A medieval scholar, Meta Harrsen headed the illuminated manuscript collection at the Morgan during the 1940s and ’50s. Greene often relied on Harrsen to answer inquiries, as seen in the memo about the Tarot cards made for a member of the Visconti-Sforza family. Harrsen would spend her career at the Morgan, helping run the Reading Room, responding to research requests, and consulting on numerous acquisitions, such as the Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript described in the letter to Jane Nichols. The eldest daughter of J. P. Morgan Jr., Nichols was acting president of the board in 1945, adding to the legacy of strong women leading the Morgan.
Belle da Costa Greene (1879–1950)
Note to Meta Harrsen, 23 February 1945
Letter to Jane Nichols, 20 April 1945
Archives of the Morgan Library & Museum
Bonifacio Bembo
The Popess, from “Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards”
Italy, Milan, ca. 1450–80
Painting, on vellum
The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1911; MS M.630.3
Bonifacio Bembo
Queen of Cups, from “Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards”
Italy, Milan, ca. 1450–80
Painting, on vellum
The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan, 1911; MS M.630.16
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
Last Poems
Pages from the autograph manuscript, ca. 1860
The Morgan Library & Museum, purchased in 1945; MA 1211