Library of Congress's Blog, page 120

On The Twelfth Night of Christmas

 

Design drawing for stained glass window showing The Epiphany, by J. & R. Lamb Studios. Prints and Photographs Division.

Just when you thought the holiday season was over, Carnival Season is excitedly waiting at its heels. I admit, my Christmas Tree and other decorations are still up, not only because I am a tad lazy when it comes to taking them down but also because traditionally they should be taken down on Twelfth Night. Depending on which faith, it’s either January 5 or January 6. The holiday is so called because traditionally, Christmas was a 12- day celebration, beginning on December 25. The confusion lies in whether you start counting on or after Christmas.

Concluding the 12 days of Christmas is Epiphany, or the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the world and the coming of the Magi, which is officially January 6. Many in my original neck of the woods also mark this as King’s Day, not only for religious purposes but for the start of Mardi Gras and king cake season. Shame on you should you eat a slice before you official should. (Guess what, I already have!)

In 1481, Leonardo da Vinci painted an altarpiece celebrating the “Adoration of the Magi.” In one of the preparatory drawings, he drew a perspective grid in order to place the architectural structures, human figures and animals in a realistically proportioned way. This study kept in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, was shown for the first time ever in the United States on Dec. 7-8, 2006, at the Library of Congress.

Act V. Scene I of “Twelfth Night,” by William Shakespeare. Prints and Photographs Division.

Also considered a time of merrymaking, some cultures mark the occasion by exchanging of gifts, and Twelfth Night, as the eve of the Epiphany, takes on a similar significance to Christmas Eve. In Tudor England, the Twelfth Night marked the end of an autumn/winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve, which is now celebrated as Halloween. On this day, the king and his upperechelon would become the peasants, and vise-versa. At the beginning of the Twelfth Night festival, a cake containing a bean was eaten. The person who found the bean became king and would run the feast. Midnight signaled the end of his rule and the world would return to normal.

Harkening back to this tradition is perhaps what influenced the turn of events in William Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night, or What You Will,” which centers on mistaken identity, long-lost siblings and a rather unconventional love triangle. By searching for “twelfth night” or “Shakespeare” in the Library’s online collections, you can find sheet music in “Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860 and 1870-1885,” historical newspapers in Chronicling America, a variety of photographs and prints and this recording from The National Jukebox.

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You can read further on Epiphany and how it’s represented in our folklife collections in this blog post from Folklife Today.

 

Pic of the Week: Glad Tree Tidings

Library of Congress patrons and staff gathered in the Great Hall to celebrate the holiday season. Photo by Shawn Miller.

As is our tradition, the Library of Congress has once again decorated the Great Hall with a tall tree for the holidays, full of lights and ornaments for the enjoyment of visitors. I’m not sure exactly how tall, but it takes staff using a small cherry picker to put together and decorate the tree. Set amidst the magnificence of the Great Hall, the tree veritably glows with a festive, holiday spirit.

If you’ve had the chance to visit the Library and enjoy the tree, make sure to follow us on Instagram at @librarycongress and post your own photos tagging the Library as well. There, you can also check out a great time-lapse video of the tree being put up!

We at the Library of Congress wish you and yours a merry Christmas and wonderful holiday season!

World War I: Lubok Posters in the World Digital Library

(The following guest post is by John Van Oudenaren, director for scholarly and educational programs at the Library of Congress.)

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A Heroic Feat by Non-Commissioned Officer Avvakum Volkov, Who Captured the Austrian Flag. 1914. Contributed by The British Library.

By the time the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the European powers had been fighting for more than two-and-a-half years. U.S. troops joined their British, French and Belgian allies in battles against Germany on the Western front, and a small number of U.S. soldiers were deployed to northern Italy. The United States was also allied as an “associated power” with Russia, which since August 1914 had been fighting Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire on the Eastern front.

Like all governments on both sides, the Russian authorities issued a steady stream of propaganda aimed at shoring up morale and convincing the Russian people that their wartime sacrifices were not in vain – that victory was sure to come. Among the most popular and effective forms of Russian propaganda were “luboki,” which were popular prints with simple, colorful graphics, generally used to illustrate a narrative. Lubok images were clear and easy to understand, aimed at people who were illiterate or had limited education. As part of its presentation of World War I as a global conflict, the World Digital Library includes a collection of 79 lubok posters contributed by the British Library and the National Library of Russia. These prints show Russian forces fighting soldiers of the Central Powers in fierce battles along the huge front stretching from the Baltic to the Black seas, as well as on the Caucasus front in eastern Turkey.

