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James Lenox (August 19, 1800 – February 17, 1880) was an American bibliophile and Philanthropy. His collection of paintings and books eventually became known as the Lenox Library and in 1895 became part of the New York Public Library.
He inherited a fortune from his merchant father and spent much of his life amassing a collection of art and literature unparalleled in value. Lenox's collection included rare items such as the Gutenberg Bible. His library, valued at nearly a million dollars, stood on what is now the site of the Frick Collection. Lenox also generously donated to institutions like the Presbyterian Hospital and American Bible Society. He never married, and became increasingly reclusive after a broken romance.
His maternal grandfather was Nicholas Carmer, a New York cabinet maker. Upon his father's death in 1839, Lenox inherited a fortune of over a million dollars and 30 acres of land between Park Avenue and . A graduate of Columbia College, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced. He retired from business when his father died.
The library occupied the crest of the hill on Fifth Avenue, between 70th and 71st Streets, overlooking Central Park. On May 23, 1895, the Lenox Library was consolidated with the Astor Library and the Tilden Trust to form the New York Public Library.
The collection of Bibles, including the Gutenberg Bible—both in number and rarity—was believed to be unequaled even to those of the British Museum; while its Americana, incunabula, and Shakespeare, surpassed those of any other American library, public or private. The collection was valued at nearly a million dollars; including the $900,000 for the land, building, and endowment, it totaled above $2,000,000. The Frick Collection stands on the Lenox Library's former site.
Lenox was a founder of the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. His gifts to it amounted to $600,000. He also made important gifts to Princeton College and Seminary, and gave liberally to numerous churches and charities connected with the Presbyterian Church. Lenox was also the president of the American Bible Society, to which he was a liberal donor. James Grant Wilson reports passing on several anonymous gifts from Lenox to needy scholars. He joined the American Philosophical Society in 1854. That same year, he was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society, American Antiquarian Society Members Directory and served as the society's vice-president from 1868 to 1880.Dunbar, B. (1987). Members and Officers of the American Antiquarian Society. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society.
Lenox occasionally reprinted limited editions, restricted to ten or twenty copies, of rare books, which he placed in some of the great public libraries and notable private collections, for example, that of John Carter Brown. Portraits of Lenox were painted by Francis Grant in 1848, and by G. P. A. Healy three years later. He was also painted by Daniel Huntington in 1874.
In 1855, there were 19 millionaires in New York. He was the third richest man in New York, worth approximately three million dollars.
Lenox died at his home, 53 Fifth Avenue in New York City, on February 17, 1880. He was buried in the New York City Marble Cemetery. Two of his seven sisters outlived him. Henrietta Lenox, the last survivor, gave the Lenox Library 22 valuable adjoining lots and $100,000 to purchase books. Lenox Avenue in Harlem is named for James Lenox. In addition to several charities, his estate was left to his relations, including his sister, Henrietta A. Lenox, Mary Lenox Sheafe, another sister, and various nephews and nieces, including Elizabeth S. Maitland, James Lenox Belknap, Robert Lenox Banks, James Lenox Banks, Robert Lenox Kennedy (who succeeded him as president of trustees of the Lenox Library), Rachel Lenox Kennedy, and Mary Lenox Kennedy. A portion was also left to grand-nieces and grand-nephews including Alexander Maitland, Eliza Lenox Maitland, Robert Lenox Maitland, and Henry Van Rensselaer Kennedy.
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