The Morgan Library, a complex of buildings in the heart of New York City, began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of America's greatest collectors and cultural benefactors. As early as 1890 Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary, and historical manuscripts; early printed books; and old master drawings and prints.
Mr. Morgan's library, as it was known in his lifetime, was built between 1902 and 1906 adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. Designed by Charles McKim of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the Library was intended as something more than a repository of rare materials. Majestic in appearance yet intimate in scale, the structure was to reflect the nature and stature of its holdings. The result was an Italian Renaissance–style palazzo with three magnificent rooms epitomizing America's Age of Elegance. Called "one of the seven wonders of the Edwardian World" and completed three years before McKim's death, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece. In 1924, eleven years after Pierpont Morgan's death, his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867–1943), known as Jack, realized that the Library had become too important to remain in private hands. In creating an institution dedicated to serving scholars and the public alike, and in what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in U.S. history, he fulfilled his father's dream of making the library and its treasures available to the public.
Over the years—through purchases and generous gifts—the Library's holdings of rare materials have continued to grow, and important music manuscripts, early children's books, Americana, and materials from the twentieth century have been acquired. Without losing its decidedly domestic feeling, the Library has also considerably expanded its physical space. The Annex was built on the site of Pierpont Morgan's brownstone. Completed in 1928, the addition consisted of a large entrance foyer, a reading room for scholars, and an exhibition hall. The new structure was joined to the original library by means of a connecting gallery called the Cloister (recently renamed the Dr. Rudolf J. and Lore Heinemann Gallery). A dramatic addition occurred in 1987 when the Library doubled its size with the acquisition of Jack Morgan's nearby town house. A garden court was built to connect the house with the Annex and original library. This expansion, completed in 1991, made way for both more exhibitions and a wider array of lectures, concerts, and other educational programs.
Recently the largest expansion in the Morgan's history, added 75,000 square feet to the campus. Completed in April 2006 and designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the project increased exhibition space by more than fifty percent and added important visitor amenities, including a 280-seat performance hall, a welcoming entrance on Madison Avenue, a new café and a new restaurant, a shop, a new reading room, and collections storage. Piano's design integrates the Morgan's three historical buildings with three new modestly scaled steel-and-glass pavilions. A soaring central court connects the buildings and serves as a gathering place for visitors in the spirit of an Italian piazza.
Fulfilling the vision of its founders, the Morgan Library has become and continues to be an internationally recognized center for research as well as a vital museum serving a diverse public.
Morgan Library and Museum is located in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. Murray Hill, along with Turtle Bay and Kips Bay, lies in the vast stretch of Manhattan's East Side, between the rabble and riot of Alphabet City and the East Village and the luxuriant old money of the Upper East Side. Sedate and low-key, the neighborhood is largely home to modern residences and, middling rents, and a mash-up of long-time locals and the recently graduated, MBA set, who gladly trade in hipness points for being able to say they can afford to live in Manhattan. That is, until the Second Avenue subway opens up and Murray Hill joins the rest of the island's rent brackets. What is essentially Midtown East East stretches from Fifth Avenue to the East River (some say Third Avenue, but what do they know), and from 40th Street to 34th Street. It is bounded by Turtle Bay to the north, Kips Bay to the south, and Midtown to the west. With Grand Central Station at its northwestern corner and the Queens Midtown Tunnel on the east, pedestrian and traffic congestion in the neighborhood is high, especially when the United Nations in session, causing a never-ending headache for residents who cherish the ever-shrinking calm of its quieter streets. Two of New York City's most iconic pieces of architecture stand at the corner of the neighborhood— Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building, both of which are fine examples of Beaux Arts and Art Deco, respectively. Grand Central, while not a part of the storied and gorgeous trail of Pennsylvania Railroad stations—that would be Penn Station's sole claim in NYC—is still one of the most impressive railroad terminuses in America, and rivals even some of the best stations in the world. Its gleaming brass clock, the exquisite staircases, and the unique celestial ceiling, with its light bluish-green background filled with well-known constellations dotted by tiny lights. Restored in recent years, the cavernous main hall is bathed in natural light during the day, and pulsates with activity day and night, thanks not least to its three busy restaurants: Michael Jordan's Steakhouse, Metrazur, and the famous Grand Central Oyster Bar. The gorgeous Chrysler Building gleams nearby, and while the building isn't open to tourists, its staggeringly beautiful Art Deco lobby, with murals celebrating transportation themes, is definitely one of New York’s finest. Meanwhile, the Morgan Library & Museum presents diverse cultural offerings and is home to a dazzling collection of rare books, all housed in an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo that reflects the nature and stature of its contents. Murray Hill is also home to various educational and cultural institutions such as the CUNY Graduate Center, Stern College for Women and the Oxford University Press. Other notable establishments include the Mexican Cultural Institute and the Scandinavia House, which is dedicated to the education and preservation of Nordic culture. There are also plenty of dining options on the Hill. If you're craving Mexican, try Baby Bo's Cantina on 2nd Avenue, or perhaps a pricier Italian meal at venerable neighborhood institution Rossini's, or go full-on Mediterranean at Salute. Murray Hill also counts the original The Palm among its favorite eateries, a casual elegant restaurant that has remained in its place since 1926, long before their brand branched out into other parts of Manhattan and, eventually, from coast-to-coast. The walls are adorned with caricatures of nationally and locally famous figures, and generations have been coming back to taste the incredible hash browns or to order a three-pound jumbo lobster, not to mention the steaks that made the Palm famous in the first place! Murray Hill is a great neighborhood to stay in while you're visiting New York—it's close to many major attractions, but still out of the way enough that it makes for an easy and quick escape from the hectic pace of Midtown—and the hotel offerings in the area mirror that fact. The all-suite Affinia Dumont is among the more spacious and elegant options, while the Park South Hotel is a more moderately priced option that's still rife with style.
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