History and architecture
The Scribner Building, built in 1912-13, is an elegant Beaux-Arts commercial structure by the eminent American architect Ernest Flagg. This was the second building Flagg designed-for the prominent publishing firm of Charles Scribner's Sons and incorporated many of the same design features of the earlier work, expanding and elaborating them for this new, more fashionable midtown location at Fifth Avenue near 48th Street.
After occupying several offices in lower Manhattan, in 1893 the company decided to move uptown and bought land at 155 Fifth Avenue. Charles Scribner's brother-in-law, Ernest Flagg, was commissioned to prepare the plans for the new building. This was a six-story, lime- stone-faced structure with a large bookstore occupying the street floor. Twenty years later, when Scribner's followed the commercial movement northward to midtown Manhattan, Flagg was again asked to design their new headquarters at 597 Fifth Avenue.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.