Belle da Costa Greene, a Librarian’s Legacy
October 25, 2024 through May 4, 2025
Reviewed by Ed Voves
As the summer
of 1916 turned into autumn, Belle da Costa Greene, librarian for the Morgan Library, faced a difficult decision. Indeed, it
was a dangerous one.
Several rare illuminated manuscripts
from the Middle Ages were available for purchase in England. These medieval masterpieces
were of exactly the high caliber of treasures being sought to enhance the world-class collection of the Morgan Library.
In 1916, however, Belle
Greene could not easily book passage on an ocean liner and travel to England to
transact complex negotiations and purchases. The sinking of the RMS Lusitania
by a German U-Boat in May 1915 had made trans-Atlantic voyages perilous undertakings.
Yet, there were those
medieval manuscripts …
And so Belle Greene decided
to “damn the torpedoes” and head for England. There, on November 21, 1916, she paid
the princely sum of £10,000 for one of the
greatest illuminated manuscripts ever created, now known as the Crusader Bible.
The Crusader Bible
is currently on display in a special exhibit at the
Morgan Library and Museum: Belle da Costa
Greene, a Librarian’s Legacy.
It’s not every day that great
institutions like the Morgan mount exhibits to honor members of their staff,
but then Belle Greene was not an “everyday” sort of librarian.
In conducting the negotiations which brought the Crusader Bible to the Morgan Library, Greene acted on her own initiative. She closed the deal without securing approval from her employer back in New York.
Greene nurtured an acute sense of the attributes of great art. She also had a sharp eye for detecting fake pictures and forged manuscripts. Greene was a master strategist of collecting and preserving works of art and literature essential to the core values of civilization.
Greene was supremely confident that she had spent Morgan money wisely. As she waited for the export of the Crusader Bible to be approved by the British chancery court, she wrote to J.P. Morgan Jr. with an air of triumph - and a tinge of regret.
On my visit to Cheltenham this week I purchased
from the present owner, Mr. Fitzroy Fenwick, his famous 13 century French
manuscript of the Bible Historiée, the finest example of French art of the
period in private hands... If I had been able to stay here several weeks longer
I know I could have bought every important manuscript in private hands in
England.
Belle Greene’s
wartime journey was not the first time she faced making a hard choice. Born in
1879, Greene was an African-American woman possessed of great intelligence, talent
and charm. However, she confronted restrictions and institutionalized inequality
at every turn.
During her life, Belle Greene confronted the three "glass ceiling" barriers to the full expression of her creative talents: the "old-boy" male network, elite social class and racial discrimination. Greene took the measure of the first two and then studied, worked, and maneuvered her way to incredible heights of achievement.
To succeed professionally as a “woman of color” in the elite realm of art and rare books was virtually impossible. Instead, with valor born of discretion, Greene concealed her race. She made the third transition to career success by “passing for white.”
In its thematic
presentation, Belle da Costa Greene, a
Librarian’s Legacy recalls Plutarch’s Parallel
Lives. However, it is not a matter of comparing a Greek hero’s life with a Roman
counterpart but rather charting the public and private lives of a single protagonist, in this case Belle Greene.
Belle da Costa Greene, a Librarian’s Legacy is presented in the Morgan's two main galleries on the museum's first floor. One of these exhibition spaces brilliantly displays illuminated manuscripts, works of art, photos, documents and artifacts related to Greene’s long career as librarian, then director of the Morgan Library.
The curators of the Morgan exhibit, Erica Ciallela and Phillip Palmer, made a extensive - and exhaustive - effort to probe the sparse record of Greene's early history. They contrasted their research findings with works of art and period films which referenced "passing for white." These include The Drop Sinister, a controversial 1913 painting of a married couple confronting their "mixed-blood" heritage, and short video scenes from race films like Oscar Micheaux's Veiled Aristocrats (1932).
As fascinating - and still provocative - as are these reminders of the "Jim Crow" era, the Morgan exhibition is showcasing a newly rediscovered photograph of major historical importance. This is the sensation of the exhibition, certainly of the gallery devoted to Belle Greene's personal life.
