Belle da Costa Greene was the librarian to J. P. Morgan and after his death she became the first director of the Pierpont Morgan Library. She was born Belle Marion Greener in Washington, D.C. , and grew up there and in New York City. Her biographer Heidi Ardizzone lists Belle's birth date as November 26, 1879.

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  • Belle da Costa Greene was the librarian to J. P. Morgan and after his death she became the first director of the Pierpont Morgan Library. She was born Belle Marion Greener in Washington, D.C. , and grew up there and in New York City. Her biographer Heidi Ardizzone lists Belle's birth date as November 26, 1879. Her mother was Genevieve Ida Fleet, a member of a well-known African American family in the nation's capital, while her father was Richard Theodore Greener, an attorney who served as dean of the Howard Law School and was the first black student and first black graduate of Harvard (class of 1870). After his separation from his wife (they never divorced), Greener became a U.S. diplomat posted to Siberia, where he produced a second family with a Japanese woman. After her parents' separation, the light-skinned Belle, her mother, and siblings passed as white and changed their surname to Greene to distance themselves from their father. Her mother changed her maiden name to Van Vliet, apparently in an effort to assume Dutch ancestry, while Belle dropped her middle name in favor of da Costa and began claiming a Portuguese background to explain her dusky complexion. Eventually, she moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where she worked at the Princeton University Library. The financier J. P. Morgan had in 1902 engaged Charles F. McKim to build him a library to the east of his Madison Avenue brownstone as his collection already was too large for his study. To manage his collection he hired Greene as his personal librarian in 1905, having been introduced to her by his nephew, Junius, a Princeton student. Soon trusted for her expertise (she was an expert in illuminated manuscripts) as well as her bargaining prowess with dealers, Greene would spend millions of dollars not only buying but selling rare manuscripts, books and art. She has been described as smart and outspoken as well as beautiful and sensual. While she enjoyed a Bohemian freedom, she was also able to move with ease in elite society, known for her exotic looks and designer wardrobe. "Just because I am a librarian," Greene reportedly announced, "doesn't mean I have to dress like one. " Not only did her bearing, style, and seemingly unlimited means attract notice, but "her role at the Morgan Library placed her at the center of the art trade and her friendship was coveted by every dealer. " The power that she wielded for 43 years was unmatched. She told Morgan - who was willing to pay any price for important works - that her goal was to make his library "pre-eminent, especially for incunabula, manuscripts, bindings, and the classics. " J.P. Morgan left her $50,000 in his will, which at that time was a significant sum, reportedly $800,000 in modern money. Asked if she was Morgan's mistress, she is said to have replied, "We tried!" She never married, however, and her most lasting romantic relationship was with the art expert Bernard Berenson. Greene retired in 1948 and died in New York City two years later.
  • Belle da Costa Greene war die Bibliothekarin des amerikanischen Bankiers und Sammlers John Pierpont Morgan und nach seinem Tod die erste Direktorin der Pierpont Morgan Library bis zu ihrem Ruhestand 1948.
  • Belle da Costa Greene fue la bibliotecaria de J. P. Morgan, tras la muerte de éste dirigió la Pierpont Morgan Library. Nació como Belle Marion Greener en Alexandria, Virginia donde creció hasta la separación de sus padres. Su padre era el distinguido abogado Richard Theodore Greener y fue decano de la Howard University y el primer negro licenciado en Harvard en 1870. Su madre cambió su nombre por "da Costa" alegando antepasados portugueses para explicar el color oscuro de su piel y se mudaron a Princeton, donde empezó a trabajar en la Biblioteca de Princeton. En 1902, J.P. Morgan contrató a Charles Follen McKim para que le construyera una biblioteca al sur de Madison Avenue, ya que su colección era lo bastante amplia como para estudiarla. Contrató para esta biblioteca a Belle como bibliotecaria personal en 1905. Belle se gastó millones de dólares ya no sólo en la compraventa de manuscritos, libros y obras de arte, sino también viajando ostentosamente. Se dice que solía cabalgar además su purasangre en pleno Hyde Park. La describían como franca e inteligente a la par que hermosa y sensual. Compaginaba una vida bohemia con otra en la alta sociedad. Dijo una vez "Just because I am a librarian, doesn't mean I have to dress like one. " (Que sea bibliotecaria no significa que me tenga que vestir como tal). Solía lucir modelos de diseñadores importantes y joyas en el trabajo. Su papel en la bibliteca la colocaba en el centro del comercio del arte y ambicionaba convertir la biblioteca Morgan en la mejor, según palabras de Morgan, quien le legó una pensión vitalicia de 50.000 y 10.000 dólares al mes. Nunca se casó y su relación más larga la tuvo con Bernard Berenson.
  • Belle da Costa Greene fut la bibliothécaire personnelle de J.P. Morgan, puis après sa mort directrice de la Pierpont Morgan Library.
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  • Belle da Costa Greene was the librarian to J. P. Morgan and after his death she became the first director of the Pierpont Morgan Library. She was born Belle Marion Greener in Washington, D.C. , and grew up there and in New York City. Her biographer Heidi Ardizzone lists Belle's birth date as November 26, 1879.
  • Belle da Costa Greene war die Bibliothekarin des amerikanischen Bankiers und Sammlers John Pierpont Morgan und nach seinem Tod die erste Direktorin der Pierpont Morgan Library bis zu ihrem Ruhestand 1948.
  • Belle da Costa Greene fue la bibliotecaria de J. P. Morgan, tras la muerte de éste dirigió la Pierpont Morgan Library. Nació como Belle Marion Greener en Alexandria, Virginia donde creció hasta la separación de sus padres. Su padre era el distinguido abogado Richard Theodore Greener y fue decano de la Howard University y el primer negro licenciado en Harvard en 1870.
  • Belle da Costa Greene fut la bibliothécaire personnelle de J.P. Morgan, puis après sa mort directrice de la Pierpont Morgan Library.
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  • Belle da Costa Greene
  • Belle da Costa Greene
  • Belle da Costa Greene
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  • Belle da Costa Greene
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