Catholic University Honors Program Visits Library of Congress
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
By Olivia Hall
If you have ever been interested in seeing old celestial manuscripts or one of the eleven original copies of the Declaration of Independence, you are in for a treat at the Library of Congress in D.C. I was fortunate enough to go on a rare books tour of the Library of Congress with Dr. Jennifer Paxton and several Honors peers as the first weekly excursion offered by the Honors Program.
We started by taking the Metro Red Line all the way down to Union Station, where several landmarks and interesting museums were pointed out to us, such as the National Postal Museum and the Supreme Court building. Once we arrived at the front steps of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Dr. Paxton took over and informed the group of the history, architecture, and trends that can be seen throughout the three buildings that are used for the Library of Congress.
“The architecture of this particular building is one of the most ornate and is influenced by Second Empire style,” Dr. Paxton explained.
The outside of the building lives up to Dr. Paxton’s words of being “the most ornate,” and so does the interior. The inside is filled with depictions of different academic fields such as Medicine, Law, Art, and many more disciplines. The ceilings and hallways are precisely designed, each element clearly defined and vibrant.
Leading us on the tour was Marianna Steel, who is the Reference Librarian at the Library of Congress. With her love for the subject and wealth of knowledge, she truly transformed this tour into something meaningful and engaging. We started the tour by walking into the Lessing J. and Rosenwald Reading Room, where Marianna Steel had prepared several books and manuscripts to walk us through history and the evolution of writing and writing preservation. She also took us to a side room where we were able to get an elevated view of the main reading room in the Library of Congress. This room is open to the public when you obtain a Library of Congress library card, which is easy to register for online. The reading room is arranged in a circle with the same ornate design present throughout.
As for the rare books, we were able to see several beautifully preserved manuscripts with gorgeous evangelical paintings. These manuscripts are considered luxury books and would have been made uniquely for those who commissioned them. One aspect consistent with all the manuscripts from the pre-printing era was the beautiful art and the unique writing. Another interesting highlight of the tour was the preserved bounty poster for John Wilkes Booth after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. It was fascinating to see Booth’s headshot, the reward, and descriptions they had for him. After we finished looking at individual books, we moved into the Museum part of the Library of Congress where we were able to see Thomas Jefferson’s personal book collection.
“The ribbons sticking out of the books represent the difference in condition, but all works here are known to be in his collection. The green ribbon represents books originally in his collection, the yellow represents books found to be in his collection, and no ribbons are identical but purchased later on,” Marianna Steel stated.
I highly recommend visiting the Library of Congress if you are looking to learn more about how we went from handwritten to printed manuscripts, seeing impressive preservation of older documents, or just looking to discover a new place in the city! The library card is also available to register for online and will be waiting for you when you make your next visit. Thank you to Dr. Paxton and the Honors Program for a wonderful trip and introduction to the beautiful city of Washington, D.C.!
Use this link to register for a free library card at the Library of Congress!
