J. Pierpont Morgan

PUBLICATION of this work was wisely deferred until Mr. Morgan’s figure had resumed its natural proportions in the public’s eye; he died twentyfive years ago. Readers who are surfeited with the highly-spiced commercial biography of our time will read it with relief and delight. Mr. Morgan was a conspicuous figure in his day and place, and in his own sphere of action he displayed great ability; yet one wonders how much there was in him or his achievements for the best reason and spirit of man to lay hold of and store up as a possession of permanent value. The book presents him precisely as he was; and the mere mode of presentation, employed as ably and faithfully as Mr. Satterlee employs it, is enough to make an extremely engaging narrative out of rather prosaic material. Engaging is quite the right word; engaging is precisely what the book is; it is so decent, so unpretending, unself-conscious, humorous, its dignity so affable. The book is immensely informed; halt a century hence it will be most valuable to the historian of Mr. Morgan’s period. It follows Mr. Morgan’s career closely, showing an excellent editorial sense in the matter of detail, and it says all that should be said about his more intimate relations with friends, family, associates in business. One takes leave of it with great satisfaction in having found a biography which is wholly objective.