Library of Congress Blog
“Light and liberty go together.”

Comic Book Guy of “The Simpsons” has been known to have a cardiac episode or two. But an acquisition the Library of Congress just made might give his heart its “worst episode ever.” (Apologies for borrowing the pun from that particular “episode.”)

“Spider-senses” all around the Library were set tingling when we learned that the Library had just acquired 24 pages of original 1962 drawings from “Amazing Fantasy #15,” which marked the first time the world’s most famous web-slinger, Spider-Man, would appear in print anywhere. The Spider-Man origin story in “Amazing Fantasy” was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; the pages are Ditko originals, complete with pencil erasures and white-out opaquing fluid.

The acquisition came to the Library within the past few weeks, thanks to an anonymous donor. (News had already begun leaking out — where else — in the blogosphere.)

A couple of colleagues and I got the opportunity yesterday afternoon the see the pages in person. (Don’t worry, we made sure to keep our drool far away from the art.) They do indeed appear to be in very good condition, especially considering their age. The Library’s Prints and Photographs Division (P&P) provided me with a scan of one of the pages and a detail section, which you’ll see here at right. (They are, in actuality, even a bit less yellow than the scans appear.)

I also snapped a few pictures as Helena Zinkham, acting chief of P&P, carefully splayed some of them out for us on a table. In one of the shots of the very first page, you get a clear sense of some of the areas where white-out was applied. The “SPIDER-MAN” title balloon in the banner is literally stuck onto the page.

People who are more familiar with Amazing Fantasy #15 than I are probably not surprised by this fact, but I got a good chuckle from the disclaimer that appeared at the top of the first page (pictured at left). It almost seems to be begging skeptical readers to give Spider-Man a chance, completely unaware of the phenomenon that was about to be unleashed on the world.

The excessively exclamatory paragraph reads: “Like costume heroes? Confidentially, we in the comic mag business refer to them as ‘long underwear characters’! And, as you know, they’re a dime a dozen! But, we think you may find our SPIDERMAN just a bit … different!”

Most sentient beings are already aware that Marvel’s Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes ever, spawning several comic-book series, graphic novels, television series, video games, toys, a blockbuster movie franchise, and adding phrases to our popular lexicon such as “true believers” and “your friendly neighborhood (fill-in-the-blank).”

The pages will be digitized within the next few weeks, although access to the images will likely be restricted to on-site use at the Library (copyright restrictions and such). The pages themselves are available to researchers with a valid reader-identification card by appointment only.

Our full news release can be found here.

I never try to guess where an editor will place a story, but I hear a rumor that J. Jonah Jameson will be giving this front-page treatment.

Tags: spider-man, spiderman, comics, comic books, superheroes, marvel, marvel comics, marvel entertainment, marvel enterprises, stan lee, steve ditko

My, how time flies.

If I weren’t back on Atkins, I might be tempted to track down a cupcake and a birthday candle, because today is the first anniversary of this blog. (It is also, not coincidentally, the 208th birthday of the Library of Congress, a milestone this blog itself will not reach until the year 2215, long after the entire Internet has been downloaded onto nanobots and injected into our bloodstreams. Assuming, of course, that our new nanobot overlords still indeed call it the “Internet.”)

I don’t really have anything particularly profound to say about it, but when has that ever stopped a blogger?

Here is a short list of observations, lessons learned, and potential new directions:

1 ) The past year has been an incredibly fun voyage. I have treasured the interaction, the ability to communicate in ways that more traditional mechanisms don’t really permit, telling a few interesting stories you might not otherwise read about, and the thought that I have been able even in a small measure to stoke people’s interest in the Library of Congress.

2 ) You comment-spammers are persistent!

3 ) When we launched, there were fewer than 10 federal blogs, and we were — as far as I know — the first truly institution-wide blog among federal agencies. As of today, that list has more than tripled to at least 31. Even if it all ends tomorrow, it’s a distinction of which I’ll always be proud.

I’m also humbled that we have been able to provide many of our sister agencies (at least a dozen, I’m sure, but I’ve lost count) with guidance and advice as they wade into their own blogospheric waters. (Michelle Springer in our OSI Web Services Division deserves much of the credit here.) If being among the first has helped others to follow, I think that in itself is a pretty nice legacy to have.

4 ) I danced a little happy dance when we cracked the Technorati Top 10,000. We have basically a single post to thank for that. We were wallowing well into the 40,000s before that.

5 ) I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with some folks internally to help plot a course for future improvements. Maybe I’ll bring low-carb cheesecake.

