Through new copublishing arrangements with trade publishers and new illustrated book series based on the Library's rich collections, Library of Congress publications are finding new audiences -- and winning more design awards.
"The Library's publications are beginning to have an important cumulative effect," said John Y. Cole, LC's acting director of publishing. "Our efforts have been reinforced by financial support from the Library's James Madison Council, the in-depth subject knowledge of LC staff specialists and the marketing and distribution talents of our partners in the private sector."
The Publishing Office is responsible for publishing -- or coordinating the publication of -- most of the Library's scholarly books, exhibition catalogs, collection guides and books and products aimed at a general audience. Publications are produced both through the Government Printing Office using appropriated and gift funds and increasingly, in partnership with commercial publishers.
In fiscal 1994, the office produced or coordinated the publication of more than 50 books, calendars and other products that described and illuminated the Library's collections.
Currently 14 cooperative agreements are in effect with major publishers including Alfred A. Knopf, Oxford University Press, Pomegranate Books and Calendars, and Fulcrum Publishing.
Many other agreements are in various stages of development or negotiation. Two of the Library's most successful publications in recent years, Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library & Renaissance Culture and Scrolls from the Dead Sea, were cooperative publications developed by the Publishing Office and produced, marketed and distributed by private sector partners. These volumes were based on Library exhibitions. Cooperative publications are available in bookstores around the nation and featured in the LC Sales Shop.
In 1994 the Library published 15 calendars covering subjects such as classical music, astronomical maps and the Civil War and eight posters with Pomegranate, using Library collections. The most recent publication is the blank book Of Heaven & Earth, developed in cooperation with the Huntington Library.
Fulcrum Publishing, a partner since 1990, produces the "Library of Congress Classics" series of illustrated books. The fourth and most recent book in the series is Prints of the West: Prints from the Library of Congress by Ron Tyler, which features collections from the Prints and Photographs, Rare Book and Special Collections, and Geography and Map divisions.
The other books are The First Americans: Photographs from the Library of Congress, with text by William H. Goetzmann; Gentle Conquest: The Botanical Discovery of North America with Illustrations from the Library of Congress, by James L. Reveal; and Mapping the Civil War, Featuring Rare Maps from the Library of Congress by Christopher Nelson.
Immigrants and Presidents by Martin W. Sandler are the latest in a series of books for young people published by HarperCollins and based on material drawn largely from the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. The first two books were Cowboys and Pioneers. Each volume is introduced by Dr. Billington.
Through an agreement with Applewood Books, the Library has developed the Library of Congress Centennial Bestseller series, facsimiles of books that were bestsellers 100 years ago. The first volume, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of Four, is introduced by Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole. The second in the series, Beautiful Joe, an autobiography by Marshall Saunders and a hallmark in the movement for humane treatment of animals, is introduced by Roger A. Caras, president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Each book includes a brief foreword by the Librarian.
Major forthcoming cooperative publications include books to accompany the current Library of Congress exhibition "Temple of Liberty" (Oxford University Press) and the forthcoming "Treasures of the BibliothŠque Nationale" exhibition (Yale University Press).
Another major publication will be both an exploration of American history and a celebration of the Library's visual arts collections, to be published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Two particularly useful and illuminating continuing series are:
Performing Arts, lively annual volumes featuring articles based on the Library's music, motion picture, broadcasting and drama collections, published since 1986.
The Library of Congress resource guides, surveys of Library-wide resources on particular topics that have been published since 1991. Titles so far: The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide to the Study of Black History and Culture, The Largest Event: A Library of Congress Resource Guide to the Study of World War II and Keys to the Encounter: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of the Age of Discovery.
A third series -- handsome illustrated guides to Library collections -- is supported by the Library's Madison Council, a private sector advisory body. The latest of four titles is Library of Congress European Collections: An Illustrated Guide.
Edited and with an introduction by former European Division Chief Michael H. Haltzel, it includes seven chapters and a researcher's guide written by European Division staff members with the assistance of people from other divisions whose collections are represented in the guide.
The seven chapters: "Humanities and Social Sciences"; "The Arts"; "Science and Technology"; "Special Collections"; "Rare Books and Manuscripts"; "Maps"; "European Americana" and "American Europeana" represent the major components of the Library's 8 million books and bound periodicals of European origin or pertaining to Europe.
Descriptions of collections of maps, photographs, manuscripts, music, motion pictures, posters and engravings are included. The 29 color and 19 black-and-white illustrations represent the scope of European cultures from the 13th century to the present in a variety of media, from frescoes to advertising posters.
The 80-page volume may be purchased at the Library of Congress Sales Shop, Washington, DC 20540-5240, (202) 707-0204 or from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402- 9328. The price is $9.50. Specify stock number S/N xxx-xxx-xxxxx-x when ordering from GPO.
The Madison Council also is supporting a series of books about the Library's history and buildings that will mark the centenary of the Jefferson Building in 1997 and the Library's bicentenary in the year 2000.
The latest is On These Walls: Inscriptions and Quotations in the Buildings of the Library of Congress by John Y. Cole. Aimed primarily at visitors, this is the first book to describe the quotations and inscriptions that decorate all three Library buildings; it contains six color and 27 black-and-white photographs and a detailed index and guide to names.
The book also contains brief histories of the Library itself and the Jefferson, Adams and Madison buildings. On These Walls, a 106- page book, may be purchased from the Library of Congress Sales Shop, Washington, DC 20540-5240; phone (202) 707-0204, or from the Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402- 9328. The price is $TK.K. Specify stock number S/N 030-001-00156-3 when ordering from GPO.
