The following essay discusses John Pierpont Morgan and his son, John Pierpont Morgan Jr..

The 13 March 1943 issue of the New York Times described the banking house of J. P. Morgan and Company as having "attained a place of importance in international financial affairs that not even the house of Rothschild attained in the period of its greatest power." J. P. Morgan, the man responsible for the success of the Morgan enterprise, came to rival Henry Huntington as one of the greatest collectors of artworks, rare books, and manuscripts in the United States. His son, J. P. Morgan, Jr., succeeded him at the bank and continued to add to his father's collection. The rare books and manuscripts amassed by the Morgans are now available to scholars and the general public at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City. Much of the art is there as well, though large...