A Book Lover’s Dream
After reading Anna Quindlen’s Write for Your Life I added the Morgan Library and Museum to my list of bookish places I wanted to see. I never dreamed I’d get to visit so soon but when my daughter confessed that it’s also been on her list of places she’s wanted to see in NYC-I knew we had to go and it did not disappoint!
For book lovers the J.P. Morgan Library and Museum is a dream. The study is wall to wall bookshelves with an ornate fireplace and a book vault. What is kept in the vault isn’t exactly clear, but one can be sure it’s worthy of protection since the Morgan is home to some of the world’s greatest collections of medieval manuscripts, private letters, literary manuscripts, and original music.
Across the rotunda inspired by Raphael with detailed gold mosaic hand- painted ceiling (don’t forget to look up) and marbled floors (and down) is the historic library or the east room as it may be called. It feels insufficient to call it a room. Library doesn’t even seem quite big enough a word to describe the magnificence of this space where walnut bookcases line the walls three stories high under a ceiling that is a work of art. There is a tapestry once owned by Henry XIII hanging above a large fireplace and a copy of the Gutenberg Bible on display under glass.
The Gutenberg Bible in The Morgan Library
In addition to the thousands of books there are several exhibits to view including original handwritten letters by Bach (yes that Bach) from 1685, and a signed manuscript from Mark Twain in 1898. There are also precise, typed, and signed letters from Richard Wright to his editor in 1960.
Manuscript signed by Mark Twain
I had hoped to catch the Charles Dickens exhibit that Anna Quindlen mentioned in her book. I wanted to see A Christmas Carol in its original handwritten form-but missed that because it is a seasonal exhibit. However, after we left the librarian’s office housing Greek, Roman, and Egyptian seals, tablets, and jewelry we found an equally enjoyable temporary exhibit featuring The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The Morgan holds the original manuscript and the art from The Little Prince, which outside of religious texts is the world’s most frequently translated book. (I know, right?)
The Little Prince
The exhibit displayed the creative process of the writer who was also the illustrator through his sketches and drafts. What moved me the most of all the examples was a page on display that had been crumpled and possibly even thrown away. There is no reason provided as to why it was crumpled or who fished it out of the trash if that’s even where it was, but I couldn’t help but feel connected to the whole story through that one page. I’m sure that it was one of those internal struggles all artists have -Antoine de Saint-Exupery must have thought it wasn’t good or good enough and maybe even tossed it away in frustration. But someone saw the value, the artistry, and now here it is, in a frame, under glass, protected, on exhibit in the Morgan Library and Museum. How extraordinary!
Watercolor and Ink -The Little Prince
I’m thrilled that places like The Morgan Library and Museum exist to preserve not only books but art, music and letters as a way for us to understand our history and perhaps even ourselves.
If you are interested in visiting The Morgan Library & Museum it’s located at 225 Madison Ave. (between 36th and 37th), New York, NY 10016