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The De Vinne Press Building, located at 393-399
Full-text digitized copy of an early De Vinne Press book
- ''Jean Grolier de servier Viscount d'Aguisy : some account of his life and of his famous library'' by William Loring Andrews {{National Register of Historic Places in New York, state=collapsed Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Commercial buildings completed in 1886 Babb, Cook and Willard buildings New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
Lafayette Street
Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...
at the corner of East 4th Street, in the NoHo
NoHo, short for North of Houston Street (as contrasted with SoHo), is a primarily residential neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by Mercer Street to the west and the Bowery to the east, ...
district of lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
, New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, is a brick structure, built in 1885-1886 and designed by the firm of Babb, Cook & Willard Babb, Cook & Willard was a New York City-based architectural firm established in 1884 that designed many important houses and commercial buildings. The principals of the firm were George Fletcher Babb (1836–1915), Walter Cook (1843–1916), ...
in Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
style., p.64 An addition was made to the building in 1892.
History
Theodore Low De Vinne
Theodore Low De Vinne (December 25, 1828 – February 16, 1914) was an American printer and scholarly author on typography. Considered "the leading commercial printer of his day," De Vinne did much for the improvement of American printing an ...
, a leading New York typographer and printer who was one of nine men who founded the Grolier Club
The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...
(an organization devoted to the history of printing), had the building constructed for his printing company. The press printed several leading American magazines, including the '' St. Nicholas Magazine'', ''Scribner's Monthly
''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunch ...
'' and '' The Century''. De Vinne also wrote books such as ''The Invention of Printing,'' ''Correct Composition'' and ''Title Pages.'' De Vinne died in February 1914, and by 1922, the company ceased operations.
In 1904, architect and art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
Russell Sturgis
Russell Sturgis (; October 16, 1836 – February 11, 1909) was an American architect and art critic
of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1870.
Sturgis was born in Baltimore Count ...
said in ''The Architectural Record
''Architectural Record'' is a US-based monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design. "The Record," as it is sometimes colloquially referred to, is widely-recognized as an important historical record of the unfolding debates in ...
'' that "No photographs give the full sense of its bigness, its breadth and its mass. More than once visitors on their way to see it have been pulled up suddenly by a sudden sense of its large presence." In 2003, architectural historian Christopher Gray
Christopher Stewart Gray (April 24, 1950 – March 10, 2017) was an American journalist and architectural historian,Schneider, Daniel B (August 27, 2000)"F.Y.I. Hell's Kitchen in the Raw" ''The New York Times''. March 4, 2010. noted for his week ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the building as "among the most sophisticated works of masonry in New York, a tour de force of honestly simple bricklaying built for one of the premier printing companies of a century ago."
Originally, De Vinne's financial stake in the property was limited to 25 percent with the remainder held by Roswell Smith, founder of the Century Company. Seven years after the press closed, De Vinne's heirs sold their interest to Smith's estate in 1929. The building later became a metalwork factory, and in 1938, the Smith estate sold the property to the Walter Peek Paper Corporation. In 1982, Walter Peek sold the building to Edwin Fisher. It is now occupied by the 11,000 square foot Astor Center, owned by the Fisher family. The Astor Center featured a classroom and a "dining area for tastings and wine dinners."
As of 2014, the building was home to Astor Wines and Spirits (run by Andrew Fisher, son of Edwin Fisher), André Balazs
André Tomes Balazs (born January 31, 1957) is an American businessman and hotelier. He is president and chief executive officer of André Balazs Properties, a portfolio of hotels across the United States and residences in New York state, especial ...
Properties, the Orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...
(a digital distribution company), the Shootdigital photo studio and production company, and Helpern Architects (founded by David Paul Helpern), among others.
Landmark status
The De Vinne Press Building was designated aNew York City landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
in 1966, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1977.
References
External links
*Full-text digitized copy of an early De Vinne Press book
- ''Jean Grolier de servier Viscount d'Aguisy : some account of his life and of his famous library'' by William Loring Andrews {{National Register of Historic Places in New York, state=collapsed Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Commercial buildings completed in 1886 Babb, Cook and Willard buildings New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan