NY Public Library Exhibition Marks 'New Yorker' Centenary
The New York Public Library is hosting a major exhibition titled “A Century of The New Yorker,” which runs through February 21, 2026. The exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the magazine. Located in the Rayner Special Collections Wing, the show chronicles the publication's significant role in the city's literary and artistic history.
- The magazine was co-founded by editor Harold Ross and his wife, *New York Times* reporter Jane Grant, with financial backing from entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischmann. In a 1925 prospectus, Ross famously declared the publication would not be edited for "the old lady in Dubuque," signaling its sophisticated, urban focus. - Its renowned fact-checking department was established after a 1927 article on poet Edna St. Vincent Millay contained numerous errors, prompting her mother to threaten a libel lawsuit. As of 2025, the department employed about 30 people. - The exhibition includes notable manuscripts from the magazine's history, such as Truman Capote's typescript draft of *In Cold Blood* with editorial revisions, Hannah Arendt's original manuscript for *Eichmann in Jerusalem*, and W.H. Auden's handwritten draft of "Refugee Blues." - The dandy character on the first cover, now known as Eustace Tilley, was drawn by art editor Rea Irvin and based on an 1834 caricature of the Count d'Orsay. The character has become the magazine's mascot and appears on most anniversary issues. - The magazine has published many influential literary and journalistic works, including John Hersey's "Hiroshima," which took up the entire issue of August 31, 1946, and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," which generated more reader mail than any story in the publication's history. - Artifacts on display include typewriters used by former editor William Shawn and writer Lillian Ross, as well as Vladimir Nabokov's copy of a 1949 *New Yorker* short story collection in which he penciled in grades for each piece. - The magazine's stable of influential cartoonists has included Charles Addams, Roz Chast, Saul Steinberg, and James Thurber. The exhibition features original artwork, including a 1946 piece by Helen Hokinson titled "I Want to Report a Winking Man." - David Remnick has been the editor since 1998, succeeding Tina Brown (1992–1998), Robert Gottlieb (1987–1992), and William Shawn, who edited the magazine from Harold Ross's death in 1951 until 1987.
