The Library of Congress

By: Sarah Obead Reading and Writing 500

Thomas Jefferson Building

● The original building for the library of congress, it was built in the 1800s. After that two other buildings were added to the library.

● It’s located behind the U.S Capitol building. About two blocks from Capitol South Station.

● It was built after the British troops burned down the original congress library that was located inside the Capitol building.

-The main hall in the library

- The first thing noticed and admired by the visitors of the library is the artistic detailed decoration around every corner

-The floor is created with marble. It contains a symbol of the Sun as a big compass surrounded with the twelve Zodiac symbols

-The same pattern surrounding the sun on the floor is found in most of the decorative spaces including the ceiling

The Great Hall

The ceiling was painted in its place by a group of European artists

The Main Reading Room

Every statue represent a certain civilization that contributed in knowledge categorized into philosophy, law, art, science and religion among other.

Rare Items

● One of the galleries represented Thomas Jefferson’s personal books that he offered to the library after it lost its collection when the British troops burned it.

● The collection contained books about a variety of subjects categorized by Thomas into memory, reason and imagination

● Since Thomas Jefferson spoke 5 different languages and tried to learn more. His collection contained some persian and arabic books including The Holy Quran

Rare Items

- Another rare item is the Gutenberg Bible

- Gutenberg was the first to print The Bible. During one year he printed about 300 copies.

- It’s one of the three full copies printed on vellum that still exist in the world.

References

The Library of Congress Website: http://www.loc.gov/about/