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James Lenox
James Lenox (August 19, 1800 – February 17, 1880) was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library.
He inherited a fortune from his merchant father and spent much of his life amassing a collection of art and literature unparalleled in value. Lenox's collection included rare items such as the Gutenberg Bible. His library, valued at nearly a million dollars, stood on what is now the site of the Frick Collection. Lenox also generously donated to institutions like the Presbyterian Hospital and American Bible Society. He never married, and became increasingly reclusive after a broken romance.
Lenox was born in New York City on August 19, 1800. He was the only surviving son of six children born to Rachel (née Carmer) Lenox and Robert Lenox (1759–1839). His father was a wealthy merchant who was born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, emigrated to America during the Revolutionary War, and settled in New York in 1783. Of his five sisters, four married and one remained single, like Lenox, throughout her life.
His maternal grandfather was Nicholas Carmer, a New York cabinet maker. Upon his father's death in 1839, Lenox inherited a fortune of over a million dollars and 30 acres of land between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. A graduate of Columbia College, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced. He retired from business when his father died.
Lenox went to Europe soon after his admission to the bar and, while abroad, began collecting rare books. This, along with collecting art, became the absorbing passion of his life. For half a century, he devoted much of his time and talent to forming a library and gallery of paintings, unsurpassed in value by any other private collection in the New World. In 1870 these, together with many rare manuscripts, marble busts and statues, mosaics, engravings, and curios, became the Lenox Library in New York City. Lenox served as its first president.
The library occupied the crest of the hill on Fifth Avenue, between 70th and 71st Streets, overlooking Central Park. On May 23, 1895, the Lenox Library was consolidated with the Astor Library and the Tilden Trust to form the New York Public Library.
The collection of Bibles, including the Gutenberg Bible—both in number and rarity—was believed to be unequaled even to those of the British Museum; while its Americana, incunabula, and Shakespeariana, surpassed those of any other American library, public or private. The collection was valued at nearly a million dollars; including the $900,000 for the land, building, and endowment, it totaled above $2,000,000. The Frick Collection stands on the Lenox Library's former site.
Lenox was a founder of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. His gifts to it amounted to $600,000. He also made important gifts to Princeton College and Seminary, and gave liberally to numerous churches and charities connected with the Presbyterian Church. Lenox was also the president of the American Bible Society, to which he was a liberal donor. James Grant Wilson reports passing on several anonymous gifts from Lenox to needy scholars. He joined the American Philosophical Society in 1854. That same year, he was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society, and served as the society's vice-president from 1868 to 1880.
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James Lenox
James Lenox (August 19, 1800 – February 17, 1880) was an American bibliophile and philanthropist. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library.
He inherited a fortune from his merchant father and spent much of his life amassing a collection of art and literature unparalleled in value. Lenox's collection included rare items such as the Gutenberg Bible. His library, valued at nearly a million dollars, stood on what is now the site of the Frick Collection. Lenox also generously donated to institutions like the Presbyterian Hospital and American Bible Society. He never married, and became increasingly reclusive after a broken romance.
Lenox was born in New York City on August 19, 1800. He was the only surviving son of six children born to Rachel (née Carmer) Lenox and Robert Lenox (1759–1839). His father was a wealthy merchant who was born in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, emigrated to America during the Revolutionary War, and settled in New York in 1783. Of his five sisters, four married and one remained single, like Lenox, throughout her life.
His maternal grandfather was Nicholas Carmer, a New York cabinet maker. Upon his father's death in 1839, Lenox inherited a fortune of over a million dollars and 30 acres of land between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. A graduate of Columbia College, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced. He retired from business when his father died.
Lenox went to Europe soon after his admission to the bar and, while abroad, began collecting rare books. This, along with collecting art, became the absorbing passion of his life. For half a century, he devoted much of his time and talent to forming a library and gallery of paintings, unsurpassed in value by any other private collection in the New World. In 1870 these, together with many rare manuscripts, marble busts and statues, mosaics, engravings, and curios, became the Lenox Library in New York City. Lenox served as its first president.
The library occupied the crest of the hill on Fifth Avenue, between 70th and 71st Streets, overlooking Central Park. On May 23, 1895, the Lenox Library was consolidated with the Astor Library and the Tilden Trust to form the New York Public Library.
The collection of Bibles, including the Gutenberg Bible—both in number and rarity—was believed to be unequaled even to those of the British Museum; while its Americana, incunabula, and Shakespeariana, surpassed those of any other American library, public or private. The collection was valued at nearly a million dollars; including the $900,000 for the land, building, and endowment, it totaled above $2,000,000. The Frick Collection stands on the Lenox Library's former site.
Lenox was a founder of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. His gifts to it amounted to $600,000. He also made important gifts to Princeton College and Seminary, and gave liberally to numerous churches and charities connected with the Presbyterian Church. Lenox was also the president of the American Bible Society, to which he was a liberal donor. James Grant Wilson reports passing on several anonymous gifts from Lenox to needy scholars. He joined the American Philosophical Society in 1854. That same year, he was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society, and served as the society's vice-president from 1868 to 1880.
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