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Posted by: Neely Tucker
Johnathan Larson and Leonard Bernstein had huge successes on Broadway, from "West Side Story" to "Rent." Their vibrant careers are preserved in the Library's Music Division, showcasing their generational talents.
Posted in: Film, LCM, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Since 1897 the Library's Main Reading Room has been the dazzling center of the Library's collections. Its circular design was inpsired by the British Museum Library, its art based on the classics of Western civiilization and its mission settled on fulfilling the American ideal of knowledge and education. Today, although much of the Library's collections have spread to other reading rooms and are available online, it is still a vibrant research center and the go-to tourist attraction for visitors.
Posted in: Architecture, Congressional Research Service, LCM, Library Work and Employees, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Novelists and storytellers have for centuries sketched maps of their fictional worlds -- or the real world where their fictional characters resided -- as a means of expanding their creations and deepening the sense of a new world for readers. The Library preserves dozens of famous examples, from first editions of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" to William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County.
Posted in: Geography and Map Division, Illustrated Books, LCM, Manuscripts, Maps, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
On the fourth anniversary of Stephen Sondheim's death, his friend and colleague Adam Guettel -- the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of “The Light in the Piazza,” “Floyd Collins” and “Days of Wine and Roses" -- writes a short piece about their friendship.
Posted in: LCM, Music, Performing Arts, Songwriters, Theater
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Maria Sibylla Merian, a 17th-century natural scientist, artist and engraver, gained lasting fame for her pioneering scientific illustration techniques, enabling her to bring a soft, delicate touch to her brilliantly shaded work.
Posted in: LCM, Library Work and Employees, Preservation, Preservation and Conservation, Researcher Stories, Science
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The papers of Jonathan Larson and Leonard Bernstein are among many of the Library's musical holdings that have been used extensively by composers, actors and musicians in producing works on Broadway and in Hollywood. Lin-Manuel Miranda drew on Larson's papers for his production of "tick...tick...BOOM!" and the creative team behind the Bernstein documentary "Bernstein's Wall" and the feature film "Maestro" used Library collections for their works.
Posted in: Alexander Hamilton, LCM, Library Work and Employees, Music, Performing Arts, Researcher Stories, Theater
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The complete Stephen Sondheim collection is now at the Library, opening much of the maestro's legendary career to fans and researchers. It's treasure trove built over the past 30 years, featuring some 15,000 albums and more than 5,000 manuscripts, music and lyric sketches and other items documenting his creative process, all spelled out in Sondheim’s clear, careful hand.
Posted in: LCM, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
You thought no one edits Shakespeare? Actually, they did. All the time. The Rare Book and Special Collections Division holds seven printings of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that include scenes being cut out entirely, characters' roles being reduced and even an added conversation between Romeo and Juliet in the play’s final scene (he lives just a wee bit longer in this version). These alterations over the centuries challenge our contemporary reverence for Shakespeare as an untouchable genius.
Posted in: LCM, Performing Arts, Theater, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The photographer John Margolies chronicled the weird and wonderful ways American businesses advertised themselves along the nation's roadways in the latter half of the 20th century. He felt dinosaur-shaped gas stations and a giant gunslinging shrimp advertising a restaurant weren't just roadside kitsch but a genuine expression of the national identity. The Library preserves more than 11,000 of his images.
Posted in: Architecture, Collections, LCM, Photos