After undergoing extensive renovations, the McKim Building at the Morgan Library and Museum is set to reopen to the public on October 30th.  Originally, the building was the private study and library of Pierpont Morgan, and was designed in the style of the High Renaissance.  The $4.5 million renovation is truly a gift to the public, as it has greatly enhanced the exhibition space, allowing for more of the broad and remarkable permanent collection to be displayed. The Library, also known as the East Room, is now equipped with a state of the art lighting system, a newly installed 19th century Persian rug that is reminiscent of the rug that originally lay in the room, and newly designed display cases.  The inlaid bookshelves that house Morgan's rare book collection have been fitted with non-reflective Plexiglas, allowing visitors a pristine view of the books.  There are more than one hundred works that are exhibited on rotation in the Library, and the additional display cases will greatly increase the works on regular view.  These works include: "a letter from fifteen-year-old Queen Elizabeth I purchased by Pierpont Morgan in 1900; the manuscript for Balzac's Eugenie Grandet (1833) with a torturous mass of revisions, corrections, and additions demonstrating the writer's complex creative process; illustrated notes by Alexander Calder regarding the installation of his "stabiles" from 1941; the Reims Gospel Book, the Morgan's finest Carolingian manuscript, written in gold at the Abbey of St. Remi (ca. 860); the manuscript of Mozart's famed "Haffner" Symphony No. 35 (1732); a newly discovered manuscript for Robert Schumann's "Des Knaben Berglied" (1849) acquired by the Morgan in 2009 and displayed for the first time; one of the earliest editions of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1483); the first edition of Lewis Caroll's Through the Looking Glass (1872) with proofs of Tenniel's illustrations; Mary Shelley's annotated copy of her masterpiece Frankenstein (1818); and one of the Morgan's three original Gutenberg Bibles (ca. 1455), the first book printed with moveable type." Morgan director William M. Griswold calls the reopening "a special moment in the history of the institution", and goes on to say that "no visit to the museum is complete without a tour of the McKim building, and now, with this ambitious project and the installation of some of the Morgan's outstanding treasures, that experience will be greatly enhanced." There will be a number of special events at the Morgan celebrating the restoration project, culminating in the public opening on October 30, which will feature music performances by students from Mannes College The New School of music, a special lecture given by Director Griswold, docent-led tours of the building, and a special screening of 'All the Beautiful Things in the World: An Introduction to the Morgan'. Ed. Note: The Morgan Library and Museum, and in particular the McKim building, is one of my absolute favorite places in New York, and, if you have never been, try to visit next time you are in the area. The Morgan Library and Museum's Landmark McKim Building to reopen October 30 The Morgan Museum and Library