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Pictograph, John W. Alexander, N.A., Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. – Historic Reproduction

Pictograph, John W. Alexander, N.A., Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., c[between 1900 and 1912] — historic photograph
Pictograph, John W. Alexander, N.A., Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., c[between 1900 and 1912]. Historic photograph from the Washington DC 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

Pictograph, John W. Alexander, N.A., Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. comes to life in this historic photograph, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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Pictograph, John W. Alexander, N.A., Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

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Rather than the building itself, this picture records a painted panel titled *Picture Writing* by John W. Alexander, a work that presents the idea that people first recorded events in images before alphabets existed. Alexander's mural belonged to the decorative program of the Library of Congress's Jefferson Building in Washington, where paintings on the theme of writing and learning were installed. The photograph is a glass negative from the Detroit Publishing Company, which documented American cities and landmarks, and it is dated only to between 1900 and 1912.

Created / publishedc[between 1900 and 1912]
Medium1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in.
NotesDate based on Detroit, Thistle Publications (1912). Photograph of mural called Picture Writing
SubjectsHieroglyphics. Indians of North America--Communication. Murals. Libraries.United States--District of Columbia--Washington (D.C.)
SourceLibrary of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection
Original scan973 × 746 px
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-DET-76744

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