6. The Grolier Club Library (1884)
Robert Hoe, a printing press manufacturer, and eight of his fellow bibliophiles founded the Grolier Club in 1184. They named the organization itself after Jean Grolier, the Treasurer-General of France and renowned French bibliophile. The nine men initiated the club to focus on the study, collection, and appreciation of books through publication and exhibitions open to the general public. The 100,000-volume collection of books in the library is devoted to the bibliography and the “arts of the book.”
Today, the library is a reliable resource for scholars, researchers, and historians of book history as the space hosts 60,000 volumes of book auction catalogs. In addition to these volumes, the Grolier Club hosts exhibitions, which have been free to the public since 1884. Next time you visit the space, look out for a secret bookcase door that swings out from the wall. Behind the door sits a spiral staircase leading to a mezzanine level.