Shown is a typical lubok poster from a battle between Russian and Austrian troops early in the war in September 1914. It depicts a non-commissioned officer, Avvakum Volkov, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, vanquishing a detachment of Austrian dragoons. The caption explains that Volkov and his men attacked a unit of 10 enlisted men and an officer. “Volkov decapitated the officer, engaged three dragoons and the flag bearer, and, with the enemy’s captured flag, headed back with his comrades. On the way they encountered a second Austrian patrol. Another desperate fight ensued, and ended with the flight of the enemy.”

The poster is typical of the genre, in which Russian forces often are depicted on horseback, slashing at their enemies with swords and lances. Hapless enemy soldiers fall in droves, often profusely bleeding. The illustrations generally show the Russians emerging unscathed from the fiercest of combats, although casualties sometimes are mentioned in the captions.

Propaganda such as this was of course highly misleading. Russia suffered more than 9 million casualties in World War I, including an estimated 1.7 million combat deaths. The economic and political strains caused by the war led to the February 1917 revolution and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on March 15, three weeks before the United States entered the war. With the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1918, Russia withdrew from the war and concluded a separate peace with Germany.

World War I Centennial, 2017-2018: With the most comprehensive collection of multi-format World War I holdings in the nation, the Library of Congress is a unique resource for primary source materials, education plans, public programs and on-site visitor experiences about The Great War including exhibits, symposia and book talks.   

Highlighting the Holidays: Under the Mistletoe

Under the mistletoe. 1902. Prints and Photographs Division.

The holidays are full of many traditions – gift giving, sending cards, singing and cooking. Also kissing. If ever there was a time to pucker up, it’s in December, underneath the mistletoe. Washington Irving wrote in the 1800s, “young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under [mistletoe], plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases.”

The history of the symbolism of the mistletoe has a few different versions. In Norse mythology, Odin’s son Baldur was prophesied to die. So his mother, Frigg, went around securing an oath from all the plants and animals that each wouldn’t harm him. She forgot to check in with mistletoe, so Loki, up to no good, made an arrow from the plant and used it to kill Baldur. There seems to be a couple of ends to the story. Baldur was resurrected, and Frigg declared the mistletoe a symbol of love and vowed to kiss all those who passed under it. Alternatively, Frigg’s tears over her dead son became the berries of the plant, and she vowed not only that it would never again be used as a weapon but also that she would kiss anyone who passed beneath it.

Other romantic overtones came from the Celtic Druids in the first century, who viewed it as a symbol of fertility, vivacity, healing and even luck, because it could grow even in winter. Kissing may have begun with the Greeks, during Saturnalia and later during marriage ceremonies, because of the plant’s fertility powers. And the Romans were said to reconcile their wartime differences under the mistletoe because it represented peace.

Puck Christmas. Illustration by C.J. Taylor, 1895. Prints and Photographs Division.

The Library has in its collections a couple of books that make reference to both the Baldur and Druid stories. In this poem by Sarah Day in “From Mayflowers to Mistletoe,” Day writes “A song of Mistletoe, oh, ho, ho! ‘T is a plant that is olden in story: I decked for the Druid his victim’s last throe, to Baldur a death-shaft I sped from the bow, not a tribute that’s mine am I wont to forego; Behold me, the Mistletoe hoary!”

How the mistletoe tradition made the leap to holiday decoration isn’t clearly evident, short of the Druids using it in their Saturnalia celebrations, which was first observed on December 17.

In “A Vision of the Mistletoe,” by Maria Sears Brooks, a man dreams about the “mystic tie” that mistletoe has to “Christmas cheer.”

Ironically enough, certain varieties of the plant itself are poisonous. And, the plant is actually a parasite, the seeds of which attach themselves to other trees, literally taking root and stealing its host’s water and nutrients. How is that for romantic!

