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.
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.
