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.

075. "I Saw Your Morgan Library; It is a Peach"

In the summer of 1905, as McKim rushed to finish the Library by the agreed-upon date of 1 October, the architect had a breakdown. His good friend Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a prominent sculptor, sent this letter of encouragement. How should McKim respond to Morgan’s incessant demands? “I think if you were to sass him back he would respect you more,” Saint-Gaudens advised.

McKim had been juggling multiple demanding projects (including New York’s massive new Pennsylvania Station) and took some time to rest. A few months later, Saint-Gaudens told a friend, “We were nervous about him, but are now glad to see he is in harness again.”

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907)
Letter to Charles Follen McKim, 23 August 1905
New-York Historical Society, McKim, Mead & White Architectural Collection