Robert Winslow Gordon, first head of the Archive of American Folk-Song, at the Library of Congress, with part of the cylinder collection and recording machinery, about 1930. "Know the songs of a country and you will know its history for the true feeling of a people speaks through what they sing." – Preface to The Songs of Henry Clay Work (1884) The latest stellar online exhibit from The Library of Congress, Songs of America, celebrates: American history as documented in the work of some of our country's greatest composers, poets, scholars, and performers. From popular and traditional songs, to poetic...
Playing Cards for the Literary Set
We're loving the latest from Madrid-based, book-friendly, illustrator Fernando Vicente. This time around it's a deck of playing cards for Nordicalibros featuring a slew of literary portraits created over the years by Vincente. Just think of all the new card, and/or drinking, games that await. Previously on Book Patrol: Portraits by Fernando Vicente Fernando Vicente illustrates The Communist Manifesto In the Stacks: Playing Cards at the Beinecke
Nicole Brauch: The weight of small things is our lives
A Letter And Its Consequences, 2013. Encaustic, acrylic, glass bottle, ash, book pages, photo and diagram. 16 x 12 x 3 inches. It is the remnants of a rich life that form the foundation of Nicole Brauch's work. Brauch is an archaeologist of the highest order, one who combs through their family and personal history to makes sense of the world around them. Tomorrow We’ll See, 2013. Glass jar, wrapped object, handkerchief, photo, acrylic, letter, encaustic and small key hole. 10 x 10 x 4 inches Brauch explains her process: My work is derived from personal history – either told or uncovered. I...
One Word, 6 Million Times: “And Every Single One Was Someone.”
Today is the the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and UN General Assembly has designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It started innocently enough. As a math and Jewish studies teacher in a Jewish day school, Phil Chernofsky was looking for a different and meaningful way for his students to relate to the Holocaust. From that challenge comes “And Every Single One Was Someone” The cover depicts a Jewish prayer shawl and has no words. The entire book consists of just one word: Jew. It is repeated 6 million times. Each page has 40 columns of 120 lines...
Library of Congress by the Numbers, 2013
Aerial view of the Thomas Jefferson Building, the oldest structure in the Library of Congress complexThe Library of Congress processed 150+ million items and as you will see that is only part of what they accomplished throughout a very active year. It is mind boggling! Here is what went on at our nations oldest cultural institution in 2013: Responded to more than 636,000 congressional reference requests and delivered to Congress approximately 23,000 volumes from the Library’s collections; Registered 496,599 claims to copyright; Provided reference services to 513,946 individuals in person, by telephone and through written and electronic correspondence; Circulated more...