Table of Headings
| Page | |
| History of the Library | 2 |
| The Burning by the British Troops | 2 |
| The Acquisition of Jefferson’s Library | 3 |
| Mr. Spofford’s Administration | 3 |
| The Old Quarters in the Capitol | 4 |
| The Agitation for a New Building | 4 |
| The New Building | 6 |
| The General Decoration; Mr. Garnsey and Mr. Weinert | 7 |
| The General Character of the Building | 8 |
| The Exterior of the Building | 9 |
| The Façade | 10 |
| The Entrance Pavilion | 11 |
| Mr. Hinton Perry’s Fountain | 12 |
| The Ethnological Heads | 13 |
| The Portico Busts | 16 |
| Mr. Pratt’s Spandrel Figures | 17 |
| The Main Entrance | 18 |
| Mr. Warner’s Bronze Doors | 18 |
| Mr. Macmonnies’s Bronze Door | 20 |
| Main Entrance Hall | 21 |
| The Vestibule | 21 |
| The Stucco Decoration of the Vestibule | 22 |
| The Marble Flooring | 22 |
| The Staircase Hall | 23 |
| The Commemorative Arch | 23 |
| Mr. Warner’s Spandrel Figures | 24 |
| Mr. Martiny’s Staircase Figures | 24 |
| The Ceiling of the Staircase Hall | 27 |
| The Mosaic Vaults of the First Floor Corridors | 28 |
| Mr. Pearce’s Paintings | 28 |
| Mr. Walker’s Paintings | 30 |
| Mr. Alexander’s Paintings | 33 |
| Mosaic Decorations of the East Corridor | 33 |
| The Librarian’s Room | 34 |
| The Lobbies of the Rotunda | 35 |
| Mr. Vedder’s Paintings | 36 |
| The Second Floor Corridors | 39 |
| The Decoration of the Vaults | 39 |
| The Printers’ Marks | 42 |
| Mr. Hinton Perry’s Bas-reliefs | 43 |
| Mr. Shirlaw’s Paintings | 44 |
| Mr. Reid’s Paintings | 46 |
| Mr. Barse’s Paintings | 48 |
| Mr. Benson’s Paintings | 50 |
| The Decoration of the Walls | 51 |
| Mr. Maynard’s Pompeiian Panels | 52 |
| The Inscriptions along the Walls | 53 |
| The Entrance to the Rotunda | 55 |
| Mr. Van Ingen’s Paintings | 55 |
| Mr. Vedder’s Mosaic Decoration | 56 |
| The Rotunda | 57 |
| The Importance of the Rotunda | 58 |
| The General Arrangement | 60 |
| The Alcoves | 61 |
| The Symbolical Statues | 62 |
| The Portrait Statues | 64 |
| Mr. Flanagan’s Clock | 66 |
| The Lighting of the Rotunda | 67 |
| The Semicircular Windows | 68 |
| The Dome | 70 |
| The Stucco Ornamentation | 70 |
| Mr. Blashfield’s Paintings | 71 |
| The Rotunda Color Scheme | 76 |
| Provision for Readers | 77 |
| The Book-Carrying Apparatus | 78 |
| Connection with the Capitol | 79 |
| The Book-stacks | 80 |
| Arrangement and Construction | 80 |
| Ventilation and Heating | 82 |
| The Shelving | 82 |
| Lighting | 82 |
| The Lantern | 84 |
| The Rectangle | 84 |
| Southeast Gallery | 86 |
| Mr. Cox’s Paintings | 86 |
| The Pavilion of the Discoverers | 88 |
| Mr. Pratt’s Bas-reliefs | 89 |
| Mr. Maynard’s Paintings | 89 |
| The Pavilion of the Elements | 93 |
| Mr. R. L. Dodge’s Paintings | 93 |
| The Pavilion of the Seals | 94 |
| Mr. Van Ingen’s Paintings | 96 |
| Mr. Garnsey’s Ceiling Panel | 98 |
| The Pavilion of Art and Science | 99 |
| Mr. W. de L. Dodge’s Paintings | 99 |
| The Northwest Gallery | 101 |
| Mr. Melchers’s Paintings | 101 |
| The Rectangle: First Floor Corridors | 101 |
| Mr. McEwen’s Paintings | 102 |
| The House Reading Room | 106 |
| Mr. Dielman’s Mosaics | 107 |
| Mr. Gutherz’s Paintings | 109 |
| The Senate Reading Room | 110 |
| The North Corridor | 111 |
| Mr. Simmons’s Paintings | 111 |
| Special Rooms | 112 |
| The Basement | 112 |
| The Architecture, Sculpture and Painting | 113 |
| The Function of a National Library | 123 |
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
IN WASHINGTON
BY HERBERT SMALL
The Library of Congress in Washington is not the mere reference library for the legislative branch of the Government that its name would imply. It is, in effect, the library of the whole American people, directly serving the interests of the entire country. It was, it is true, founded for the use of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives; but, although the original rule still holds good that only they and certain specified Government officials may take books away from the building,1 the institution has developed, especially during the last quarter of a century, into a library as comprehensively national as the British Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, or the Imperial Library in Vienna. It is more freely open to the public than any of these, everyone of suitable age being permitted to use its collections without the necessity of a ticket or formal permission, while in scope it is their equal, however much it may for the time being be inferior to them in certain branches of learning. Its aim in the accumulation of books is inclusive and not exclusive, as Mr. Spofford explains elsewhere in this Handbook, in his article on The Function of a National Library.
This development amounts almost to a change of front, in spite of the fact that the original purpose of the Library as an aid to the legislation and debates of Congress has been fully preserved. The change has been brought about in many ways, but principally by the exchange system of the great governmental scientific bureau, the Smithsonian Institution, and by the operation of the national copyright law.
The Smithsonian Institution issues each year a large number of scientific publications of the highest interest and importance. It distributes these throughout the world, receiving in exchange a body of scientific literature which comprehends practically everything of value issued by every scientific society of standing both in this country and abroad. With the exception of a small working library retained by the Smithsonian Institution for the immediate use of its officers, the splendid collection of material which has been gathered during the forty years in which this exchange system has been in operation is deposited in the Library of Congress, forming a scientific library unrivalled in this country.
By the operation of the copyright law, any publisher, author, or artist desiring to obtain an exclusive privilege of issuing any publication whatever, must send two copies of the publication on which a copyright is asked to the Librarian of Congress to be deposited in the Library. By this means, during the twenty-five years that the law has been in force, the Library has been enabled to accumulate approximately the entire current product of the American press, as well as an enormous number of photographs, engravings, and other works coming under the head of fine arts. The possession of this material would alone give the Library a special national character possible to no other library in the country.