Perhaps this song from the Library’s National Jukebox collection will put you in the mood …

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 More of the Library’s historical treasures are highlighted here in celebration of the season.

Sources: history.com, Smithsonian Magazine, Live Science and mentalfloss.com

 

Witnesses to History

(The following was written by Barbara Orbach Natanson, head of the reference section in the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division, and featured in the November/December 2016 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.)

The Library’s documentary photograph collections provide a rich, visual record of the past century.

Since the advent of photography in the 19th century, people have recognized the power of images to communicate. In each generation, photographers have provided visual testimony of noteworthy and everyday events. Viewed as a whole, the Library’s documentary and photojournalism collections offer a visual timeline covering more than a century.

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Bodies of Confederate artillerymen lay near the Dunker Church after the Battle of Antietam, 1862. Alexander Gardner.

DOCUMENTING WAR

Some of the earliest large-scale documentary projects were records of war. Roger Fenton’s Crimean War photographs represent one of the earliest such efforts. During the spring of 1855, Fenton produced 360 photographs of the allied armies and British military camps.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, photographer Mathew Brady planned to document the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy on a grand scale. Brady supervised a corps of traveling photographers and bought photos from private photographers fresh from the battlefield. Brady shocked America by displaying Alexander Gardner’s and James Gibson’s graphic photographs of the bloody Antietam battlefield. The New York Times said Brady “[brought] home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war.”

SURVEYING LAND AND PEOPLE

The post-Civil War period saw expanding use of the camera to document territories and peoples. In 1867, Alexander Gardner photographed the western frontier as a field photographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. His stereographic images bring scenery and people to life when viewed in 3-D through a stereograph viewer.

The U.S. government sponsored photographic surveys as part of several 19th-century exploratory expeditions led by Clarence King and George M. Wheeler. Stereographic photographs by Timothy O’Sullivan, William Bell and Andrew J. Russell allowed the public to see parts of the continent that few had witnessed first-hand.

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Sergei M. Prokudin-Gorskii shot this view of Russia’s Belaya River in color, 1910. Prokudin-Gorskii Collection.

The drive to survey vast territories photographically was an international one. Using emerging technological advances in color photography, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) documented expanses of the Russian Empire between 1909 and 1915. The Library has digitized his 1,902 triple-frame glass negatives, making color images of landscapes, architecture and people from that era accessible to modern viewers.

Lewis Hine (1874-1940) used his camera to document the need for social reform. Working for the National Child Labor Committee in the early-20th century, Hine’s photographs and detailed captions eloquently conveyed the plight of child workers.

Under the auspices of a succession of government agencies (Resettlement Administration; Farm Security Administration; Office of War Information), Roy Stryker headed perhaps the best-known documentary effort of the 20th century. Beginning in 1935, Stryker’s photo unit employed at various times photographers such as Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, Arthur Rothstein, Ben Shahn, Jack Delano, Marion Post Wolcott, Gordon Parks, John Vachon and Carl Mydans, first documenting Depression-era rural dislocation and the lives of sharecroppers in the South, as well as conditions in the mid-western and western states. They went on to capture developments throughout the U.S. as the country mobilized for World War II. The project yielded more than 170,000 negatives that document many aspects of American life.

Contemporary photographers such as Carol M. Highsmith and Camilo Vergara continue to document the nation’s changing landscape. Highsmith has described her sense of urgency in documenting aspects of American life that are disappearing, such as barns, lighthouses, motor courts and eclectic roadside art. Vergara began photographing America’s in the 1970s with a focus on continuity and change. He explains, “My work asks basic questions: what was this place in the past, who uses it now and what are its current prospects?”

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Members of the picket line during the garment workers strike in
New York City, 1910, Bain News Service, George Grantham Bain Collection.

NEWS—AND PHOTOGRAPHS—FIT TO PRINT

Aided by the development of halftone technology at the end of the 19th century, newspapers and magazines could reproduce photographs more easily and cheaply.

George Grantham Bain, known as the “father of news photography,” recognized the hunger for pictorial news in the first decade of the 20th century. Bain employed photographers to capture newsworthy photos that he distributed to subscribing publications and, in turn collected photographs from them. The Bain Collection, comprising more than 40,000 glass negatives and corresponding prints, taken primarily in the 1910s and 1920s, richly document sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, public celebrations and political activities, including the woman suffrage campaign.

