For Rizzoli Publications, see RCS MediaGroup. Rizzoli Bookstore is a general interest bookstore, located in the St. James Building, 1133 Broadway in New York City, that primarily specializes in illustrated books and foreign language titles. Its previous location at 31 W. 57th Street was noted for its beautiful interior. After Rizzoli's lease expired in April 2014, the 57th St. building was demolished.[2] Rizzoli moved to its current NoMad location on July 27, 2015.[3] The Rizzoli Bookstore is owned by RCS MediaGroup, an Italian multimedia company, and is maintained by Rizzoli New York. In 1964, Angelo Rizzoli opened Rizzoli Bookstore at 712 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Located in a landmarked building designed by Albert S. Gottlieb in 1907 and inspired by the classical style of 19th century Parisian town houses, the Rizzoli store attracted legions of customers with its "marble floors, oak paneling, sparkling chandeliers."[4] Gianfranco Monacelli, who went on to become the president and chief executive of Rizzoli Publications before creating Monacelli Press in 1994, started as a night clerk in the Fifth Avenue store in 1965.
In the seventies, Roberto Polo, investment manager, art collector, and would-be design mogul worked part-time at Rizzoli while a graduate student at Columbia.[5] As the director of the Rizzoli Gallery, he organized an exhibition entitled “Fashion as Fantasy.” In 1976, Rizzoli opened a store in Chicago's Water Tower Place. Additional stores later opened in Boston, Costa Mesa, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Pasadena, San Francisco, Dallas, Oak Brook, Atlanta, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Williamsburg.[6] In 1984, Rizzoli acquired Scribner's Bookstore on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan[7] and opened an additional store in Soho. The Scribner’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue continued to operate under Rizzoli ownership until 1989, when it closed; the building, designed by Ernest Flagg in 1913, is now a Sephora. In 1985, Rizzoli Bookstore relocated to West 57th Street.[8] The old Rizzoli building, 712 Fifth Avenue, and the Coty Building next door were saved at the last minute when they were designated landmarks.
[10] The new store occupied three floors of the former Sohmer Piano Company showroom and was renovated by H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. Rizzoli closed most of its national locations except for its flagship store in 2001. In 2010, Rizzoli Bookstore opened a boutique store in the Italian food megastore Eataly, featuring nearly 400 titles related to food and drink. In 2012, a similar store opened in Saks Fifth Avenue, featuring a curated selection of books on fashion, design, entertaining, interiors, special travel destinations and New York. On April 11, 2014, Rizzoli closed its flagship store on West 57th Street in New York, under the protest of customers and preservationists, when its lease expired. The LeFrak Organization and Vornado Realty Trust, which had owned the building since 2006, planned to raze it and two adjoining buildings.[15] Demolition started shortly after the bookstore closed.[16] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission had refused to warrant landmark status for the building, noting that the interior design dated only to 1985 and that there was not enough original substance from the 1919 building left.
[17] The decision and the way the decision was made by the Landmarks Preservation Commission was criticized by the editorial board of the New York Times. Rizzoli reopened at its current Broadway location in July 2015. Rizzoli Bookstore has been used as a prominent location in the films Falling in Love (1984), Manhattan (1979), and True Story (2015), in addition to television series such as Seinfeld."16 Bookstores You Have to See Before You Die" Buzzfeed, New York, 9 August 2013. ^ a b "Legendary Bookstore Rizzoli Reopens Doors at New NoMad Location"New York Observer 22 July 2015."Rizzoli USA"Christian Science Monitor, 2 November 1984."The Fall of Roberto Polo"Vanity Fair, New York, October 1988."Rizzoli Grows from 'Museums' to Book Chain" New York Times, New York, 22 August 1984."Rizzoli Acquires Bookstores of Scribners"New York Times, New York, 10 December 1984."Rizzoli Opens New Shop"New York Times, New York, 22 March 1985."Proposal for 5th Avenue Sparks Dispute" New York Times, New York, 13 January 1985.
^ Frank J. Prial. 5th Ave. Tower Blocked by Vote for Landmarks New York Times, New York, 31 January 1985."Rizzoli To Close All But Flagship Store"Publishers Weekly, New York, 17 May 2001. ^ "World's Most Elegant In-Store Bookstore? Rizzoli Opens In Saks Fifth Avenue"Huffington Post, New York, 10 April 2012. ^ "Rizzoli to Run Bookstore in New NYC Italian Mega-Store Eataly "Publishers Weekly, New York, 30 August 2010."It’s Leaving 57th Street, but Rizzoli Bookstore Vows Sequel"New York Times, New York, 11 April, 2014. ^ LeFrak, Vornado give historic bookstore the boot for new tower The Real Deal, New York, 15 January 2014. ^ Hana R. Alberts. ", New York, 18 June, 2014. ^ NY Times Editorial Board, "The Tyranny of Glass Boxes" New York Times, New York, April 21, 2014.Hamilton’s Rare Books and Antiques has been a full time, self-employed sole-proprietorship business since 1973. In the past 44 years, we had old book & antique shops for 27 years and since 2000 we have been operating by appointment and on the Internet.
We have been selling on eBay since the mid-nineties with over 900 unsolicited “100% positive” feedbacks. Jack and Taylor Hamilton, father and son have worked together over the years, but now join together full time to expand our offerings and business with renewed enthusiasm. Our collections are broad and encompassing, sometimes esoteric. We welcome you to peruse our inventory. We often consult with collectors, historians and archivists. We are willing to consign special items or collections. We are especially interested in historical manuscripts, documents, books and artifacts. We strive to give a clear and definitive description and you can always order with confidence knowing that you will receive exactly what we described or we will give you a full refund including postage. We look forward to serving you. P.O. Box 1866 (Mailing Address Only) (757) 220-3000: Jack D. Hamilton (757) 777-4470: Taylor D. Hamilton Work at the library we host special events