As we prepare to celebrate the United States' 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, the Rare Book and Special Collections Division is producing a series of short films that highlight items related to American history and culture with particular focus on the Founding era.
As the Library begins a year-long run-up to the 250-year anniversary of the founding of the United States on July 4, 1776, the Rare Book Division will co-host an event with the Manuscript Division on July 17 to explore the history of the Declaration of Independence and its illustrated reproductions. This "Made at the Library" event will feature Dr. John Bidwell's discussion of his recent book, "The Declaration in Print and Script: A Visual History of America's Founding Document."
Among the Library's many treasured books is a history of the Romans previously owned by President James Monroe. Pinned into the flyleaf are Monroe's handwritten notes about the reign and reforms of King Servius Tullius.
100 years after the events of the Boston Tea Party, two wealthy septuagenarian sisters from Glastonbury, CT found themselves fighting against taxation without representation. The curious case involves the seizure and auctioning of their pet cows, including two calves named Martha Washington and Abigail Adams.
A closer look at the Library’s copy of the Eliot Algonquian Bible (1663) reveals a connection to the local history of the greater Washington area. Family birth and death inscriptions within the Bible show that it was once owned by the famous Gaither family of Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Maryland. How and when did it arrive at the Library? Read this post to learn more.
The Rare Book and Special Collections Division will partner with the Library's "By the People" crowdsource transcription project and Pennsylvania State University's Douglass Day initiative to transcribe the contents of the African American Perspectives Collection. Read on to learn more about Douglass Day, transcription, and other efforts to preserve and share the collection assembled by Daniel Murray, a legendary figure in the history of the Library of Congress.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, classical languages were an important component of education in the North American colonies. Viewed through the lens of material and printing history, the books highlighted in this blog post provide a very human picture of classical studies in early America.
While the British military burned the federal properties of Washington during the War of 1812, some soldiers sought souvenirs to commemorate their conquest of the nascent U.S. capital. Seized by a British officer, one particular American bible in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division bears the marks of its dramatic removal, its captivity, and later its homecoming to the United States.
