Handbook of the New Library of Congress. With Essays on the Architecture, Sculpture and Painting, and on the Function of a National Library

The Handbook of the National Library of Congress, compilated by Herbert Small, includes essays on sculptures, paintings and architecture, and other pieces of art that a visitor can see in a national library by Ainsworth R. Spofford. In 1783 an American diplomat proposed supplying the government with the idea of creating a congressional library. In 1800 was established the Library of Congress. The same year the current President signed an act of Congress and transferred the seat of government from Philadelphia to Washington, the new capital of the US. The Library of Congress is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill; it also maintains an audio-visual center in Culpeper. The research library de facto is a national library, but officially it serves the US Congress. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country and one of the largest libraries in the world. Its collections are "universal, not limited by subject, format, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages."