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Posted by: Neely Tucker
David Breger, a successful freelance cartoonist, drafted into the Army in 1941, created the "Private Breger" cartoon during his off-duty hours at Camp Livingston. Once it caught on, the name (but little else) was changed to "G.I. Joe." From there, it became a cultural icon.
Posted in: Comics, LCM, World War II
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
The Library's concert producer Michele Glymph helps bring music to the masses, producing concerts by some of the biggest names in popular music: Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Shirley Caesar, Billy Joel and Gloria and Emilio Estefan.
Posted by: Neely Tucker
As college football bowl games give way to the NFL playoffs this time of year, the specter of Red Grange — the Galloping Ghost — who starred for the University of Illinois in the mid-1920s and brought respectability to the sketchy professional sport, lives on in photographs from the Library’s collections.
Posted in: Free to Use and Reuse, LCM
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Library offices abroad acquire hard-to-find material from developing countries around the world.
Posted in: LCM, Library Work and Employees
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Ch'onhado is a type of Korean quasi-cosmographical depiction that means "map of the world beneath the heavens." This colorful map is a gorgeous example of the form.
Posted in: Geography and Maps Division, LCM
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Clay tablets with an ancient writing system known as cuneiform are more than 4,000 years old, among the oldest items in the Library's collections.
Posted in: African and Middle Eastern Division, LCM
Posted by: Neely Tucker
China's colossal Yongle encyclopedia, published in the 15th century, comprised 22,937 hand-copied sections bound into 11,095 volumes. It was intended to comprise all knowledge available to Chinese civilizations.
Posted in: Asian Division, Books, LCM
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Library's collection of medieval manuscripts, many of them illustrated, show how the books were meant to be read and interacted with by readers of past centuries.
Posted in: LCM, Manuscripts, Rare Book and Special Collections
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