First and foremost will involve upgrading to the latest version of WordPress, but we want to look beyond the merely technical. (And yes, I’d like to fix a lot of those glitchy punctuation issues that seem to pop up on old posts. I’m told it’s a javascript something-or-other, but I don’t know what coffee has to do with anything.)

6 ) It’s taken longer than expected, but I still anticipate that this blog will leave “pilot” status and achieve formal recognition. This is probably more federalese than you’re interested in, but getting a policy in place also holds the door open to additional blogs sprouting up around the Library. Some of my colleagues are coming to me with great ideas, and I have to confess that I can’t wait to become an avid reader of other Library blogs. Frankly, my own writing bores me to tears — but thanks for sticking with me anyway.

7 ) Every day that I do not have time to post, I am wracked with horrible guilt. My various other duties come first, duties which are very much not in pilot status, but I know that regularity and compelling content build readership and a sense of community. I am very interested in building on what we started a year ago. Perhaps it’s time to make another run at wheedling some of my colleagues into co-author status. (I have to admit to being a wee bit jealous of other federal blogs with multiple contributors, although I am fortunate to have wonderful ideas and draft language that are often sent to me by colleagues.)

8 ) And finally, if the nanobots are reading this, I hope that they keep this blog — or whatever its successor ends up being — up and running. Access to knowledge is at the core of our mission, something I am confident will remain true long after I and everyone I work with today are long gone.

Meanwhile, we continue to take additional steps into Web 2.0. I anticipate that you’ll soon start to see a lot more video content from the Library in a lot more places, and much better stuff than my own interim slap-dash efforts. (What’s the deal with my “Brary of Ongress” avatar?!)

We’re talking about expanding on social-networking in meaningful ways. For instance, we’d really like to find a way to allow people to share their myLOC collections beyond just the typical “send a postcard” links, which are admittedly a little last century. Also, I’ve been dabbling in Twitter a bit in my spare time. I’m still intimidated by the thought of having “another beast to feed,” but I have to admit that I do like the concept.

We have a lot of whip-smart people around here with a lot of ambitious ideas. Resources and time permitting, I hope to help them realize as many of those goals as we can.

What do you think would improve this blog? Where would you like to see the Library go next in Web 2.0?

(Image of very old computer from the PPOC.)

Tags: blogs, bloggers, web 2.0, web2.0, library of congress, libraryofcongress, bloggiversary, bloggiversaries

I appreciate all of the email feedback I get, both the positive and, yes, even the negative constructive criticism.

I got an email yesterday, however, that was too good not to share it in its entirety, with the author’s permission. And I swear we didn’t pay him to write this:

I just visited the Library of Congress for the first time yesterday [April 21]. It was pouring rain, and I went in through the Madison building to get my Researcher card and came to the Jefferson building through the tunnel. I took care of my business at the Folklife Center, then wandered around to the front from the rear corridors, so I wasn’t ready for the full impact of the front part of the building.

I have traveled a bit - not as much as I’d like, but a bit - and I’ve seen some beautiful things. I’ve never been stunned by the sheer beauty of a place like that in my life. Aside from my son being born and my wife on our wedding day, I have never been moved like that by sheer, stunning beauty.

If it’s possible to fall in love with a building, I may have.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to actually work there. Could a person spend day after day surrounded by so much grace and beauty and not be changed in some subtle, fundamental way? Would it make you more awake to the beauty around you or would it raise your expectations so much that everything would start to feel washed out and empty?

The exhibitions were startlingly well done, too, by the way. I was struck by how sensitively they’d been put together. The Constitution exhibit didn’t shy away from how some people had been failed by our Constitution. (I loved the Native American woman in the AV display describing her contempt for it.) I love that to get to the 16th Century maps, you walked through a really well put together exhibit of Mezoamerican culture. (I particularly liked the description of the extent of the Inca Empire). I loved the touchscreen technology on the monitors scattered around throughout the public area of the building.

The one impression that stays with me is that of the staircase leading up from the tunnel. You come out of a very functional, utilitarian tunnel into a staircase that is very 1920s/30s and as you walk up the marble steps, you feel just the slightest bit off-balance because each step has been worn down by a century or so of people walking on them. There is a feeling of continuity in that which really inspires me.

As I proof-read this letter, I am astonished by the number of times I’ve used the word “love”. I’m a grumpy, curmudgeonly person by nature. I don’t throw the word “love” around casually. Obviously the Library has touched me in some important way.

Thank you.

John Fladd
New Boston, NH
www.almostgruntled.com

Tags: thomas jefferson building, library of congress, libraryofcongress, architecture, history, dc, washingtondc, washington dc, tourism, travel

There are probably few people about whom more words have been written than Adolf Hitler. But today the Library of Congress has helped add to the visual dimension surrounding one of the most reviled figures in history.

