June 4, 1916 - New York Times announces opening of the NYPL Picture Collection.

New York Times announces opening of the NYPL Picture Collection.  

The New York Times was one of the first newspapers to announce the opening of the Picture Collection in 1916 and indeed it was an early user of its files. The New York Times was  famous for its pictorial supplements, published in rotogravure, the high point of photo illustration for its time. Shown here after the article is a page from one of the supplements celebrating Shakespeare's 300th Anniversary of his birth. 

Following the article is a photograph of a rendering of Shakespeare, ca. 1870,  in the current Picture Collection files. 

~~~~~

Excerpts from New York Times, June 4, 1916

“Pictures as well as books may now be borrowed from the New York Public Library which has just opened a circulating picture collection, the first of its kind in this city. The collection includes pictures from the Shakespearean Supplements recently published by The New York Times and also pictures from The Times Mid-Week Pictorial, and Sunday Pictorial Supplement, and these are the most prized. In the short time the innovation was started by the library the collection has become very popular.


The collection of pictures has been opened in Room 100, and pictures may be obtained any day of the week, except Sundays. Persons who may find it inconvenient to go to the Central Building may obtain pictures by applying at the nearest Branch Library through which their requests will be forwarded.


Miss Emma F. Cragin, Superintendent of the Circulation Cataloging Department, has charge of the picture collection, and is spending all her spare time building it up. She explained yesterday that she had undertaken the work merely as a side issue, but found it so interesting that it had become a serious labor. 


The idea of having a collection of pictures from which the public might borrow was conceived almost simultaneously by Miss Cragin and Miss Florence Overton, Superintendent of Branches, about a year and a half ago  (ca. 1914) The work was started with the encouragement of E.H. Anderson, Director of the Public Library, who is trying to extend the functions of the Public Library to meet every kind of public and private demands and now the collection includes 27,000 mounted pictures and 6,000 postcards, all alphabetically arranged, and classified. There is no limit to the number of pictures that may be borrowed and they may be kept for a month.


"One of the first readers at the library who made a request to borrow some pictures was a lonely bachelor." said Miss Cragin. "He said his room needed something to brighten its appearance, and finally he selected two pictures of some friezes. He said he intended to hang these around the walls of his room." Asked if the poor bachelor expected to keep the pictures, Miss Cragin explained:

"Oh, no. At the end of a month he will bring them back and select others."

...

The Shakespeare celebrations which have now reached their climax with the pageant at the City College Stadium have caused a great demand for Shakespeare portraits, pictures of Stratford, characters in Shakespeare’s plays, and the actors who have impersonated them.


"The collection of pictures from the supplements of The New York Times which have made up handsomely when mounted have proven a very valuable addition to our collection." said Miss Cragin. "In fact, the only money we spent in getting this collection together was for The Times supplements. With the beginning of school next Fall there will be a heavy demand for them from pupils who are studying Shakespeare."




Shakespeare Tercentenary 1616-1916 special edition, 
The New York Times, February 20, 1916

Sample found in Picture Collection     Subject: Portraits -William Shakespeare  
cartes-de-visite ca. 1870


 Words on Pictures: Romana and the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection. edited by Anthony T. Troncale. New York: Photo | Verso Publications, LLC, 2020.   ISBN 978-1-7346409-0-8 (hardcover)  Identifiers ISBN  978-1-7346409-1-5 (ebook)

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