Treasures from the Vault

The Morgan is home to some of the world's greatest collections of medieval manuscripts, printed books and bindings, literary manuscripts, private letters and correspondence, and original music. Treasures from the Vault, an ongoing exhibition series, features works drawn from these diverse collections in the sumptuous setting of Pierpont Morgan's 1906 Library.

Highlights from this rotation include the original draft of President Ulysses S. Grant's first inaugural address in 1869, which called for tolerance and concluded with an appeal for the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, as well as an 1871 manuscript from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, demanding voting rights for women. The only complete manuscript of Jane Austen's Lady Susan is also displayed, along with medieval treasures such as the Zir Ganela Gospels, a masterpiece of Ethiopian art that boasts twenty-six full-page miniatures.

Additionally, this installation marks the second of three displays that celebrate the music manuscript collection of Robert Owen Lehman, which is on deposit at the Morgan. The present selection includes Mozart's Symphony No. 29; Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture; Chopin's Nocturne, op. 48, no. 1; Debussy's Preludes, Book 1; Ravel's Sonatine; and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website