New York Public Library

Art

The New York Public Library Has a “Digital Time-Travel Service” for Its Historical Maps

The New York Public Library's NYC Space/Time Directory launched a project that plots 5,000 digitized street maps across the five boroughs, organized by decade from 1850 to 1950.

Art

The Whimsical Work of an Animal-Loving 19th-Century Printmaker

From portraits of his dog to Japanese motifs, these fine-lined images attest to the originality of Henri-Charles Guérard, who was one of the most respected printmakers of his time.

News

A Luminous NYPL Reading Room Reopens After a Two-Year Restoration

The central space of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building had been closed for repairs after one of the plaster rosettes on its ceiling plummeted to the ground in May 2014.

News

At NY Public Library, Books Now Ride the Rails from the Stacks to the Reading Room

A fleet of 24 cars will soon be delivering material from the stacks of the New York Public Library along the tracks of its new "book train."

Art

Time Travel Along Fifth Avenue, with Photos from the Early 1900s and Today

In 1911, photographer Burton Welles published Fifth Avenue, New York, from Start to Finish.

Art

NY Public Library Exhibits Its Recent Social Justice Zine Acquisitions

Since the late 19th century, the New York Public Library (NYPL) has collected alternative publications, the institution's acquisitions mirroring publishing movements over the following decades.

Art

Original Winnie-the-Pooh Dolls, All Stuffed with Fluff, Go Back on View

Before Winnie-the-Pooh was a Disney superstar, before author A. A. Milne even considered the forest adventures of a beloved bumbling bear, he was a gift to a young boy on his first birthday.

Art

How Chagall, Sendak, Hockney, and Other Artists Staged the Fantasies of 'The Magic Flute'

As an opera where a colossal snake and enchanted instrument play a pivotal role, perhaps it's no surprise Mozart's The Magic Flute inspired some fantastic set and costume designs since its debut in 1791.

Art

The Best Art Books to Read for Free on the NYPL's New eBook App

The New York Public Library just released a iPhone and Android app that lets anyone with a library card freely download any of the 300,000 eBooks in its collection.

Art

Listening to Archived Sounds Amid the Stacks at the New York Public Library

Up on the second floor of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, you might hear the rising notes of opera faintly ringing from a card catalogue, or see people wearing headphones at the ends of the sheet music aisles.

News

New Database Builds a Biographical History of Photography

The New York Public Library has launched an incredibly handy new tool for anyone conducting photography-related research or simply interested in exploring the history of the medium through the lives of its practitioners.

Art

The First Woman Photographer Captured the Elegance of Algae

Algae is graceful and light in the ocean, swaying with the waves like hair in the wind.