SPECIAL
COLLECTIONS
Da Ponte Collection
The Library's 1838 printed catalog of books has a disproportionately large number of Italian books. This is the result of da Ponte who founded his Italian Library Society within the building in 1827.
Green Art Collection
Under Mr. Green's will, the Library received $50,000 in 1877, the net income to be "applied to the purchase and binding of books - one half to works relating to the Fine Arts."
Hammond Collection
The 1,836 volume Hammond Collection, more fully/correctly "The Circulating Library of James Hammond of Newport, Rhode Island," was once part of a social library designed for commercial profit, representing the reading tastes of New Englanders from 1783 until about 1860.
Sharaff-Sze Collection
In 1993 the Library received a bequest of some 400 books from the estates of Irene Sharaff and Mai-mai Sze. This legacy reflects the many interests of these brilliant and innovative women. It is a grand addition to the Library's holdings of twentieth-century literature, British and Chinese art, philosophy and religion.
Sharp Collection
John Sharp's collection left to the city was joined to The New York Society Library when it was established in 1754. During the American Revolution, Sharp's books were stored in boxes in St. Paul's Chapel. Some of them were looted, others used as wadding for rifles. Today the remaining collection is one of the treasures of this Library.
Winthrop Collection
To Winthrop the "barrell of bookes" was a basic necessity. His library became the largest in the colonies. In 1812 Winthrop's descendants, who had added to its holdings, distributed the collection to Harvard, Yale, New York Hospital and other institutions. This library received 290 volumes to make up its own treasured Winthrop Collection.
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