Russian Comic Books
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
The history of Russian-language comic books and graphic novels, and collecting them at the Library of Congress.
Posted in: European Reading Room
Category: European Reading Room
Will the Sami Languages Disappear?
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
(The following post is by Taru Spiegel, Reference Specialist, European Division) The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2019 to be the International Year of Indigenous Languages. These languages are being lost at a rapid rate, together with the cultures they represent. According to a UN assessment, about 40 percent of the estimated 6,700 …
Posted in: European Reading Room
The Rise and Fall of the Berlin Wall
Posted by: David Morris
A history of the Berlin Wall, why it was built and why it fell.
Posted in: European Reading Room
Teaching French at Harvard and “L’Abeille Françoise”
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
Teaching French in the early days of the United States of America.
Posted in: European Reading Room
A Handbook for 18th-Century Country Living: Andrei Bolotov’s “Ekonomicheskoi magazin” (Economic Storehouse)
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
(Guest post by Christine Ruane, Professor Emerita of History, University of Tulsa) Tucked away in the stacks of the Library of Congress’ Rare Book Division are 40 small, leather-bound volumes of an 18th-century Russian periodical entitled “Ekonomicheskoi magazin””(Economic storehouse). Each book consists of 400 pages of what was then the latest scientific advice on how …
Posted in: European Reading Room
Feminism and “Égalité”: France Makes Gender Equality a Global Cause
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
(The following is a post by Erika Hope Spencer, reference specialist, European Division.) July 14th (Le Quatorze Juillet) marks France’s National Holiday (La Fête Nationale), when the 1789 battle cry “Freedom, Equality, Fraternity!” (Liberté, égalité, fraternité) was enshrined in the French national tradition. Marianne, the visual symbol of the French Republic (la République) has been …
Posted in: European Reading Room
In Harmony Small Things Grow: The Elzevir Family of Publishers and Printers
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
As reference librarians, we work hard to connect researchers with the materials they need, or might not even know they need. However, every now and then we pause to contemplate the first printers and publishers, without whom our jobs possibly would not exist. Such contemplation is particularly easy to do in the Library of Congress’ …
Posted in: European Reading Room
The Three Musketeers and d’Artagnan Ride into the Public Domain—Again!
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
This year, a large number of well-known works entered the public domain, thanks to changes in copyright law over time. One of these books is a popular edition of “The Three Musketeers,” written by Alexandre Dumas (1802-70), translated into English by Philip Schuyler Allen (1871-1937), and illustrated by the well-known artist, Milo Winter (1888-1956). Earlier …
Posted in: European Reading Room
Albania’s National Hero, Scanderbeg: A Legendary Military Strategist
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
(The following is a post by Grant G. Harris, chief, and Taru Spiegel, reference specialist, European Division. Based on papers presented by Grant G. Harris in 2018.) As the Ottoman Empire expanded into Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, the religious differences between the Islamic Ottomans and the Christian Europeans, and shifting political alliances, made for …
Posted in: European Reading Room