Situated on Broadway, below Ann street, is a magnificent white marble edifice, ornamented with a profusion of statuary and carving. The bank- room is a model of beauty. The vaults are the most perfect and secure in the city.
THE ASTOR LIBRARY,
In Lafayette Place, is a substantial building of red brick. The property, and the library, are the gift of John Jacob Astor to the trustees, for the benefit of the cause of education throughout the land. The interior is in keeping with the exterior. It is simple and elegant, and contains a collection of over one hundred thousand volumes, carefully and judiciously selected. It is free to all persons, on condition of good behavior and careful usage of the books. The officers are courteous and obliging, and every care is taken to make the institution meet the wishes of its founder.
THE COOPER INSTITUTE,
In Astor Place, is a handsome freestone building, devoted to science and art. It occupies an entire block, and is the gift of Peter Cooper, Esq., to the public. It contains lecture rooms, rooms for experiments, free schools of science and art for the working classes, a reading room, and a library. The street floor and that, above are rented out for stores and offices, and yield an annual income of from twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars.
THE BIBLE HOUSE,
Faces the Cooper Institute, and occupies a whole block, being bounded by Third and Fourth Avenues, and Eighth and Ninth streets. It is an immense structure, nearly triangular in form. It is the property of the American Bible Society, and was erected at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars. The revenue of the society is about five millions of dollars annually. Thousands of copies of the Bible are printed here annually, and sold or distributed in all parts of the world. The Bible has been printed here in twenty-four different dialects, and parts of it have been issued in others still.
[Illustration: Cooper Institute.]
About six hundred persons find employment in this gigantic establishment. Of these about three hundred are girls, and twenty or thirty boys. The girls feed the presses, sew the books, apply gold-leaf to the covers ready for tooling, etc. About a dozen little girls are employed in the press-room in laying the sheets, of the best description of Bibles, between glazed boards, and so preparing them for being placed in the hydraulic presses. Every day there are six thousand Bibles printed in this establishment, and three hundred and fifty turned out of hand completely bound and finished. The sheets of the Arabic Bible, which has been so long in preparation, are now exhibited to visitors, and elicit universal admiration, both on account of the peculiarity of the character, and the striking neatness and elegance which the work exhibits. A large edition of this translation has just been forwarded to Constantinople. Much of the mechanical portions of this admirable work has been executed by children. They are fairly paid by the Society, and appear to be very happy and comfortable at their work.