You might have seen news a couple of weeks ago about a painting in Britain’s National Gallery. The Gallery announced that the 1525 painting “Cupid Complaining to Venus,” by Lucas Cranach the Elder, was once part of Hitler’s private collection. And the Library provided the proof.

The Library’s Prints and Photographs Division (P&P) supplied the National Gallery with a copy of a photo of the Cranach oil-on-wood painting contained in an album called “The Private Gallery of Adolf Hitler.” The photos in the album depict 74 paintings and two tapestries in Hitler’s private art collection.

The album is one of nearly 2,000 items included in the Library’s Third Reich Collection, which is housed in both the Prints and Photographs and the Rare Books and Special Collections divisions. The total number of photo albums in the collection is 548.

Today P&P posted online images from the entire album, known by its German title “Katalog der Privat-Gallerie Adolf Hitlers,” here. (Go to page 58 to see the Cranach image in question, which is also reproduced at right.)

The National Gallery knew the photo of the painting existed, thanks to researcher Dr. Birgit Schwartz, who had been studying Hitler’s art collecting and spotted the painting’s photo at the Library. After getting the tip from Schwartz, the National Gallery approached the Library.

Archivist Alan Crookham corresponded via e-mail with P&P reference assistant Kristi Finefield. She tracked down the album, found the photo and confirmed with Crookham that the images matched. Finefield then photographed the photo and sent it off to the National Gallery.

Thanks to the excellent reference service from the Library, not to mention the value of visual collections, the National Gallery was able to announce the fascinating history of its painting. And now the entire album is online for the world to see.

For more information on the Third Reich Collection, visit this link.

(Thanks to Donna Urschel for help writing this post)

Tags: hitler, adolf hitler, germany, nazis, world war ii, wwii, third reich, art, paintings

If you traveled to Washington, D.C., and had time to see just one attraction, what would it be? The Capitol? The White House? Maybe the National Mall?

On Saturday, noted historian David McCullough, who was inducted as a “Living Legend,” said that our new exhibition “Creating the United States” — part of the new Library of Congress Experience — was tops on his list. The exact quote:

“I saw yesterday an exhibition which every American ought to see: ‘Creating the U.S.’ If visitors to this, our capital city, whether they’re from our own country or from abroad, were to see only one exhibition, one building, one place during their visit, seeing ‘Creating the U.S.’ would be the one to see.”

I shot some admittedly amateurish video at our April 12 grand opening festivities for the Experience, and I thought McCullough’s speech was what I just had to share first. (Sorry for the silhouette effect, though.) Hopefully, time permitting, more will follow.

UPDATE: A transcript of his full remarks follows the jump.

Tomorrow we’re having a party. Maybe you’ve heard.

The Library of Congress is throwing open its bronze doors to the public for the first time since 1990 to celebrate the new Library of Congress Experience, a project for which I have run out of superlatives, so I will leave the descriptions to sources of less bias. (Those doors, entering directly into the spectacular Great Hall, will now be the main entrance to the Thomas Jefferson Building from the outside.)

We are celebrating Congress’s Library—everything that Congress has done to sustain this institution for 208 years, including not just financial support, but also the decision by the Congress to make the Library of Congress the nation’s copyright repository.

But there was also a singular act of Congress dating back nearly 200 years, a matter of some controversy at the time, that would forever change the course of the Library of Congress and our collecting philosophy. That is to say, after the British used the contents of the original Library to burn the Capitol in 1814, Congress the following year purchased the 6,487-volume personal library of Thomas Jefferson, which “recommenced” the Library and helped establish the “universal” nature of our collections.

This Sunday is Jefferson’s 265th birthday, but tomorrow his original Library goes back on display in stunning fashion in the building that bears his name, one important aspect of an Experience our visitors will never forget.

The Washington Post today ran a great story (front page!) about Thomas Jefferson’s library, and our own staff newsletter, The Library of Congress Gazette, examined the story behind Thomas Jefferson’s library in even greater detail, which I have reproduced in full after the jump, led by our crackerjack editor, Gail Fineberg.

One aspect of the story I’d like to underscore because of the viral nature of the Web: The Library, in a project funded by Jerry and Gene Jones, has spent several years reconstructing Jefferson’s library, roughly two-thirds of which perished in 1851 in yet another fire. We need to replace only about 300 of the 6,487 original titles, so insofar as this can be considered a plea to the rare-book blogosphere, well, that’s on the table.

Read More

We held a media event today to show off the new Library of Congress Experience (opening April 12!), and we were fortunate to be joined by teacher Amy Trenkle, who spoke about the power of the Library’s educational materials, and many of her students from Stuart-Hobson Middle School here in DC (thanks, Amy!), along with several students from Herndon (Va.) Middle School.

