The Morgan Library offers two dining venues: the casual
Morgan Cafe and the formal Morgan Dining Room. The Cafe offers more flexible
operating hours than the Dining Room. The Dining Room is open for weekday lunch
and Sunday brunch.
The highlight of this museum is the original collection of rooms called the McKim Rooms, which include Mr. Morgan's Library, Mr. Morgan's Study, the Rotunda, and the Librarian's Office.
The Library was completed in 1906 and houses a collection of
rare books in a gorgeous vaulted-ceiling room with two levels of balconies
surrounding it (visitors cannot access the balconies). The roof of the room
features beautiful murals. A huge fireplace, tapestry, and chandelier offer
additional focal points. The library collection contains printed books and
bindings, medieval, Renaissance, musical, literary, and historical manuscripts
by authors such as Voltaire, Sir Isaac Newton, Gutenberg, Mozart, Rubens,
Hemingway, Kerouac, and Thoreau.
The Study (also called the West Room) was Mr. Morgan's office. The open and airy (although dark) room houses a small collection of wall art, sculptures, and other decorative objects. The Study contains a vault in which precious objects were stored. (Guests can peek into the vault but cannot directly enter it.)
The Rotunda contains the original entrance to the complex on
East 36th Street. It is a grand room with a rounded vaulted ceiling that
features marble and mosaic panels. The Rotunda displays pieces of Americana,
including letters by Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and copies of the
Declaration of Independence and the Star-Spangled Banner.
The North Room (also called the Librarian's Office) is the
most recently opened space on the property. The room is clad in wood paneling.
Glass-fronted display cases that line the room contain interesting artifacts,
especially the extensive collection of metal seals and tablets.
The East and West Galleries, the Clare Eddy Thaw Gallery, and
the Marble Hall stage rotating exhibits. When we visited, one exhibit featured
Antoine de Saint-Exupery's book, "The Little Prince". Another exhibit
called "Photographs at Play" contained photos hung / arranged in a
way that required the viewer to draw conclusions and make visual associations
between the pictures hanging on either side.
We are
glad to have visited the library, but the admission price is a little steep to
make us return. Perhaps one of the rotating exhibitions will draw us back
someday.
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