Top of page
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Library recently acquired Spanish surrealist Joan Miro's "Makemono," a 32-foot scroll artwork created in collaboration with French lithographer Aime Maeght in Paris in 1956.
Posted in: Hispanic and Latino, Rare Book and Special Collections
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Ernest Shackleton, the famed polar explorer, was the first to print a book on the Antarctic continent. His "Aurora Australis," an anthology of writings by the crew and scientists during a 1907-1909 expedition, was printed in such dire conditions that the book covers were made from packing crates from the ship's pantry. Only 25 or so were made. The Library's copy has covers marked for "turtle soup" and "honey."
Posted in: Rare Book and Special Collections
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” had been an epic religious and literary work for 150 years when a publisher in Florence attempted to do something that had never been done — illustrate it in a printed book. The year was 1481. Gutenberg’s revolutionary printing press was just 26 years old. Nicolaus Laurentii took on the …
Posted in: Library Work and Employees, Poetry, Rare Book and Special Collections, Writers
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Lincoln’s original drafts of the Gettysburg Address, the diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, Walt Whitman’s notes for “Leaves of Grass,” the journals of Alexander Graham Bell documenting his invention of the telephone, Irving Berlin’s handwritten score for “God Bless America,” the papers of Rosa Parks, the diaries of Orville Wright chronicling the first powered flight — all were obtained by the Library via donation, gifts from citizens to the American public, making it truly an institution by and for the people.
Posted in: Civil War, Collections, Library Work and Employees, Rare Book and Special Collections
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The Library’s newest crowdsourcing campaign, American Creativity: Early Copyright Title Pages, is now online and ready for your amusement, education and transcription. It features the great (and not so great) ideas of yesteryear in copyright applications from 1790 to 1870, which recorded the young nation’s attempts to capitalize on the present and transform the future.
Posted in: By the People, Copyright, Rare Book and Special Collections
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
Venture Smith dictated his life story in 1798, making it the first slave narrative in the United States. The Library's original copy is extremely rare. Smith's story is also one of the very few narratives by enslaved people who could recount their early life in Africa.
Posted in: African American History, Rare Book and Special Collections, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The earliest known English-language work on magic was published in England in 1635, containing how-tos for many tricks, including an on-stage decapitation. It's the forerunner of the "saw the assistant in half" trick, performed for ages. The Library's copy of this influential book comes from the library of Harry Houdini, the master magician and escape artist of the early 20th century, who donated his collection to the Library.
Posted in: Performing Arts, Rare Book and Special Collections
Posted by: Neely Tucker
A 529-year-old Jewish religious text is discovered in the Library's collections, just in time for Eric Lander, the new director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, to use it in his swearing-in ceremony.
Posted in: Jewish American History, Rare Book and Special Collections