Benjamin Franklin Bache, grandson of Benjamin Franklin, disseminated his grandfather's and his own revolutionary principles through the materials he disseminated as a printer, especially his almanacs.
(The post is by intern Shelby Reidle, European Division) The Bernhard Tauchnitz firm was established in Leipzig, the German center of literature and book publishing, in 1837. The Tauchnitz “Collection of British Authors” debuted in 1842 with the novel “Pelham” by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Despite its name, the Collection included American works from the very …
(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 …
(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 …
(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 …
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’ …