Summary

Chapter 1 takes place November 28, 1905, in Princeton, New Jersey. Belle da Costa Greene is going across campus to her job at the library. She is late but her mother, Genevieve, has taught her to never bring undue attention to herself, and a young lady running would cause people to look. She lives here, apart from her mother and siblings, and sends money home. She interacts briefly with a friend, realizing that this young woman does not need to be as careful as Belle about her everyday actions. She hates some aspects of society, including that Princeton is only for whites “when all the other Ivy League schools have admitted colored folks. But I would never voice aloud these views” (3). She thinks about her father, Richard, who instilled a love of books in Belle at an early age. She spends some time with Junius Morgan...