The Elbert County tribune., 1912-06-07
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Literature; France. Emancipation; and Amer
lea, Science.
In the crown of the great lantern of the
dome is painted The Human Understanding.
an allegorical figure Of woman floating
among the clouds and attended by two chill
dren genii.
The artistic mural decoration Of the interior
is upon a magnificent scale and the paintings
in each Of the many pavilions. corridors and
galleries are numerous that no attempt
can be made in this article to give a descrip-
ton OF them. Every artistic design has pur-
pose and meaning In every stroke OF the art
lists brush, in every and line wrought
by the sculptor's chisel. The completed build
ing stands today the highest expression Of
American art, the greatest monument yet
erected to American genius.
The eight acres of floor space contained In
the building are utilized follows: On the
ground floor the copyright office. reading
room for the blind, superintendent's and dis
bursting office. bookbinding department. print
ing department. music rooms mail room.
lockers, etc. The first floor contains the main
reading room. the librarians room. periodical
reading room, senator's reading room, repre-
sentatives reading room, map and chart
rooms, administration rooms. The second floor
is taken up with the galleries. pavilions and
rooms filed with exhibits of rare engravings.
manuscripts, prints, books first editions,
portraits of the presidents and other celebrat-
ed personages. The attic floor contains
kitchen and restaurant. rooms for print re-
rairs. manuscript repairs, photography docu-
ments and copyright storage.
In 1914 the library. consisting of about 5000
volumes. burned by the British troops.
Congress made fresh start by purchasing
the Thomas Jefferson library of about 1000
volumes, which grew until in 1851 1t had about
$4,000 volumes. Another fire then destroyed
all but 10000 Of these. The country had grown
much in wealth by this time. however. that
this was but temporary check. and the libra
ry quarters in the Capitol we're promptly
stored and many Of the books which had been
destroyed were replaced In 1857 the Peter
Force collection Of Americana, consisting of
about go 900 articles. was purchased for $780,
900, and the acquisition In the same year OF
the library of the Smithsonian institution. con-
sisting of 10000 volumes. brought the total
up to 100000 volumes. The copyright
law Of 1846 required the deposit OF one copy
of each book copyrighted in the library, and
an act was passed in 1870 which placed the
registration of copyrights under the Of
the librarian OF congress, and required the de-
posit Of two copies of each book article
copyrighted. thus assuring the acquisition Of
books published In the United States
The rapid progress of the library dates from
1854. when DR.. A. r. Sponord was appointed
librarian. His ureless energy and undagging
zeal increased the acquisitions until in 1897.
the date Of his retirement 1t had grown to
mere than 1000. 900 books and pamphlets. and
the necessity for more spacious quarters had
been realized for some years. In 1886 the con-
struction Of a new building was authorized
and eleven years later this was completed at
a cost Of $6.347,000, site bought for $685.
000 This II the present home Of the third
largest library in the world. That the cost Of