Soon joining Bain were two news photo businesses that took advantage of their proximity to the nation’s capital. The studio of George W. Harris & Martha Ewing specialized in portrait and news photography in Washington, D.C. More than 40,000 photographs show many aspects of the nation’s political and social life over the course of the first half of the 20th century. The National Photo Company subscription service, operated by Herbert French, generated more than 35,000 photographs starting around 1909 and continuing into the early 1930s.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger participates in the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 1991. Maureen Keating, CQ Roll Call Photograph Collection.

Pictorial publishing expanded in popular magazines like Look. The Library of Congress acquired Look’s photographic archives when the magazine ceased publication in 1971. The black-and-white and color images— many unpublished—invite exploration of the personalities and pastimes of the 1950s and 1960s.

Similarly, the archives amassed by the New York World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper and the U.S. News & World Report organizations, together comprising more than 2.2 million images, include many more photographs than the publications used. They document major world crises as well as passing fancies of the 20th century.

In recent years, the Library has acquired the photograph collections of Roll Call and Congressional Quarterly, two publications that cover activities on Capitol Hill. Comprising more than 300,000 black-and-white and color photographs, the images were taken between 1988 and 2000.

Through the Library’s commitment to preservation and access, these photographs, and all others in its custody, will continue to move and inform generations to come.

All photos from the Prints and Photographs Division. 

What Do You Go to the Movies For?

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Roger Rabbit, wrapped around Bob Hoskins in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”

This year’s entries to the Library of Congress National Film Registry, 25 in all (bringing the grand total of films of cultural, historic or aesthetic value to be preserved for posterity to 700), will fulfill many of our reasons for going to the pictures:

“I go to the movies to be terrified.” – Well, we’re going to scare the feathers off you with Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” This 1963 horror show, starring Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor, presses home the idea that there’s nothing more frightening than nature suddenly turning unnatural. A special shout-out to crew member Ray Berwick, who trained the birds of “The Birds.”

 

“I go to the movies to imagine the impossible.” – This year’s selections include “Lost Horizon,” (1937) which transported its cast, including Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt and Sam Jaffe, to a Shangri-La of amazing sets; “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” (1916) the first picture to show undersea footage to a movie-house audience; and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” (1988) which commingled film footage with animation and was the last time Mel Blanc voiced Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

 

“I go to the movies to escape.” – You can escape into an inconceivably zany fairy tale such as “The Princess Bride” (1987) or you can go a little grittier and run off with “Thelma & Louise” (1991).

 

“I go to the movies to hum along.” – That’s easy to do with the Barbra Streisand vehicle “Funny Girl” (1968), a biopic about Ziegfeld Follies star Fannie Brice, or with Disney’s beloved animated musical “The Lion King” (1994).

 

“I go to the movies to learn things.” – This year’s registry offerings include “Atomic Café,” (1982) which samples TV and film resources of the post-WWII era to take a look at America’s obsession with nuclear annihilation; “The Decline of Western Civilization,” which documents the rise of LA’s punk-rock scene in the 1980s; “Paris is Burning,” which documents the gay/transgender/drag scene in New York in the 1980s; and the Solomon Sir Jones films, a collection of home movies shot in the late 1920s by an African American clergyman and businessman, documenting his community’s vast range of everyday activities.

 

“I go to the movies to remember what it is I’d like to forget.” – The decidedly non-PC cult classic “Putney Swope”(1969) is on this year’s list. The premise is promising – an African American is suddenly catapulted to the helm of a major Madison Avenue ad firm – but some of the preposterous ads and groaner ethnic jokes in this flick remind us why we made a beeline away from the cultural schtick of the ‘60s. For those of you who slunk through high school, there’s “The Breakfast Club” (1985), John Hughes’ salute to the kids with the ‘tudes.

Whatever you go to the movies for, enjoy this year’s entries in the Library of Congress National Film Registry – and don’t forget to nominate movies for next year’s list.

Rare Item of the Month: Mary’s Treasures

(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.)

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Mary Todd Lincoln’s seed-pearl necklace and matching bracelets. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

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 rare books, they are every bit as valuable.

