(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) This month, in honor of Mary Todd Lincoln’s birthday on December 13, we will depart from our literary theme and look at some of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division’s “special collections.” While these items are not …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) Halloween is upon us and what better time to recount some of the classic gothic stories by American writers? Henry James’ ghostly tale “The Turn of the Screw” (1898) and Washington Irving’s headless horseman from “The Legend of …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) This week, we not only celebrate the birthday of author Edgar Lee Masters (Aug. 23, 1868) but also observe the untimely death of Ann Rutledge (Aug. 25, 1835), who figured in his best-known work. Masters spent his childhood …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) When you think of the “Jungle Book,” what comes to mind first? For some, it is the classic 1967 Walt Disney movie; for others, the new 2016 Disney release. However, for many bibliophiles, there is no substitute for …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) “Billedbog” is a Danish word for picture book, and one lucky boy by the name of Jonas Drewsen was gifted this picture scrapbook by the very famous children’s author Hans Christian Andersen. This one-of-a-kind book is not the …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) This month, the Rare Book of the Month is not actually a book but objects from the special collections within the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we take a peek into the …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) You’ve heard of Jack Frost and most certainly St. Nicholas. But how about King Winter? “King Winter,” a rare German children’s book written by Gustav W. Seitz and published around 1859 in Hamburg, borrows from Germanic and Norse …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) It’s the time of year when one’s thoughts turn to hearth and home in preparation for Thanksgiving. In honor of this quintessential American holiday, “In the Kitchen,” by Elizabeth Smith Miller, is the Rare Book of the Month. …
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) Agrippa Von Nettesheim. Now that is a name with heft! This mouthful of a name is attached to a very interesting thinker who might be a good candidate for “father of Halloween.” He would fit right in with …