During the preparation for the Morgan exhibition, Palmer commissioned a research specialist at Amherst College, Mike Kelly, to examine the school archives. Belle Greene had studied an early version of today's Information Science curriculum at Amherst around the turn of the twentieth century.
In the back row, half-hidden by a fringe of ivy was Belle da Costa Greene. It is the earliest photo yet discovered of her, an enigmatic, unsettling portrait of a young African-American woman about to step onto life's stage and, ultimately, the pages of history.
Greene came from a cultured family living in Washington D.C. Her father, Richard Theodore Greener, was the first African-American to graduate from Harvard and dean of Howard University's law school. Her mother, Genevieve Ida Fleet, was a gifted music-teacher, very light in complexion compared to her husband. There is only one known photo of her and it too is on display in the Morgan exhibit.
In 1898, Belle Greene's parents separated after a dispute which resulted in the race of Belle and her siblings being changed to "white" on the census records. Their surname was shortened from Greener to Greene. The addition of "da Costa" - linking them to an entirely fictitious Portuguese ancestry - accounted for the hue of their skin.
Belle da Costa Greene maintained this pretense for the rest of her life. Was this an act of evasion - rather than confrontation - of the racist legal structure of her era? Because Greene destroyed her papers before she died, we don't know what her private feelings were in the matter.
However a very moving letter which Greene wrote in 1909 to the Renaissance art historian, Bernard Berenson, sheds valuable insights on the life challenges she faced:
How wonderful that you wish to give me so much of yourself! From the littleness and meanness and pettinesses forced upon me by circumstances and other people – what a relief and joy to turn to the abundance of your love – you do not know how much it means to me – and I can’t tell you – I thought of it a long time this morning when I was out all alone in the beautiful God-made world ...
This excerpt from an especially poignant letter proves that Greene embraced life rather than evaded it.
Using her unbeatable skill set - intelligence, grace, humor, dedication and beauty - Greene become a "toast of the town" celebrity in New York City. During the years, 1905-1913, she served as J.P. Morgan's personal librarian. She was already tasked with purchasing rare books, not just cataloging them (though there was plenty of that exacting work, too).
J.P Morgan's death in 1913 might have terminated Greene's dream job, but Morgan's son, "Jack" greatly respected her. When the Morgan Library was opened as a public research institution in 1925, Greene was appointed its first director.
This was a well-deserved promotion based on her sterling service and many "coups" in book acquisitions. That her lack of academic credentials did not tip the scales against her can be explained by a testimonial in the memoirs of A.S.W. Rosenbach, the great American authority on rare books of the first-half of the twentieth century:
"This reference to the Morgan collection must inevitably bring up the name of its distinguished director, Miss Belle da Costa Greene, who has reached a height in the world of books that no other woman has ever attained. Miss Greene, besides possessing a genuine love of books, has a knowledge of customs and manners in the medieval period excelled by few scholars.” A Book Hunter’s Holiday, 1936
Belle Greene's "Portuguese" ancestry was almost certainly known to men-in-the-know like the Morgans and Rosenbach. It was surely an open secret to much of the New York literary world.
That only added to the magnitude of Greene's achievement. From her reputedly messy desk, Greene handled the day-to day operations of the Morgan, vetting the scholars clamoring to use the library's stellar collection and mounting the first of the special exhibitions which are now a regular feature of the Morgan Library and Museum.
And then there are those medieval manuscripts …. It is incredible to reflect that the many and marvelous manuscripts on display in Belle da Costa Greene, a Librarian's Legacy are a mere sample of the astonishing acquisitions made during Belle Greene's tenure at the Morgan. Let us look at two.
At the top of our short-list is the Gospel Book of Judith of Flanders. It is one of the few surviving works of art and literature which directly reference the Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon England. It was owned by the wife of Tostig, brother of King Harold of England. Tostig's betrayal of Harold weakened England's defenses, enabling William of Normandy to invade and conquer.
The text pages and illustrations of Judith's Gospel Book are by Anglo-Saxon hands, made during the last years before the seminal events of 1066. Yhe bejeweled binding, depicting Christ in majesty and the crucifixion, was most likely made in Germany later in the eleventh century.