Photographer John Harrington sent me a couple of images with captions, which I thought I would share here. (The files linked from the thumbnails are about 500kb and 800kb, respectively.)

Caption: Librarian of Congress Dr. James Billington announces the opening of the new Library of Congress Experience exhibits during a press conference Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Library’s new immersive Experience opens Saturday, April 12, 2008 to the general public, offering visitors unique historical and cultural treasures brought to life through cutting-edge interactive technology and a companion website, myLOC.gov.

Caption: During a preview of the new Library of Congress Experience, (left to right) Jasjeet Singh, Thomas Huang, Ariana Lauer, and Emily Beacham, from Herndon Middle School in Herndon, Va., look on as Librarian of Congress Dr. James Billington and Cynthia Wayne of the Library;s Interpretive Programs Office demonstrate the Library’s new interactive exhibits, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Library’s new immersive Experience opens Saturday, April 12, 2008 to the general public, offering visitors unique historical and cultural treasures brought to life through cutting-edge interactive technology and a companion website, myLOC.gov.

Tags: education, students, learning, knowledge, computers, technology, exhibits, library of congress, history, museums

As part of our new Library of Congress Experience, the Library has been updating a lot of our materials and signage around our Capitol Hill complex. If our renovation in 1997 was a facelift for the Thomas Jefferson Building, then maybe we’ll call this a touch of Botox.

Some of the most noticeable changes include tall, beautiful exhibition banners in front and around the Thomas Jefferson Building.

There are also about a dozen wayfinding “pylons” scattered around our property, which have also been updated from a basic blue-and-white look to incorporate some gorgeous imagery from the Library, our new logo (yes, we have a new logo!), and some information about the new Experience. Pylons around the Thomas Jefferson Building are being updated first, with the Madison and Adams buildings to follow.

I included a single photo here, but if you want to see more, I put up a full slideshow on Flickr, here.

In one of the shots, you’ll notice a pair of what appears to be tourists or convention-goers (they had matching nylon bags with a big logo on the side) inspecting a pylon. It was kind of fascinating: They were walking around the pylon in circles, bending down, moving up closer to look at details.

I knew they were attractive signs, but I had no idea they would stop pedestrians in their tracks!

Tags: library of congress, dc, washington dc, library of congress experience, exhibits, tourism, travel

If you haven’t seen, we have just released details of our April 12 public festivities launching the wonderful, new Library of Congress Experience.

You can read all about it here and, as always, keep up to date on all aspects of the Experience here.

Tags: library of congress, thomas jefferson, thomas jefferson building, exhibits, artifacts, museums, travel, tourism, art, architecture

In the PR biz, there is what is known as “earned” media — the kind where you work the phones and email in order to interest a reporter into covering your story. And then there is paid media, which, of course, are generally in the form of advertisements. Every once in a while, however, the two collide, in which the ads themselves become newsworthy, a combination that is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of marketing.

Such was the felicitous case yesterday for the Library of Congress on the front page of the Metro section of The Washington Post.

In support of our new Library of Congress Experience, opening April 12, we purchased a number of ads (all with private funds), with a heavy emphasis on the Metro system. We know that once people are in DC and they learn about what we’re all about, they are much more prone to visit.

The Post did a larger story about Metro’s new, “less staid” advertising approaches, giving our paid campaign a tremendous “earned” boost in the process. The story is here, and the print version featured not one, not two, but three gorgeous photos of Library ads.

The campaign concept is fairly simple: We use images of four historical figures (Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Jackie Robinson and Marilyn Monroe), except that the images are composed entirely from fingerprints. The ad copy talks about how those individuals and many more across history and culture are represented in our collections — in the case of the more modern-day celebrities, perhaps in ways people weren’t aware of.

And then to emphasize the new interactive way in which our collections and exhibitions are being brought to life, we use the phrase “At Your Fingertips,” preceded by a word linked to each person: “Imagination” for Jefferson, “Integrity” for Lincoln,” “Courage” for Robinson and “Fame” for Monroe. The ad copy ends with the tagline: “Explore. Discover. Be inspired.”

On a related matter, the sneak preview video that I posted late on Friday is now almost laughably dated. I shot it a week ago today, and I was just in the Jefferson Building this morning. The progress even in the last seven days is dazzling. If I didn’t have “real” work to do, I’d probably go over and spend a few captivating hours of my day.

Hopefully all of the Library fans out there will consider doing just that, on or after April 12.

Tags: ads, library of congress, libraries, advertisements, advertising, thomas jefferson, abraham lincoln, jackie robinson, marilyn monroe