Rare Manuscripts Inside A Gilded Age Library

Behind a McKim marble facade on Madison Avenue, J. Pierpont Morgan assembled one of the country's great private libraries. The East Room rises three tiers of walnut bookcases under a painted ceiling, while Mr. Morgan's Study glows in red damask, hung with Renaissance paintings above a carved fireplace. A domed rotunda links the rooms, its walls and vaults finished in colored marble and classical murals. Cases hold rotating treasures, from a Gutenberg Bible to illuminated manuscripts, literary drafts, and Old Master drawings. Timed galleries stay quiet, and the reading rooms keep the hush of a working research library.