The Lindau Gospels

In 1899 Morgan received a telegram from his nephew Junius in London, alerting him to the availability of a “treasure of great value.” Writing in code, as was the Morgans’ custom when sending international wires, Junius offered tantalizing details about what would become the foundation of his uncle’s medieval manuscript collection: this ninth-century Gospel Book enclosed between jeweled metalwork covers. It came to be known as the Lindau Gospels because it was once housed in the Abbey of Lindau in Germany.

Morgan met the asking price of £10,000. The British government attempted, but failed, to raise the funds to keep this prize in the United Kingdom. By 1901 the volume was released to Morgan. When his new Library was completed five years later, he would have the volume installed alongside other dazzling bindings in a tabletop vitrine in the East Room.

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