Life, 1884-01-17 · page 11 of 16
Life — January 17, 1884 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Lenox Library" - Life Magazine Satire This is a satirical dialogue mocking the *inaccessibility* of the Lenox Library in New York City—a private library founded by philanthropist James Lenox and donated to the city. The joke: Though technically "public," the library functioned as practically *closed* to ordinary people. The satire uses absurdist escalation—cannons, gallows, and a Byzantine bureaucratic process—to criticize the actual gatekeeping practices that made the library useless to students and the general public it supposedly served. The cartoon illustrates the library building with exaggerated defensive features (cannons on roof, gallows). The text reveals the real barrier: a labyrinthine application process requiring approval from multiple obscure officials and commercial vetting—essentially designed to exclude common readers. The satire exposes the contradiction between the library's "public" designation and its exclusionary reality, questioning how an institution can claim to serve the public while making access nearly impossible.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
POPULAR SCIENCE CATECHISM. Lesson XVI.—The Lenox Library. HAT is this? ; This, dear, is the great Lenox Library. What is it for? ~ Nobody knows. | But I thought you said it was a library? \ So I did. Then there must be books in it? Perhaps. Why is it called the“ Lenox” Library? , Because it was founded and given by Mr. James Lenox. Given to whom? To the City of New York. Oh! then it is a public library? Yes, dear. How delightful! Why, it must be very useful to students and to the reading public ? Very. \ But why are the doors locked? | To keep people out. But I thought you said it was a public library? So I did. Then how can they keep people out ? By locking the doors. But why? To keep the pretty books from being soiled. Why! who would soil the pretty books? The public. How? | By reading them. Gracious! What are all those brass things on the \roof ! Cannon, dear. What are they for? To blow the heads off students who want to get in. Why ! and see those gallows ! Yes, dear. > LIFE: 39 And people hanging ! Certainly, sweet. Who are they? Students who got in. But is there no way of getting into the library with- out being shot or hanged? Yes, sweet. How? By writing an humble letter of appli- cation to the kind Lord High Librarian. Well? He will refer it to the 1st Assistant Inspector of Character. And then? It will go to the Third Deputy Ex- aminer of Morals. Next? He will pass it on to the Comptroller of Ways and Means. And he? He will, after mature deliberation, send it to the Commercial Agency. What for? To get a proper understanding of the applicant's solvency. Well? : Then it comes back for the monthly meeting of the Sub-Committee on Private Inquiry. Why? To ascertain if the applicant has any real necessity for consulting any particular book in the library. And suppose he has? Why, then the paper goes to the Sub-janitor. And what does he do? He finds out if the Astor or Mercantile Libraries have the book. And if they have? He tells the applicant to go there and consult it. But if they have it not? Then the application goes to the Commissioner of Vital Statistics. For what purpose? To ascertain if the applicant is still living. And tf he is? e At the next annual meeting of the Board of Directors, if there is a quorum present, which sometimes happens, he will get a ticket entitling him to admission between the hours of two and three on a specified day. But if the poor applicant is busy on that day at that hour? He forfeits his ticket. But how is the public benefited by this “ public” library? Ask the Trustees. “ Next to pure reading matter "—the records in the family bible. comicbooks. com