Pierpont Morgan Library

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The Pierpont Morgan Library, originally the private library of J. P. Morgan, was converted to a public institution in 1924 as a memorial by his son, John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943).

The Library, located in mid-town Manhattan, (in New York City) contains many illuminated manuscripts, as well as authors' original manuscripts, including some by Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, and Honoré de Balzac. It also contains a large collection of incunabula, prints, and drawings of several European artists, early printed Bibles, and many examples of fine bookbinding.

Today the library is a complex of buildings which serve as a museum and scholarly research center.

Its first director was Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan's personal librarian. Who's successor was Frederick Baldwin Adams Jr., 1948-1969; who was one of the world renowed for his own personal collections. Adams amassed two of the largest personal holdings of works by authors Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost, as well as one of the leading collections of Karl Marx and left-wing Americana. Adams resigned from the library and moved to Europe with his wife, the Belgian Princess Marie-Luise Natalie Engelberta Ludmilla von Croÿ.

The Morgan Library is currently closed due to a major expansion project designed by architect Renzo Piano. This work is expected to be completed in 2006, however, the museum does sponsor numerous traveling exhibitions around the country.

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