The Morgan Library and Museum
Last Friday, Katie, Jim and I went to the Morgan Library and Museum to check out the Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul exhibit. I didn't know anything about the museum, but I love all things Poe. The museum is a little pricey, but admission is free every Friday night from 7-9pm. Because it's free every Friday, there wasn't a line like there was at the Neue Galerie and it wasn't annoyingly crowded.
The Poe exhibit just opened, and the collection is impressive. There are a few actual photographs of the man himself, which are really rare and quite haunting. The exhibit comprises mostly letters, manuscripts and first editions of some Poe publications. After a while the letters all start to look the same, but the handwritten manuscripts were really cool to see. I did happen to notice that Poe's handwritting was really nice: beautiful, sweet and surprisingly legible. To see a copy of Annabel Lee that was actually written by Poe himself was something I won't soon forget.
The most remarkable exhibit in the museum, however, was the actual building itself, or rather series of buildings. The private study, library and rotunda of Pierpont Morgan are absolutely breathtaking. As a girl who grew up dreaming about one day owning a library like the one the Beast gives Belle, I was in absolute awe.
There are three glorious floors of gorgeous, leather-bound books accessible by not one, but two hidden staircases (!). If I suddenly found myself with a boatload of money, I would immediate begin breaking ground on my own version of the Morgan Library — is there anything more wonderful than an enormous, beautiful building built solely for the purpose of housing, and reading books?
The ceilings are elaborately decorated, the shelves have gorgeous wooden inlays and the Morgan even has three Gutenberg Bibles in their possession, one of which is currently on display. As if all that wasn't enough, they also have two copies of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, together again for the first time since their creation in 1824, and shown in the study until December 1st.
Now that I know that admission is free every Friday, I'm sure we'll be back often. There's a Da Vinci exhibit coming up, and I can't think of a better way to spend a wintery night than by being surrounded by all of those amazing books again. And if, one day, I'm ever in the position to build my own grandiose library, Katie and Jim have already graciously agreed to be my architects — they're totally on board with the whole hidden staircase(s) thing.