To See in New York City

For those of you who travel to New york City (the Big Apple) and would like something out of the ordinary, following are two suggestions not found in many guidebooks.

Henry Clay Frick was the coke magnate who joined forces with Andrew Carnegie, the world’s largest steel maker in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Coke (the coal type) is necessary for the manufacture of steel. Frick was an early art collector, and his acreage in Pittsburgh now houses not only his mansion but a wonderful museum.

When he become more involved in finance, Frick built a second mansion in Manhattan (70th Street at 5th Avenue), just east of Central Park. The “Frick Collection,” in this majestic marble structure, shares some of the world’s most famous European paintings—including Rembrandt van Rijn’s most famous self-portrait. An audio-cassette is at your disposal to take you through some of the treasures of classical art.

J. Pierpont Morgan (Why use “John” when you have a name like “Pierpont”?) was Mr. Wall Street himself. His son built a duplicate mansion of his father’s which now houses the Morgan Library (36th and Madison). Whereas Frick collected masterpieces of European art, Morgan collected masterpieces of prose. His three Gutenberg Bibles give a sampling of why scholars of history find the collection so valuable. The only majestic, private collection I have seen to compare is John Adams’ collection in Quincy, Massachusetts.

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