The Morgan Library

In my first ever message on this forum posted this past Saturday (where I detailed my extensive (!!) pre-trip planning), one of the persons who posted a response was TravelingGuy from Kentucky. He mentioned that, in a recent trip to New York, he had visited the Morgan Library. My curiosity was aroused; I wasn’t quite sure if I had heard of the Morgan Library before or not although the name did sound vaguely familiar. Perhaps I had seen previous references to the Library on this forum. Anyway, I made a point of going to the Morgan Library web site the other day (www.morganlibrary.org) where I discovered that the Library houses an astonishingly impressive collection of original manuscripts and rare first editions, including the sole surviving manuscript of Milton%26#39;s Paradise Lost. The collection also boasts Dickens%26#39;s manuscript of A Christmas Carol, the journals of Thoreau, documents that were handwritten or signed by the likes of Elizabeth I, Sir Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Mozart, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon, three (!) Gutenberg Bibles, autographed scores from Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, and Mahler, and a manuscript of Mozart’s Haffner Symphony.

What can I say but “Wow”. I have no idea why the Morgan Library didn’t appear on my radar screen before as part of my pre-trip planning but it’s definitely part of my NYC itinerary now.

It’s not clear to me if every item in Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan’s collection is on display for visitors all the time, but even if only a fraction of the collection is available to be seen at any one time I would still have to say that the price of admission [$12 for adults] is worth it.

You know, I had wondered what I was going to do after visiting the Empire State Building. I had planned on visiting the ESB first thing in the morning to beat the crowds [already bought my ticket online at the ESB web site] and I had a vague notion that afterwards I would head north and east to see Grand Central Terminal. Since the Morgan Library at Madison and 36th Street is just a couple of blocks north and one block east of the ESB it will be a great place to visit in-between admiring the ESB’s Art Deco splendor and reveling in the Beaux Arts glory of Grand Central Terminal.

Anyway, I just thought I would post this blurb in case any other first-time visitors to New York might be wondering what else there is to do and see in the vicinity of the Empire State Building. I would think that the Morgan Library deserves some consideration.

The Morgan Library

Johannes56, you are going to have a terrific visit to New York City....

I can just tell.....

I mentioned the Morgan Library in a post about something else. I%26#39;m impressed that you took that, researched it, and discovered something else to visit in the city.

Walking into the private study of Pierpont Morgan was a bit like being ushered into the private office of.........say, GOD. You will enjoy it, I%26#39;m sure. I only wish I could have had more time there.

That%26#39;s where good planning comes in.....

The Morgan Library

The Morgan Library is a great place to visit and one that I have tried to get individuals interested in on the forum and elsewhere but with out much success. All of the manuscripts you mentioned and more are on display and the building itself is impressive. However, it is very much off the radar. One reason may be that it was closed for years for renovation and expansion. The other is that it is not of interest to everyone.

Visiting the Morgan Library is a great idea. Be sure to go before May 6th so that you can see the ';Victorian Bestsellers'; exhibit, which is small but very interesting. And just looking through the books in the library itself is fascinating: I only went for the first time very recently, wandered into the library, and the first thing I saw was Schopenhauer%26#39;s copy of Kant%26#39;s *Critique of Judgement*!

On this same day (as long as it%26#39;s not a Monday), you could also visit the main branch of the New York Public Library, on 42nd and 5th. (It%26#39;s known as the Humanities and Social Sciences Library.) The reading rooms are gorgeous, and the collection itself is incredible. They too have a Gutenberg Bible (but alas, only one!), as well as two copies of Shakespeare%26#39;s first folio, one of Jefferson%26#39;s copies of the Declaration of Independence, a copy of the Bay Psalm Book (the first book printed in North America), Newton%26#39;s Principia, Nathaniel Hawthorne%26#39;s passport (!), and all sorts of other strange and wonderful things. Not all of it is only display all of the time, unfortunately, but it%26#39;s worth a trip for the building alone; going there after or before visiting Grand Central would give you a chance to compare two of the greatest Beaux Arts buildings.

