The following publications are currently available in major bookstores and through the Library's Sales Shops, Washington DC 20540-4985 (credit card orders taken at 202-707-0204):
- America's Library: The Story of the Library of Congress, 1800-2000, by James Conaway. Yale University Press, 256 pages, hardbound, 151 illustrations, 73 in color, $39.95; www.yale.edu/yup
- Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty, Viking Studio, 182 pages, hardbound, 150 illustrations, mostly in color, $35
- The Library of Congress: An Architectural Alphabet, Pomegranate Communications, 64 pages, hardbound, 29 color photographs, 26 historic letters in color, $17.95; store.yahoo.com/pomegranate/a518.html Available summer 2000 in major bookstores, Library's Sales Shops (202-707-0204) and the Antique Collectors' Club (800-252-5231):
- The Nation's Library: The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., by Alan Bisbort and Linda Barrett Osborne. Scala Publishers, 160 pages, softcover, 140 illustrations, mostly in color, $16.95.
To mark the Library's 200th anniversary, five new publications will celebrate the past and illustrate the present at the nation's oldest federal cultural institution.
"In developing our list of publications for the Bicentennial year, we decided to take a tip from poet Archibald MacLeish, who served as Librarian of Congress from 1939 to 1944," said W. Ralph Eubanks, the Library's Director of Publishing. "In reference to the Library's 1941 Annual Report, MacLeish stated his intention of revealing 'the Library in action — not what it possesses only, but what it does with what it possesses.' To that end, we will publish five books that not only illuminate the history and collections of the Library of Congress, but also show the Library at work."
America's Library: The Story of the Library of Congress, 1800-2000 is the first full narrative of the institution since the 1947 publication of The Story Up to Now: The Library of Congress 1800-1946 by David C. Mearns. Written by James Conaway and published in April by Yale University Press, America's Library recounts how the Library of Congress, which began in 1800 with the primary mission of serving the U.S. Congress, has evolved into the world's largest repository of knowledge. During the past two centuries, the collections have grown from 740 volumes and three maps to nearly 119 million books, maps, manuscripts, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings and digital materials in some 460 languages.
This lively account of the Library of Congress is filled with an immense cast of characters ranging from presidents, poets and members of Congress to collectors, artists, curators and eccentrics. America's Library is the story of how the men and women within the walls of this great institution collect, preserve and make useful the heritage it holds. Central to this story are the experiences of the 13 men who have been appointed by presidents to lead the Library of Congress, each confronting great political and intellectual challenges in the United States during the past 200 years.
Thomas Jefferson, a central figure in the history of the Library as well as the nation, is the subject of another Bicentennial publication. Published in April by Viking Studio, Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty pays homage to the man whose personal library became the seed from which the nation's library grew after the original collection of 3,000 volumes was burned by the British in 1814. The wide range of his interests determined the universal and diverse nature of the Library's collections and services.
Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty is the companion volume to the Library's premier Bicentennial exhibition on Thomas Jefferson (see page 86), which will be on view in the Northwest Gallery and Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building from April 24 through Oct. 31. The exhibition is also accessible on the Library's Web site (www.loc.gov), along with 25,000 items from the Library's Jefferson Papers.
The book's spirited narrative, illuminated by Jefferson's own words, weaves back and forth between Jefferson's public career — delegate to the Continental Congress, author of the Declaration of Independence and other calls to liberty, governor of Virginia, minister to France, secretary of state, the nation's third president, and founder of the University of Virginia — and his personal life at Monticello. Illustrated with more than 150 examples of rare and historically important documents from the Library's collections, the book studies the conflicts between Jefferson's public ideals, the political realities he faced and his private life. Touching upon such controversial topics as his relationship with slave Sally Hemings, this book offers no single view of Jefferson but rather explores the life of a complex man whose views influenced every major political event in this country's formative years.
Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty also includes an introduction by historian Garry Wills and essays by prominent scholars Joseph J. Ellis, Annette Gordon-Reed, Pauline Maier, Charles A. Miller and Peter S. Onuf.
The Library's first guidebook in more than 10 years will be published this summer in cooperation with Scala Publishers. The Nation's Library: The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., by Alan Bisbort and Linda Barrett Osborne, presents a brief history of the institution; magnificent interior and exterior views of the Jefferson, Adams and Madison buildings; and representative treasures from the collections. This guidebook describes the Library's variety of services to Congress, other libraries and the nation, including distribution of cataloging data; technology for blind readers; copyright registration; exhibitions, concerts, poetry readings and other public events; promotion of literacy; and efforts to make its storehouse of knowledge accessible on the Internet. The guide also contains keys to conducting research — in person and online — at the world's largest research library.
Completed in 1897, the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building is one of the country's great architectural treasures. Published in April by Pomegranate Communications, The Library of Congress: An Architectural Alphabet opens doors into many of the extraordinary spaces and features that rest within the 600,000 square feet enclosed by the building's historic walls. The book offers an illustrated tour of the Library's art, architecture and sculpture, created by some 50 artists and artisans. From A (for arch) to Z (for zigzag), it explores the Jefferson Building's unusual architectural details — egg-and-dart molding, helixes, jambs, pilasters, quoins, spandrels, tripods, vaults and even an X-motif printer's mark. Illustrations and descriptions are joined by a colorful alphabet drawn from the Library's collection of rare books and manuscripts. Visitors must allot many hours to see all of this landmark's 409,000 cubic feet of granite, 22 million red bricks, 500,000 enameled bricks, 2,165 windows and 15 varieties of marble. Compact in a 9-by-9-inch format, the Architectural Alphabet is a wonderful place to start.
The Library's final Bicentennial publication, to be published in 2001, is tentatively titled Encyclopedia of the Library of Congress and will include 150 entries on various aspects of the Library's multifaceted programs; details about its history, collections and administration; and the key people who shaped the institution. With numerous illustrations and a preface by the Librarian of Congress, the Encyclopedia will also include 15 in-depth articles about various facets of the institution.
