VIRTUAL TOUR

Second Floor

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photo of Austin Flint Reading Room 2nd floor, HSL circa 2002 The second floor contains HSL's magnificent Austin Flint Main Reading Room, as well as our collection of bound journals, pay photocopy machines, and rest rooms.
photo of Austin Flint Reading Room, 2nd floor, HSL circa 2002
During renovation of Abbott Hall from 1983-85, care was taken to preserve the Reading Room so it currently appears much as it was when first built. The design was modelled from a room in Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, England, built in the first decade of the 17th century for Sir Robert and William Cecil, Earls of Salisbury.
photo of carved fireplace mantle, Austin Flint Reading Room, HSL circa 2003 The oak fireplace mantel is a hand-carved replica of a 15th Century mantel found in Canonbury Tower, London, England.
photo of carved fireplace mantle, Austin Flint Reading Room, HSL circa 2003

 

T he woodwork is not signed, but was carved by one of the craftsmen from the Kittinger Company, a now defunct Buffalo institution famous for producing furniture for the White House.

photo of chandeliers in Austin Flint Reading Room, HSL circa 2003
The chandeliers are turned on for special occasions only.
photo of one of two chandeliers in Austin Flint Reading Room, HSL circa 2003
 Both chandeliers were salvaged from one of the Albright mansions under demolition during construction of the original Lockwood building in the 1930s.

 

 

 
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/hsl/tour/secondfloor.html Created: 28 August 2003 Revised: 13 January 2005