The original Library of Congress was just that: a library for Congress. In 1814 the British used the small number of books in this library to begin the fire at the Capitol, which destroyed it largely. Later, when Thomas Jefferson was having major financial problems, he offered his large library of books to the Congress, who paid him $23,000 for 6,500 volumes (about a quarter million dollars in today’s money).
In 1851 another fire destroyed 35,000 of the 55,000 volumes held, many of those being from Jefferson’s original library. Many were later replaced with the same vintage editions and are now on exhibit.
The new–and current–Library was planned in the late 1880s and finished in 1889. The outside is a mixture of classical architecture, with fountains reminiscent of those in Rome.
It’s a cathedral of learning, containing narratives of all types throughout the library in the form of sculpture, architecture, and painting. The little babies up the stair-rail speak of the different professions. Paintings speak of early man in the cave and how communication evolved. The main lobby contains the last book written by a German monk, and one of the mint condition Guttenburg Bibles. The main reading room–viewable in whole from the upper lobby–is amazing, encircled with key figures in literature and learning. It’s a heroic room.
This place is an amazing working library and an amazing piece of America that we all can share.
