This institution began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the country’s most esteemed collectors and cultural benefactors. Around 1890, Morgan began collecting illuminated, literary and historical manuscripts; early printed books; and Old Master drawings and prints. Those items would become the foundation of this institution’s collection. The objects are housed in an early 1900s building known during his time as “Mr. Morgan’s library” by Charles McKim of celebrated architectural firm McKim, Mead & White.

In 2006, 75,000 square feet was added to the space by architect Renzo Piano to accommodate its holdings. The collections are divided into drawings and prints, Medieval and Renaissance art, printed books and bindings, literary and historical documents, music manuscripts, and seals and tablets. Highlights include a Gutenberg Bible, Mozart’s manuscript of Symphony in D Major, Rubens’s drawing Seated Nude Youth, and a Thoreau manuscript journal entry.

The museum’s exhibitions draw from its rich collection. They have included a showing of drawings by Albrecht Durer, Andrea Palladio drawings, a viewing of the Magna Carta, and Near East stone inscriptions from 2500 BC to 550 BC.