They just popped off the racks back in the midcentury, those Dell mapbacks, the pulp paperback series with dramatic, cheesy covers and bright maps on the back. Guys, dames, gunshots, cops, killers, a little romance, a little naughtiness – they had it all, kid. The Library has a near complete collection of the 600 or so titles in the popular series, a beloved part of American 20th-century book publishing.
Edward Gorey, that bearded patron saint of the sad and whimsical, the strange and witty, would have turned 100 this year, and centennial celebrations are happening all year long. The Library preserves hundreds of his works, including rare and unique items, such as a tiny edition of ... "The Gashlycrumb Tinies."
If you were a well-born English lady in a 17th-century family, you might be just as likely to accessorize your satin gown with earrings or a fan as you would an elaborately embroidered prayer book. The Library preserves a customized 1641 Book of Psalms, a marvel not only for its diminutive size, but also for its remarkable condition and lavish decoration. At more than 380 years old, its golden threads remain unfrayed and its intricate swirls of tiny seed pearls — hundreds of them — are perfectly intact.
In 2015, when Pope Francis became the fourth pope to visit the U.S., he blessed a modern masterpiece of a Bible that was then donated in his honor to the Library. As the world mourns the pontiff, we wanted to share this beautiful artifact and remember that special moment. The pope’s time in the U.S. …
A family Bible in Washington, looted by a British soldier during the War of 1812 and kept in his family for generations, was eventually returned to the nation more than a century later. It is now preserved by the Library, an artifact of two nations of war and then in peace.
Edgar Allan Poe died 175 years ago today, on Oct. 7, 1849. Here, we revisit the first publication of his poetic masterpiece, "The Raven" and the tragic circumstances (his dying young wife) that led to him writing it.
Printed in Cambridge between 1660 and 1663, the Eliot Indian Bible today represents a landmark in printing history: It was translated into the Wampanoag language of the region’s Algonquin tribes and was the first Bible printed in North America in any language. In recent decades, the Wampanoag nation has used the Eliot Bible as a tool to help resurrect its ancestral language. The Library preserves a 1685 copy.
In 1812, Massachusetts Gov. Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a bill he didn't like, one the reordered some political districts into particularly odd shapes to favor one party. One contorted district looked like a huge salamander -- and the term "Gerrymander" was born. A political cartoon enshrined it into U.S. history.
In the late 1400s, Maestro Martino, a chef from Como, in Lombardy, created the first Italian cookbook, “Libro de arte coquinaria,” or “The Art of Cooking.” It is one of the featured exhibits in the Library's newly opened David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery.
