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Posted by: Neely Tucker
The 2021 National Book Festival will run online from Sept. 17-26, featuring more than 100 novelists, poets, non-fiction authors, chefs and lifestyle gurus.
Posted in: Books, Events, National Book Festival, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
In 1154, Arab Muslim geographer al-Idrisi, working at the behest of King Roger of Sicily, created a huge map of the known world. The map was more than 9 feet long and composed of 70 separate section maps. The Library preserves a 1928 recreation of this map.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM, Maps
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Abraham Lincoln, with little formal education, studied a popular textbook, "English Grammar in Familiar Lectures" on his own while in his 20s. Through it, he gained a mastery of the language that would give the nation some of its most enduring speeches.
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, U.S. Presidents, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Library's collection of art from the "golden age of travel posters" are copyright-free and can be downloaded and used for any purpose you like.
Posted in: Farm Security Administration Photographs, Free to Use and Reuse
Posted by: Neely Tucker
LeVar Burton, fresh from a hosting "Jeopardy," turns his attention to hosting a special edition of the Library's 2021 National Book Festival, a one-hour special on PBS that is studded with some of the world's brightest literary stars.
Posted in: Events, National Book Festival, News, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
George Yu is an award-winning luthier based in Louisville, Kentucky, who models his handcrafted violins on rare Italian instruments, including a 1654 Amati violin at the Library.
Posted in: Asian American, LGBTQ, Music, Researcher Stories
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The remarkable career of Marie Tharp, the cartographer and scientist who helped map the ocean's floor for the first time in history, is preserved in her papers at the Library. A pioneering female scientist of 20th century, her work help lay the groundwork for the modern understanding of continental drift and plate tectonics.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM, Maps, Women's History
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The ceramics created by ancient Maya potters make for some of the most vibrantly colored objects that survive in the archaeological record of the Americas. John Hessler, curator of the Library's Kislak collection, explains how their distinctive blue color has survived for centuries.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, Jay I. Kislak Collection, Library Work and Employees, Native Americans, Preservation and Conservation
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Glen Campbell's hit recording of "Wichita Lineman" is one of the inductees into the National Recording Registry. Here's how Campbell, songwriter Jimmy Webb and studio musicians put the song together.
Posted in: Music, National Recording Registry, Performing Arts