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Category: National Book Festival

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

See it Now: Columbus’s Book of Privileges

Posted by: Erin Allen

On January 5, 1502, prior to his fourth and final voyage to America, Christopher Columbus gathered several judges and notaries in his home in Seville to authorize the authentic copies of his archival collection of original documents through which Queen Isabella of Castille and her husband, King Ferdinand of Aragon, had granted titles, revenues, powers …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Poem Dedicated to Library Published as Children’s Book

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Guy Lamolinara, communications officer in the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.) Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins (2001-2003), creator of the Library’s Poetry 180 website, has just published his first illustrated children’s book with artist Karen Romagna. The book features Collins’ poem “Voyage,” which …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Library in the News: August 2014 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

In August, the Library of Congress was busy with exhibitions and expositions, opening “American Ballet Theatre: Touring the Globe for 75 Years” on Aug. 14 and hosting the 14th annual National Book Festival on Aug. 30. “At the company’s heart was ballet theater, a physical way of creating a new world onstage,” wrote Sarah Kaufman …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pics of the Week: 2014 National Book Festival

Posted by: Erin Allen

Now in its 14th year, the Library of Congress National Book Festival welcomed book lovers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center — a new venue for this year — on Saturday. More than 100 authors, poets and illustrators were featured throughout the day and evening, packing crowds into pavilions such as History & Biography, …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

The Last Word: E.L. Doctorow

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an article in the July-August 2014 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. Award-winning novelist E.L. Doctorow discusses the role of fiction and storytelling. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)  The story is the most ancient way of knowing. It preceded writing. It is the world’s first system for collecting …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Book Festival for the Bird(er)s

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

David Allen Sibley – yes, the author of the recently updated “Sibley Guide to Birds,” that indispensable handbook on all things feathered – will appear at this year’s National Book Festival, Saturday, August 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. In addition to this most highly respected ornithologist, we will also welcome Sally Satel, …