Top of page

Archive: 2014 (28 Posts)

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Bas-Relief of The Merchant of Venice – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Donna Sokol

In honor of National Poetry Month and the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, today’s Pic of the Week takes a look at a bas-relief that adorns the Folger Shakespeare Library (which is just a few steps away from the Library of Congress buildings). The bas-relief shows the court scene from The Merchant of Venice (Act 4, Scene I).  Portia, the play’s heroine, …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Literature and Law

Posted by: Donna Sokol

This is a guest post by Jennifer Davis, a supervisory collection specialist in our Collection Services Division at the Law Library of Congress. Hurrying to work in the morning is a good time to think of to-do lists, song lyrics and snatches of poetry. Like most DC workers, I have been lucky enough to hustle …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

The Nation’s Capital in Spring – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Donna Sokol

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom.  Congress is busy with budget hearings.  All vehicles – no matter what color they were originally painted – are now yellow with pollen.  It is spring in the nation’s capital. For the beauty of our immediate surroundings here on Capitol Hill, we must thank Frederick Law Olmsted (how can …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Tribute to Robert Gee

Posted by: Donna Sokol

The Library of Congress held a celebration of life ceremony yesterday for a former colleague who recently passed away. Robert “Bob” Gee, who most recently was a special assistant to the Associate Librarian of Congress, died on March 12 after a short battle with cancer.  He was surrounded by family at his home in Washington, D.C.  Bob was born …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Works by Leon Battista Alberti – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Donna Sokol

  A humanist and generally recognized as an uomo universal [“Renaissance man”], Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) is known for his works in painting, sculpture, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, music, physics, philosophy, and cryptography.  The writing of the mysterious Hypnerotomachia Poliphili has even been attributed to him.  The Law Library recently acquired a compilation of his lesser-known works, simply titled …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

And Then There Were Three – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Donna Sokol

Since its beginnings in the Capitol in 1800, the Library of Congress’ recurrent theme has been that, as acquisitions outpaced storage, the need for additional buildings became evident.  A series of acts passed by Congress and signed into law by at least six different presidents gave us our current campus on Capitol Hill. As early as …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Magna Carta is Coming to the Library of Congress

Posted by: Donna Sokol

Today, the Library of Congress announced officially that Magna Carta is coming to the Library!  Lincoln Cathedral in Lincoln, England, is loaning the Library its exemplification of a 1215 King John Magna Carta.  The historical document will be part of the exhibition, Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor, which opens November 6, 2014 and continues through January 19, …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Foreign and International Legal Research Guides – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Donna Sokol

  Happy Friday!  We’ve updated the links of our legal research guides for fourteen foreign jurisdictions.  These research guides provide a one-stop primer on the legal systems of foreign countries by providing links to reference sources, compilations, citations guides, periodicals (indexes and databases), dictionaries, web resources, free public web sites, subscription-based services, subject-specific web sites, and country overviews.  The …