Abraham Lincoln gifted his wife Mary Todd Lincoln nothing less than Tiffany to wear for the first inaugural ball of his presidency. This exquisite necklace and two bracelets came to the Library in 1937 as part of the gift from Lincoln’s granddaughter, Mary Lincoln Isham, and have been incorporated into the Stern Collection of Lincolniana.

President Lincoln purchased the items at Tiffany’s in Manhattan. The Prints and Photographs Division has this Matthew Brady photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln wearing the jewelry gifted to her by Lincoln, as well as the ball gown that she wore to Lincoln’s first inaugural ball. She must have felt every bit the part of first lady wearing such finery.

The product of a wealthy Kentucky family, Mary attended Madame Mantelle’s Finishing School, which concentrated on French, literature, dance, drama, music and social graces. With this background of refinement, she must have cherished the beauty of the jewelry and appreciated the quality of the maker. The use of seed pearls in fine jewelry throughout the latter part of the 19th century was a popular practice. They often adorned brooches, tiaras, pins and earrings and were a staple of Victorian fashion. Many prestigious jewelers made prolific use of seed pearls as they were a sign of taste and status.

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Mary Todd Lincoln. Photo by Matthew Brady, 1861. Prints and Photographs Division.

The online Stern Collection of Lincolniana provides a fascinating glimpse into Lincoln’s life and presidency and contains more than 4,000 items. One of the great advantages of digitized collections is that it has made it nearly effortless to search a large volume of items quickly to draw together like items on any topic or date. Searching on the term “inaugural ball” draws up the result of this dance card for the 1861 ball. Viewing this dance card, the photograph of Mary Todd Lincoln in her inaugural ball finery and the Tiffany jewelry allows one to go back in time that March evening nearly 156 years ago. One is offered a slice in time and can imagine the excitement and sense of promise that the evening must have held for Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln.

Further, searches on “Mary Todd Lincoln” bring up some fascinating results from the online collection. One can get a glimpse into Mary’s personality and character by reading the letters she wrote and received, as well as studying the various portraits rendered in her likeness.

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Dance card for Lincoln’s inaugural ball, 1861. Rare Book and Special Collections Division

For example, this letter to Brig. General Sickles, dated Sept. 31, 1862, finds Mary Todd Lincoln attempting to schedule a meeting with Sickles while commenting on continuing cannon fire heard at the White House. She expresses concern about the war and not wanting to upset President Lincoln with her thoughts on the topic.

In this letter from Queen Victoria, dated April 1865, the queen expresses condolences about President Lincoln’s death.

“[I] must personally express my deep and heartfelt sympathy with you under shocking circumstances of your present – dreadful misfortune. No one can better appreciate, than I can, who am myself utterly broken hearted by the loss of my own beloved husband, who was the light of my life, my stay, my all, – what your own sufferings must be, and I earnestly pray that you may be supported by Him, to whom alone the sorely stricken can look for comfort in their hour of heavy affliction.”

This letter to Leads and Miner from Nov. 11, 1865, expressed consternation that her children’s tutor sold items for profit that were given to him by Mary Todd Lincoln.

“As to Mr. Williamson – for the last four years, he was tutor to my little boys; my husband & myself always regarded him as an upright, intelligent man – when leaving Washington, last May I directed, the servant woman, to present him in my name (and in consideration, for the high reverence, he Mr. W. always entertained for the President) a shawl & dressing gown. In doing so, I felt he would cherish & always retain, these relics of so great & good a man – My astonishment, was very great I assure you, when you mentioned that these articles were for sale. Mr. W. certainly did not reflect, when he proposed such a thing. I wish you would write to him & remonstrate – upon so strange a proceeding.”

Bringing these assorted items together help us form a better understanding of the multi-dimensional person that the first lady was and honor her on her December birthday. She was a woman who may have endured heavy burdens throughout her adult life, yet she strove to find the lighter side through the delight and refinement afforded to her position as first lady.

10 Reasons You Should Want To Be A Junior Fellow

(The following is a guest post written by Kaleena Black, program manager for the Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program.)

