[15] Partly due to the presence of the Astor Library,[16] bookbinding and publishing firms such as The De Vinne Press and J.J. Little & Co. settled around Lafayette Place.

[22][a] The architectural writer Henry-Russell Hitchcock compared the structure's design with that of the Marshall Field's Wholesale Store in Chicago.

[19] The facade is made of brick and terracotta,[21][24] with decorations concentrated on the southern and western elevations, facing the street.

[21] The original facade, which comprises the westernmost six bays, is similar in design to the Lafayette Street elevation,[28] though with a different window arrangement.

[34][30] The interiors were designed in a utilitarian style, as the building was intended solely to function as a printing factory.

[22][36] This story was known as the vault and contained storage space for paper and stereotypes, as well as the heating plant and a web press.

[30] The main entrance led to a vestibule on the second floor, which had a spiral staircase made of iron, in addition to offices and presses.

[30] Theodore Low De Vinne—a typographer, printer, and cofounder of the printing-history organization Grolier Club[37]—had the building constructed for his printing company, Theodore L. De Vinne & Co.[12] The firm printed several American magazines, including The Century, the St. Nicholas Magazine, and Scribner's Monthly.

[12][39][16] De Vinne also wrote books such as The Invention of Printing, Correct Composition, and Title Pages.

[43] Smith announced that October that he and De Vinne would erect "a large printing and binding establishment" on the site.

[44] At the time, the Real Estate Record and Guide predicted that the De Vinne & Co. Building "marks a new era in property hereabouts".

[46] Originally, De Vinne's financial stake in the property was limited to 25 percent, with the remainder held by Roswell Smith.

[12] The structure was completed c. 1886;[28][47] and Smith and De Vinne hosted a lunch that May for the construction contractors and architects.

[47] The De Vinne Building originally had a loading platform on Lafayette Street that took up about 13.5 feet (4.1 m) of the sidewalk's width.

[52] By 1888, Smith and De Vinne had acquired two additional sites to the east of the existing building, with plans to erect an annex there.

[28] Babb, Cook & Willard designed a seven-story brick-and-terracotta annex at 21–23 East Fourth Street, which was budgeted at $50,000.

[62] The De Vinne Press remained in the building until it ceased operations in 1922, citing decreased demand.

[63][61] Valve and hand truck manufacturer Fairbanks Company leased the storefront and two of the upper stories in 1925.

[64] Two years later, Charles Schaefer Jr. designed a ramp to the basement, as well as modified the window openings on the first and second stories of the Fourth Street facade.

[67][68] The Peek Paper Corporation paid $77,500 in cash and took over the building's mortgage;[69] at the time, the property was assessed at $225,000.

[67] In 1940, the building was internally connected with the neighboring structure at 401 Lafayette Street, and John M. Baker designed a one-story brick annex at the rear.

[37] Fisher's son Andrew had advised him against buying the De Vinne Press Building, since the storefront was in the basement.

[12] Astor Wines and Spirits moved into the De Vinne Press Building in 2006,[77][78] occupying 11,000 square feet (1,000 m2) there.

[37] In addition, the Taco Bell fast-food chain opened a temporary pop-up restaurant in the building in 2017.

[77] When the structure was completed, the Real Estate Record and Guide described the De Vinne Press Building as "affectedly bald and quaint".

[24] Homer Saint-Gaudens wrote in 1913 that the structure was "so clean-cut and essentially American as to win [the building's architect] instant respect".

[39] According to Reed, the use of alternating round and segmental arches of different sizes contributed to the building's monumental appearance, despite the lack of ornamentation otherwise.

[19] Robert A. M. Stern and the coauthors of his 1999 book New York 1880 wrote that the De Vinne Press Building had a monumental scale despite the relatively simple design.

"[12] Another architectural critic, Paul Goldberger, likened the De Vinne Press Building to a New England brick mill and praised it as Babb, Cook & Willard's best design.

[86] The historian Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, in a guidebook about New York City designated landmarks, characterized the attic windows as giving the building "a distinctive note".