The Morgan Library & Museum, Research library and museum in Murray Hill, Manhattan, United States
The Morgan Library & Museum is a research center and art museum in Manhattan that spans multiple interconnected buildings and contains three historic rooms with inlaid walnut bookshelves. The ensemble preserves over 350,000 objects, including ancient artifacts, rare books, and modern manuscripts.
Banker J.P. Morgan founded this private library in 1906 to house his growing collection of rare books and artworks. His son opened the collection to the public in 1924, establishing it as an educational institution and research center.
The library's east wing holds the original book room, where a 16th-century tapestry above the fireplace shows King Midas as a figure of avarice. Two staircases lead to balconies beneath a ceiling painted by Henry Siddons Mowbray. Display cases hold a Gutenberg Bible, medieval illuminations and authors' original manuscripts.
The complex sits at 225 Madison Avenue between 36th and 37th Streets in Murray Hill. Renzo Piano's glass entrance building, opened in 2006, links the brownstone at 231 Madison to McKim's 1906 library and holds the auditorium and visitor services. The 2010 restoration of the library displays over 300 objects from the collections.
The Morgan holds three Gutenberg Bibles, and in 2008 all three were shown together for the first time in over a decade. The library also keeps the original manuscript of The Little Prince, written and first published in New York in 1943.
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