Are you thinking about applying to the Library of Congress Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program, but aren’t quite sure? The program is a 10-week paid fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students who will work full-time with Library specialists and curators to inventory, describe and explore collection holdings and to assist with digital-preservation outreach activities throughout the Library. Fellows will be exposed to such Library work as collection processing, digital preservation, educational outreach, access, standards-setting and information management. More information can be found here.

Still not sure? Well, here are 10 reasons why we think you should!

Spend a summer in Washington, D.C.

Working, networking and experiencing all that the nation’s capital has to offer.

Gain valuable professional experience.

The program offers in-depth opportunities for career development and exploration, through an array of exciting projects.

A great research opportunity on the east coast.

No matter your interest, the fellows can get real “Indiana Jones” with our collections. (Think: researching rare collections, exploring stereographs and daguerreotypes, testing paper samples, producing digital bags, buckets and portals.)

Cool curators and trailblazing technicians.

Collaborate with and receive mentorship from world-class curators and top-notch technicians. (Seriously, the Library staff is some of the greatest.)

Friends in your field.

Connect with a cohort of talented, motivated undergraduate and graduate students from across the country.

Gain an edge.

Participate in tours, cutting-edge seminars, meet-and-greets and other enrichment activities. Enhance your summer experience and supplement all the cool project work that you’ll be doing.

Money

This internship offers a stipend.

Making a mark.

Showcase your project achievements and discoveries through opportunities like Display Day, blogs, lightning talks or panel discussions.

Access to Washington, D.C.’s most “beautiful” building.

Did we mention that you get to work at the Library of Congress, an unbelievable treasure chest of history, culture, creativity and knowledge? You’ll get some amazing, behind-the-scenes access to the largest library in the world. Plus, you’ll be contributing to the legacy of work at this truly awe-inspiring cultural institution.

It’s really fun!

Enough said.

Convinced yet? Then visit our website for more details about the program or head straight to USAJOBS for the application.

Support the 2017 Book Festival

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Gene Luen Yang and Stephen King at the 2016 Library of Congress National Book Festival. Photo by Ellis Brachman

(The following is a guest post from Sue Siegel, director of development at the Library of Congress.)

To Stephen King, the master of horror, a truly frightening scenario is the emergence of a world of non-readers. King, a champion of literacy recognized by the Library of Congress, says that reading is critical to opening up our abilities to empathize and analyze — skills that are essential to being an informed thinker and better human being. He has made it part of his life’s work to inspire young audiences to read so they may know “learning to think is a result of hard work and steady effort.”

He is justified in being afraid. Across America, the statistics about the state of literacy and reading are heartbreaking:

The U.S. is ranked 12th in literacy among 20 “high income” countries.
44 million adults are unable to read a simple story to their children.
50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.
Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year.

Source: National Institute for Literacy, National Center for Adult Literacy, The Literacy Company, U.S. Census Bureau

To promote a culture of reading and literacy at the national level, the Library of Congress presents the annual National Book Festival — a booklover’s dream come true. Each year, hundreds of thousands of booklovers of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to meet their favorite authors and snag autographs (popular graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier managed to autograph 1,500 books in an hour and 10 minutes!) from such luminaries as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Candice Millard, Bob Woodward, Ken Burns, Salmon Rushdie, and Kwame Alexander, in-person and virtually, entirely free of charge.

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The Library of Congress National Book Festival is only possible because of donors who share a commitment to advancing reading and combatting illiteracy.

Please make a gift today to help create a nation of readers, and mark your calendar for Sept. 2, 2017, for next year’s National Book Festival.

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Pic of the Week: Pulling Strings

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Luthier John Montgomery. Photo by Shawn Miller.

Luthier John Montgomery inspects the strings on the 1697 “Castelbarco” cello made by Cremonese master Antonio Stradivari, one of five Stradivari instruments originally donated to the Library by Gertrude Clarke Whittall in 1935. According to her bequest, the instruments would be played from time to time, as they were intended. To that end, she established the Whittall Foundation, an endowment to finance professional in-house use of the instruments and concerts for the public.

John Montgomery is fully trained in both instrument making and restoration and has been working since 1977 when he began as a Watson Fellow studying Hurdy Gurdy construction in France. He attended the Violin Making School of America in Salt Lake City, Utah, and trained under William Monical in New York City. He has been a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers since 1987. In 1983, he established John Montgomery Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.