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Posted by: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by digital library specialist Elizabeth Gettins. September is traditionally known as the month that all children return to school after summer vacation. To mark this tradition, the Rare Book and Special Collection Division’s book(s) of the month are two hornbooks: a wood hornbook and an ivory hornbook. Today’s children would likely …
Posted in: Books, Literacy, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by Abby Yochelson, a reference specialist in the Main Reading Room. Career guidance takes many paths. In the 1970s, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings sang this advice from an Ed and Patsy Bruce song: Mamas’ don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys Don’t let ’em pick …
Posted in: Books, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by digital library specialist Elizabeth Gettins. It is always interesting to examine how a particular book came to publication with a look toward the cast of characters involved as well as the influences of place. The rare book I am highlighting this month is “Olney Hymns,” written by an English …
Posted in: Collections, Music, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
(This is a guest post by Elizabeth Gettins of the Library’s Digital Conversion Team.) This month’s rare book honors William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, born Feb. 23, 1868. It features one of his most beloved creations, The Brownies’ Book, a serial published in 1920 and 1921. It is digitally presented here—22 back-to-back chronological issues. …
Posted in: Education, History, LC Web site, Pinterest, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Erin Allen
(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 …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Curators, History, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Erin Allen
(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 …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Curators, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Erin Allen
(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 …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Books, Collections, Curators, History, Manuscripts, Music, Poetry, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Erin Allen
(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 …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Curators, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Erin Allen
(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 …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Curators, Rare Book of the Month