The second of the medieval manuscripts on view in the exhibition dedicated to Belle Greene is the Holford Hours. This exquisite prayer book looks distinctly medieval but was in fact created around 1515 in France. The primary artist was Jean Bourdichon and the prayer book may have been created for the King of France, Francois I. A reckless, warmongering monarch, Francois I is not likely to have spent much time using this book of religious devotion.
Belle da Costa Greene, by contrast, did value these hand-copied and lavishly illustrated books. And her devotion to them extended beyond professional or aesthetic interest. For Belle Greene these truly were illuminated and illuminating manuscripts, providing insight into her mind, heart and soul.
In 1949, a writer for the New York Times observed the recently retired director of the Morgan Library at an exhibition of some of the treasures she had acquired for the institution she had served for so long and so well. Here, in these perceptive lines, we catch a sight of the real Belle da Costa Greene, "passing" as nobody but herself.
If the
illuminated manuscripts are the chief glory of the Morgan Library, they are also
the special love of Miss Greene. To talk with her about them is to feel the
profundity of her knowledge, the infallibility of her eye, the warmth of her affection
for the beautiful. To watch her look over the large black ledger of
acquisitions is to see each clearly inscribed entry serve as a clue in the
drama which was her life.
***
Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved
Introductory Image: Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Mattie Edwards Hewitt (for Bain News Service) Photograph of Belle da Costa Greene, 1929. Photographic print: 7 x 5 in.(17.8 x 12.8 cm., Bain Collection, Library of Congress.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Detail from the Crusader Bible, showing the Prophetess Deborah leading the Israelites into Battle, ca. 1244-1254. Ms. Picture Book Bible. Illuminated, 43 leaves: vellum, 390 x 300 mm. Collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Belle da Costa Greene, a Librarian’s Legacy exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum. Photo shows Paul Helleu’s Portrait of Belle da Costa Greene, 1913.
Clarence H. White, Photo. Belle Da Costa Greene (seated), 1911. Platinum print: 9 7/16 x 7 9/16 in. (23.9 x 19.2 cm.) Biblioteca Berenson, I Tatti, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies.
Theodore C. Marceau, Photo. Belle da Costa Greene Reading, May 1911. Photographic Print: 14 15/16 x 10 7/8 in. (38 x 27.7 cm.) I Tatti Collection, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies.
Harry Wilson Watrous. The Drop Sinister – What Shall We Do with It?, 1913. Oil on Canvas: 37 x 50 ¼ in. (93.98 x 127.64 cm.) Portland Museum of Art.
A scene from Oscar Micheaux's Veiled Aristocrats (1932), showing Lucille Lewis and Walter Fleming. A short video clip is on display in the Belle da Costa Greene exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum.
Unknown photographer. Amherst Summer School. Fletcher Course
in Library Economy, Class of 1900. Photographic print: 9 x 11 in. (22.86 x 27.94
cm.) Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.
Detail of Belle da Costa Green, 1900 Amherst College Summer
School photo, from: https://www.amherst.edu/news/magazine/issues/2023-spring/community-news/this-photo-is-a-rare-important-find
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Belle da Costa Greene
exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum. Photo shows the May 2, 1911, New York World Magazine, Sunday supplement, article on Belle
da Costa Greene and two William Caxton books from the 1480’s which Greene
purchased for the Morgan Library collection.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Belle da Costa Greene, a Librarian’s Legacy exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum. Photo shows a late-career photo of Belle da Costa Greene in the West Room of the Morgan Library., ca. 1948.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Gospel Book of Judith of Flanders. Jeweled cover likely created in Germany, late 11th century, for text ad illuminated illustrations made in England, between 1051 and 1064. Cast figures of Christ in Majesty and the Crucifixion set against a silver-gilt filigree background with gems. Morgan Library and Museum.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Book of
Hours (The Holford Hours). Created in Tours., France, ca. 1515. Tours, France, ca. 1515. 62 leaves (1 column, 20 lines), bound :
vellum, ill. ; 302 x 200 mm. Morgan Library and Museum.
Unknown Photographer. Belle Da Costa Greene, ca. 1911. Photographic print: 9 1/3 x 6 3/4 in. The Rosenbach, Philadelphia. Inscribed to A.S.W. Rosenbach. (To Rosie/BG)
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