The Bowery Boys episode 446, Mr. Morgan and his magnificent library.

Hey, it's the Bowery Boys.

Hey.

Hi there. Welcome to the Bowery Boys. This is Greg Young.

And this is Tom Myers. Now, Greg, you and I buy a lot of books, don't we?

Hazard of the job, I guess. I would say a bit too many books, but there are legitimate business expenses, I've been told, as are the new IKEA bookshelves that I had to buy to hold those books. Every one of your billy bookshelves from

IKEA is delightful, Greg. Everyone is a business expense. Well, today we're telling the story about somebody who bought so many books that he needed to build himself an entire library.

Billy bookshelves were not enough.

No, no, no.

That would be the Morgan Library and Museum, which began as the personal library of the phenomenally successful financier, J. Pierpont Morgan, J.P. Morgan.

Starting in about 1890, Morgan became very serious about collecting priceless manuscripts,

along with very early books and artwork made by the great masters.

Pretty soon, Mr. Morgan's personal collection was massive, worth millions and millions of dollars, and he needed a home to properly store and display it.

And boy, did he make one.

A gorgeous Italian Renaissance-style library was constructed between the years of 1902 and

2006, just next to Morgan's home at 36th and Madison Avenue. And here in this library,

J.P. Morgan kept his priceless collection, but he also met here with some of the most powerful leaders in finance,

and industry, and government. Deals were brokered here that had lasting effects on business and

government policy. J.P. Morgan died in 1913, and 11 years later, in 1924, 100 years ago, his son J.P. Morgan, Jr., opened its doors to the public by transforming the library into a public institution.

So that is the story that we will be visiting today. Who was J.P. Morgan? That is a big, big question. His name is now synonymous with

money and power, but who was the actual man? How did he build this fortune that permitted him

to buy up all these manuscripts and works of art? And then Greg and I will be heading up to 36 in Madison to

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