Snapshots of the Past

Library of Congress: Main Reading Room – Antique Wall Art

Library of Congress: Main Reading Room — historic photograph
Library of Congress: Main Reading Room. Historic photograph from the Library of Congress collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of Library of Congress: Main Reading Room. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Library of Congress: Main Reading Room

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The Main Reading Room shown here is the great hall of the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building, which opened to readers in Washington, D.C., in 1897, after the library had outgrown its quarters in the Capitol. The photograph carries a caption card dating it to roughly 1895 to 1897, so it likely records the room during or just before its opening, when the building was still new. The Washington studio of L.C. Handy made the image, and its shelves and open floor show the scale of the library's public spaces. Worth noticing is how the room was built to bring books and readers under one dome, a design meant to make the national collection accessible.

Medium1 photographic print.
Notes[between 1895 and 1897?]
SubjectsPhoto by L.C. Handy Studio, Wash., D.C. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: DC, Washington--LC--Int.; Interiors; Libraries; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,227 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-134759

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