De Vinne Press Building

393 Lafayette Street | also 399 Lafayette Street, 21 East 4th Street | NoHo | built 1885

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1886

   July

   Theodore De Vinne builds a Romanesque Revival printing plant

   Master printer Theodore Low De Vinne, with partner Roswell Smith, constructs an eight-story plant at Lafayette Place and Fourth Street for the De Vinne Press. Designed by Babb, Cook & Willard in orange-red brick with terra cotta trim, the Romanesque Revival building opens at a cost of about $200,000 and prints magazines including Scribner's Monthly, later Century Magazine, and St. Nicholas Magazine.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1891

   An eight-story annex is built to print the Century Dictionary

   Demand from the ambitious Century Dictionary, published in twenty-four parts across six volumes between 1889 and 1891, forces the De Vinne Press to expand. An eight-story annex, designed by the original architects, is completed in 1891, with a sixth-floor bindery where women collate and stitch the finished pages.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1922

   The De Vinne Press closes after decades of printing

   The press that made Theodore De Vinne one of the most respected printers in the country ceases operations in 1922, eight years after his death. His heirs sell their remaining stake in the building to Roswell Smith's estate in 1929, and the Walter Peek Paper Corporation buys the property outright in 1938.

   Source: Wikipedia

4. 1966

   November 8

   The city designates the De Vinne Press Building a landmark

   New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission designates the former printing plant a landmark. Federal officials list the building on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and New York State follows with its own register in 1980, recognizing Babb, Cook & Willard's design as one of the city's finest Romanesque Revival industrial buildings.

   Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

• De Vinne Press BuildingWikipedia
• The 1886 De Vinne Press Bldg -- No. 395 Lafayette StDaytonian in Manhattan

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• De Vinne Press Building23 East 4th Street | 10 entries
• De Vinne Press Building401 Lafayette Street | 5 entries
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• 27 East 4th Street1 entry
• 403 Lafayette Street1 entry
• Merchant's House Museum29 East 4th Street | 11 entries

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