Recent publications of note from the Library of Congress include the first two in a series of illustrated guides to the Library's major collections.
The collection guidebooks, made possible by the support of the James Madison Council, the Library's, private-sector advisory group, provide a sumptuously illustrated tour of the Library's most significant manuscript and performing-arts holdings.
Library of Congress Music, Theater, Dance, written by the staff of the Music Division, not only gives the reader a colorful overview of the Library's holdings in these areas but also outlines the ways in which they serve to generate further creative and interpretive endeavors.
Music Division Chief James W. Pruett notes in his introduction: "The Library of Congress is unique among national libraries in that it embraces the complete range of music -- from creating new works to having them performed and placing the original manuscripts in the collections in perpetuity, for the use of succeeding generations."
Music Division staff specialists in theater and dance also guide the reader to relevant materials in those fields that are located both in the Music Division and elsewhere in the Library's collections.
Library of Congress Manuscripts is of the same format and quality as Music, Theater, Dance and provides the reader with a glimpse of the wealth and comprehensiveness of the Library's manuscript collections.
From George Washington's personal diary to notes taken by Sigmund Freud, this illustrated guide offers an overview of the Manuscript Division holdings, which have grown from 25,000 items when the division was founded in 1897 to more than 50 million items today. Among the most important -- and heavily used -- collections acquired in recent years is that of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Library of Congress Music, Theater, Dance, 80 pages in length with more than 60 illustrations, mostly in color, is available for $13 (stock number 030-001-00148-2). Library of Congress Manuscripts, 63 pages with both color and black-and- white illustrations, is available for $7 (stock number 030-001- 00147-4). Both can be purchased from the Library Sales Shop in the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., or directly from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328. Credit card orders are taken at (202) 783-3238.