If you do go to the NYPL, I recommend taking the free tour, which starts at 11am or 2pm. Here%26#39;s the page for more info on that:

nypl.org/research/chss/services/tours.html

Also, I know your schedule is already deliriously jam-packed, but if you do get up to the American Museum of Natural History and you see their current exhibit of Audubon%26#39;s mammal paintings, you might also visit the New York Historical Society, which is just a block south of the AMNH. They hold 435 of Audubon%26#39;s watercolors, and they%26#39;re currently displaying 40 of the paintings he did for *Birds of America*. Seeing AMNH%26#39;s mammal paintings and NYHS%26#39;s bird paintings back-to-back is an interesting experience. Plus, the NYHS has an ongoing exhibit on slavery in New York that is absolutely tremendous. Here%26#39;s their site:

www.nyhistory.org

My wife and I went to the Morgan Library for the first time last fall and we loved it.

I think that the original rooms of the Morgan Mansion are worth the price of admission alone.

Thise is a character note from the novel Ragtime, one of the best re-creations of NYC, by E L Doctorow

J. Pierpont Morgan

An actual historical figure who made millions of dollars in steel and finance, Morgan is presented in this novel as a mystic who believes in the occult. In his urgency to share his enthusiasm for Egyptology with a peer, Morgan arranges a meeting with Henry Ford, the automobile magnate, but Ford is a practical, simple man who does not understand Morgan%26#39;s complex theory. When reached at sea about Coalhouse Walker%26#39;s demands while barricaded in the Morgan library, Morgan tells the police to ';Give him his car, then hang him.'; Morgan spends a night alone in the great pyramid of Giza, hoping to absorb its mystical energy, and later dies of a cold contracted there.

Pjk

You might also like to take a look at the J. P. Morgan building on Wall Street.....it%26#39;s only one story high ! I once read that Mr. Morgan wanted to show just how wealthy he is by building only a one story building on the most expensive pieces of real estate location in the world. Every other building towers but he make his statement in extravagance by under -building. But, if you do go to Wall Street, be careful.....it%26#39;s a ';Den of Thieves';.

Thanks for posting this Johannes, I had no idea about the Morgan Library. I%26#39;m not sure how I missed it if it%26#39;s been mentioned before but it is now on the ever expanding to-do list!

The Morgan Libray is indeed a treasure and better than ever now that its expansion is complete. Sadly, not all treasures are on display at all times (as is the case with most museums and libraries); however, at any given time a nice, if limited, selection, is on display, along with any special temporary exhibitions.

The library is a nice, if overlooked, gem in New York. It%26#39;s free on Fridays from 7 - 9 pm.

http://www.morganlibrary.org/

Thanks to everyone for the additional information regarding the Morgan Library and thank you especially to Crans for reminding me about the May 6th deadline for seeing the ';Victorian Bestsellers'; exhibit.

Most of the New York guide books I’ve consulted do tend to give the Morgan Library only a passing reference. Certainly, as nyc10025 has noted, the fact that the Library building was closed for a number of years for renovations doesn’t help to keep the Library and its collection in the public mind. But I think nyc10025 is also right about the fact that its collection is not necessarily going to be of interest to everyone. As someone who majored in history at university, however, the Morgan Library Collection contains exactly the type of documents that excite me! I can still remember the time I first visited the British Museum and looked at original handwritten letters signed by Henry VIII and Sir Thomas More; I was in seventh heaven! :-)

I also want to thank Crans for the detailed and very useful information about the New York Public Library, the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Historical Society.

The New York Public Library was definitely on my list of possible sites to visit but then seemed to fade away from my thoughts as my list of potential places to visit and things to do kept growing and growing! :-) Being reminded of the NYPL’s treasures is just the sort of stimulus I needed to get it back on my “to do” list.

I have a feeling that what I do during my week in New York may be determined to a certain extent by what the weather is like. If there are more rainy days than sunny days I may well spend most of my time inside places that I might not otherwise have made time for, such as the New York Historical Society. If the opposite is true and the sun shines brightly and at length during my sojourn in Manhattan, I may be tempted to spend more time outside, walking streets and exploring neighbourhoods.

I just hope that it doesn’t rain on the Monday that I’m in New York since everything seems to be closed on Mondays! I guess the two exceptions are the Museum of Modern Art (closed Tuesdays) and the American Museum of Natural History. Well, if it rains on the Monday that I’m in town at least I know where I’ll be going and what I’ll be doing!

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