JPMorgan may now have the most state-of-the-art building on Wall Street, but about 10 blocks south of the shiny, new, $3 billion fortress still sits the 119-year-old library of the bank’s founder.
With all the focus on the new kid on the block, I decided to pay a visit to the classic, now known as The Morgan Library & Museum, located on Madison Avenue and 36th Street in Manhattan.
Completed in 1906, John Pierpont (JP) Morgan had the structure built to house his study and library right next to his brownstone residence. Stepping into the original structure, you’re immediately transported to the Gilded Age: extravagant paintings line the ceilings of the entry rotunda, deep red wallpaper gives a solemn tone to his study, and wood bookcases display the impressive book collections.
If you’re a finance nerd, you may be disappointed in the lack of Wall Street-specific history in the museum. But if you generally appreciate art and culture as much as JP Morgan apparently did, the place is a must-see.
As his wealth grew and the fortunes of the powerful families of Europe declined, Morgan amassed pieces from all over the world and from various periods of history, including artifacts from ancient civilizations in the Middle East and Europe.
One museum guide directed me to her two favorite pieces in the collection: an original Gutenberg bible and the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Seeing the works up close was breathtaking.
In the study, portraits of JP Morgan and his son, Jack, overlook the room. In the corner, a vault holds the most valuable works in the collection. In the library, three stories of bookshelves wrap around the room.
The opulence of the collection is almost too much — something the museum seems to acknowledge in displaying a political cartoon depicting Morgan pulling artifacts from Europe with a giant magnet. Nevertheless, the museum is worth it if you’re a history buff.
One of the museum’s gift shop clerks told me that one of its biggest recent draws was an exhibit on the library’s first director, Belle da Costa, who was the library’s director from 1905 to 1948. A new historical fiction novel about da Costa called “The Personal Librarian” has driven interest in the museum, she said, and is one of the gift shop’s top-selling items.
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