The Morgan Library

Last week, I visited the Morgan Library & Museum for the third time! Admission is kind of expensive, but if you go on a Friday, it is free from 7PM – 9PM. Definitely take advantage of it! And if you love books, period rooms, and medieval art, you MUST visit at least once. The museum itself is not that big, however, they constantly rotate their displays and have new exhibitions frequently. They really know how to get visitors coming back. (Their exhibitions are some of the coolest and most interesting that I’ve seen. Sadly, I’ve missed so many of them! Such a shame. One of my favorite exhibitions was from 2011 on fashion in Medieval France and the Netherlands.)

I’m finally writing about the Morgan now because I finally brought my camera with me and now I have pictures of the library! So I’ll include them throughout the post. But this post will be pretty short because I don’t really have many interesting facts to throw at you. I didn’t listen to the audio tour this time. Which reminds me! Do get the audio tour if you want to know more. It’s free with admission and there are barely any description blurbs around. (Just like the Frick…)

Two amazing things happened while I was there:

ONE: I finally saw the hidden marble staircase that leads up to the other levels in the library. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Let me demonstrate with some photos. (I apologize for the darkness of the photos. Without a tripod, it is hard to take a good picture in low light.)

This is the library. There are three levels of bookshelves. But how do you get to the top two?

By a secret doorway, of course! Here’s a hint to finding them. There are two secret doors, one for each side. To find them, look at the bottom of the shelves and search for two vertical cracks, signifying that that bookshelf is not attached the others.

The arrows are pointing to the cracks that I was talking to. The inset photo shows a close-up of said crack.

Once you find those cracks, you can find the hidden doors! There might be other ways to finding the hidden doors, but this is my fail-proof method. If you know of other ways, share with me! So, as I said before, there are two doors. One of the doors has a gap between it and the adjacent bookshelf. If you peer into that gap, you can see the staircase hiding behind! I discovered this while eavesdropping on a conversation between the security guard and two old women. Security guards know all the secrets! So, I made my way to the gap and woah, what a shock. You really could see the staircase behind. So now, no more imagining for me. I know. And I attempted to take some photos for you to see, but really, you have to see it in person. My lens can’t capture the wide angle that your eyes can. But, here’s my best photo:

TWO: The first edition dust jacket of This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald was on display! This was fate. Or an amazing coincidence. First, let me backtrack a bit. Why is this so important to me? Well, I’m not a huge fan of this book or anything. I read it a while ago and thought it was good. However, I absolutely LOVE the cover of the first edition. So much that I searched for a copy of the book with the same cover design. I’d show you a picture of the book, but it’s buried at the bottom of my enormous stacks of books. But most importantly, I own a Barnes & Noble tote bag with the same design on it. This is my favorite tote bag, and therefore, my go-to tote bag. So, what are the odds that the one day I’m at the museum, this book is on display? As I said before, the Morgan rotates their displays frequently and their collection is vast. So some mystical forces must have conspired together to making my timing oh so perfect! I was literally fangirling in the museum :D

Oh! Random interruption announcement: I’m trying out a new style with my posts. Making my photos large. Before, I used to toy with the sizes and make a lot of the photos into galleries. But after being exposed to some new blogs, I’m opting for a more full-size aesthetic. Also, I have a tendency of over-uploading photos. So now I’m going to be pickier and only choose the most relevant and high-quality photos as possible. Let’s see how this goes.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the photographable parts of the museum (the library area):

I think this is the study… Well, it has a cozy fireplace, an expensive desk, and lots of portraits. Oh, and even more books!

This is the “West Room Vault.” So I assume what I called the “Study” is actually the “West Room.” Anyways, here is where J. P. Morgan kept all his super valuable books. With steel-lined walls and a heavy, triple-lock system door. (Just kidding about the last part. It’s actually a quadruple-lock system. Haha kidding! I don’t know the actual answer…)