Evening star., 1939-07-16

u
OF Madison avenue. stands a little
back from the sidewalk, the low
marble building designed very SIM
ply in Renaissance style by McKim
Mead and White, to house the Nor
gan library. To the original building
an addition has been made-Ben-
jamin w. Morris, architect-but con-
tinuity has been completely pre-
served, and the exterior of this I'M
pretentious structure perfectly ac-
cords in spirit and fineness of feel
ing with the interior, which, Incl
dentally, more than serves the pur-
pose for which it was designed. One
enters, almost abruptly, into
square, we'll lighted hall which has
much the atmosphere of home; to
the left Is a large exhibition room;
to the right, at the rear, opens q
corridor which leads to the main
building wherein, from a second and
more sumptuous entrance hall, one
may make ones way into the hand
some study, and the sumptuous
least room," where, from floor to
ceiling, are shelf upon shelf of
books. Each hall and room is ut
terly different from the others and
yet throughout the same atmos-
phere is maintained. There is
enough to see to keep one weeks in
the seeing, but not too much to be
seen happily-if not abnormally
greedy-ina couple of hours. Even
from a brief survey one must de-
rive strong impressions and leave
materially enriched.
Effect of Atmosphere.
A part of the impression that this
library makes upon the visitor is un-
doubtedly derived from the atmos-
phere of the building-the we'll pro-
portioned rooms, the agreeable
lighting, the rich and appropriate
furnishing. On the walls of the ex-
hibition room and the east room are
tapestries of great rarity and beauty;
in the study are to be seen a few
masterpieces of painting-a Bellini,
a Perugino, a Botticelli-not to
name all-stained glass that Mr..
Morgan brought home from Europe
when a young man and long be-
fore he began collecting books-to
say nothing of few pieces of Flor
entine sculpture and a priceless vase
OF rich red porcelain which once be-
longed to a Chinese Emperor.
The walls in this room are covered
with red damask from the Chigi
Palace in Rome and the ceiling is
Italian of the 18th century. The
contents of this study" would he
worth a Kings ransom, and yet one
is not overpowered by it's sumptu-
ousness-in fact it is essentially
livable. In the entrance hall of the
main building there is over one of
the doors q lovely lunette by Della
Robbia, and even more breathtaking
is statue in bronze of a standing
angeEFrench 18th century, said to
have been intended as a weather
vane for Sainte Chapelle. Paris
as simple as anything that modern
art has brought forth, but infinitely
more subtle and exquisite.
And with these great works of art
are shown-fine bindings, books su-
perbly printed, illuminations-origi-
nal manuscripts of literary produc-
tions of world renown-art of a
different sort but arr just the same.
This is something which we all
sometimes forget.
Historic Sources.
Instantly upon entering the Pier
pont Morgan Library one Is intro
duced to its collections. In the first
entrance hall, where, by the way, is
the desk at which postcards, photo
graphs, etc., may be had, are shown,
in cases, book bindings executed for
numerous historic personages who
lived during the 18th and successive
centuries up TO the time of Louis
XVI, executed by great binders who
were both craftsmen and artists.
Among those for whom these bind
ings were wrought were kings and
queens, scholars and courtiers; Fran
els I, Henry II and III of France,
Henry Of Navarro, Edward VI, James
I, Charles I and his wife, Henrietta
Maria: Charles II of England and