Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

080. Bookman and Librarian

The last book Morgan likely held was not a luxurious rarity but this everyday devotional volume—a well-worn copy of the Book of Common Prayer. He died in Rome in March 1913, a week after attending Easter services. Belle da Costa Greene used a sheet of black-bordered mourning stationery to document the volume’s significance and preserved it in the Library’s Archives.

In his will, Morgan bequeathed $50,000 to Greene, “who has long been my efficient librarian,” and added, “I trust that she may be continued as librarian thereof at a salary not less than that which she shall be receiving at the time of my death.”

The Book of Common Prayer
Oxford: printed at the University Press; New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, [1892?]
J. Pierpont Morgan’s copy, inscribed to him by the bishop of Minnesota, 17 April 1894, with accompanying note by Belle da Costa Greene, [1913]
The Morgan Library & Museum Archives; ARC 134