WORKS ON VIEW IN THE HISTORIC 1906 MCKIM BUILDING INCLUDE
A J. R. R. TOLKIEN LETTER DISCUSSING THE HOBBIT, A NINTH-CENTURY COPTIC MANUSCRIPT, AND THE EARLIEST SURVIVING COMPLETE OPERA

TREASURES FROM THE VAULT
an ongoing series

January 15–May 5, 2013

New York, NY, January 14, 2013—The Morgan Library & Museum is home to some of the world’s greatest collections of medieval manuscripts, printed books, literary manuscripts, private letters and correspondence, and original music. Now, visitors have the opportunity to view a changing selection of works drawn from these collections in Treasures from the Vault, an ongoing exhibition series displayed in the sumptuous setting of Pierpont Morgan’s 1906 Library. This season’s selection, which includes everything from Machiavelli’s warnings of a mercenary revolt to the first complete edition of Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, will be on view January 15–May 5, 2013.

 

HIGHLIGHTS 

Despite its selling over thirty million copies today, The Hobbit was not an immediate success when it was first published in 1937. In a letter to his friend G. E. Selby, J. R. R. Tolkien describes—in his ornate handwriting—the genesis of his novel, joking that the manuscript “was discovered (in a nunnery).” Tolkien went on to say that his children, for whom he originally created the story, “do not wholly approve of their private amusements being turned to cash…[That was the hope. Actually I have ear[n]ed ₤25 so far…].”

In 1910 villagers digging for fertilizer at the site of the destroyed Monastery of Archangel Michael of the Desert in Egypt uncovered buried treasure—a trove of Coptic manuscripts that tenth-century monks had placed in a stone vat for safekeeping. The precious ninth- or tenth-century pages on view mark the beginning of the Homily to be delivered on the Wednesday after Easter.

Opera grew out of the desire to recreate the way in which Greek tragedy was declaimed. On display is Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, the earliest opera to have survived with all its music. The work, composed for the celebration of the marriage of Maria de’ Medici and King Henry IV of France, dates to 1600.

One year following Tolkien’s letter, in 1938, John Steinbeck lamented the state of his current project—the draft of The Grapes of Wrath. Writing to his friend, the filmmaker Pare Lorentz, Steinbeck admitted getting “pretty low about this book sometimes. It just seems lousy,” before concluding, “I do hope this god damn book is some good. It’s been hard enough work.”

In The Yellow Wall Paper, Charlotte Gilman dramatized the dangers of “restorative” confinement, the cover’s bold printed pattern and grotesque color scheme alluding to the heroine’s afflicted mental state. Gilman’s novel appeared in a decade when eye-catching dust jackets and bindings became selling points for many books, their covers essentially acting as their own advertisements.

On October 17, 1781 General George Washington received a letter from Lord Cornwallis that would effectively end the Revolutionary War. In it, Cornwallis proposed “a cessation of hostilities for twenty four hours” in order “to settle terms for the surrender of the posts of York & Gloucester.” The absolute surrender of Yorktown took place two days later, marking the culmination of the Yorktown campaign and the last major land battle of the War.

A magnificent twelfth-century illuminated manuscript on display depicts the life, passion, and miracles of St. Edmund, who was crowned king of East Anglia before being tortured and ultimately decapitated by the Danes in 870. The manuscript’s thirty-two illustrations are executed in the distinct Romanesque style characterized by attenuated figures and two-dimensional space.

Pierpont Morgan was not an avid music collector, but he was always on the look-out for amazing finds. When Morgan was alerted to book dealer Leo Olschki’s acquisition of Beethoven’s long-lost tenth, and last, violin and piano sonata manuscript, he seized the opportunity and purchased the score.