Logo
LifestyleLifestyle
Alexander Hamilton, man of many facets.NYPL, Picture CollectionAlexander Hamilton, man of many facets.NYPL, Picture Collection

If you can’t get enough of “Hamilton,” the New York Public Library’s going to show you what you didn’t know about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hero — and he’s no Mr. Nice Guy.

“Alexander Hamilton: Striver, Statesman, Scoundrel” illuminates all three sides of the man through letters and more drawn from the library’s archives. Most visitors may skip the “statesman” part and zoom in on the “scoundrel,” like the pamphlet detailing his affair with Maria Reynolds, whose husband extorted Ham for hush money. In run-on, oddly capitalized sentences, like some half-literate Molly Bloom, Maria begs for Hamilton’s company: “Let me beg of you to Come and If you never see me again … I will submit to it.”

More damning are the documents showing his later, Trumpian stance against immigration.

But there are also letters attesting to Hamilton’s better side, and his wit. In one, he writes his sister-in-law about stepping down as secretary of the Treasury.

“What would become of my fame and glory?” he teases.

If only he could see himself now, on Broadway. That is, if he could afford the ticket.

Free. Through Dec. 31 at the NYPL, Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street; NYPL.org

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy