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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
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
Teaching French in the early days of the United States of America.
Posted in: European Reading Room
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
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
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
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
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
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
(The following is a post by Lucia Wolf, reference librarian for Italy, European Division.) Although Italy has a long history of celebrated female authors, women’s writing in that country really began to flourish in the 19th century, thanks to the proliferation of journals that provided public forums for women to express themselves. The Library of …
Posted in: European Reading Room
Posted by: Taru Spiegel
(The following is a post by Taru Spiegel, reference specialist, European Division.) During his lifetime, and for quite some time after that, the legendary French politician and diplomat, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838), was a much-discussed, controversial figure both at home and abroad. He managed to survive, and significantly influence, conflicting trends during the French Revolution …
Posted in: European Reading Room