This is a blog about the famous "Necronomicon" and one of its main protagonists Abdul Alhazred. The Necronomicon and the characters upon which the story is originally based are all initially from the works of H.P. Lovecraft although other writers have adopted and adapted the tales themselves-perhaps most prominent among whom is Richard Chambers-in addition to many other versions of it that have appeared or are generally referenced in numerous horror movies and comics over the years.
In 2017, the Hebraic Section acquired a miniature Hebrew prayer-book of exceptional beauty and detail, handwritten and illustrated by one Joseph ben Meir Schmalkalden in Mainz, Germany in or around 1745. With its brightly painted images and exquisite detail, this miniature is one of the loveliest examples of a genre which enjoyed something of a renaissance in 18th century Central Europe. This blog places special emphasis on the life of the largely unknown artist who created this beautiful piece, and examines the connection between his signature and the rainbow with which he illuminated one of its pages.
The 11th Librarian of Congress L. Quincy Mumford was instrumental in the early development of the international collections at the Library of Congress.
This post is a personal reflection on a professional friendship that African Section librarian Eve M. Ferguson had with renowned bibliographer, Abdul Samed Bemath, who recently passed away after producing a third bibliography of the legendary African historian, the late Ali Al’Amin Mazrui, who was memorialized at the Library of Congress in December 2014. Eve Ferguson worked with Bemath to create a chapter in a book of tributes, A Giant Tree Has Fallen: Tributes to Ali Al’Amin Mazrui. Abdul Samed Bemath died in South Africa on July 31, 2020.
The African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress welcomes three Junior Fellows for their summer internships. They are: Chelsey Brown, Briana Gausland and August Kahn.
The Library of Congress African and Middle Eastern Division recently acquired a rare Gospel book printed in Rome in 1548 AD. It is the first printed edition of the New Testament in Geez, ግዕዝ (Ethiopic), the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopia.
In 1911, Jewish children in the Russian Empire woke up to find a Tom Thumb of their own, a Hebrew Tom Thumb of the greatest charm imaginable, and written, moreover, by that greatest of modern Hebrew poets, Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934). Bialik's "Etsba'oni" first appeared in the pages of Ha-Shahar [The Dawn], one of a growing number of Hebrew periodicals created specifically for children in the early decades of the 20th century, especially in Eastern Europe and Russia. The Library of Congress has an almost complete run of the periodical from its seven months of existence, covers included.
On the first day of May, International Workers’ Day, 2020, staff of the international collections divisions at the Library of Congress celebrate workers everywhere by sharing a tribute to workers who have engineered and implemented innovations like paper, movable print, video, internet, and crowd sourcing to make information sharing possible!
