Press contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639
Public contact: C. Ford Peatross (202) 707-8695

September 27, 2005

New Library of Congress Book Features Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C.

"Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C., from the Library of Congress" will be published by The Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Library on Oct. 6, and a celebration of its publication will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Madison Hall at the Library of Congress.

Madison Hall is on the first floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave S.E., Washington, D.C. This event is free and open to the public and credentialed press; tickets or reservations are not required.

Edited by C. Ford Peatross, the Library’s curator of architecture, design and engineering collections in the Prints and Photographs Division, "Capital Drawings" features drawings for some of Washington’s most important buildings, monuments and memorials—the U.S. Capitol, the White House and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial—as well as anonymous structures of everyday life and ambitious projects that were never built. These documents tell the story of the capital’s planning and growth.

During the past 10 years, the Library of Congress has cataloged more than 40,000 drawings, prints and photographs that capture important developments in the growth of Washington and its metropolitan area. This volume is a guide to the Library’s massive collection.

This publication and the conservation, housing and processing of the more than 40,000 documents are the result of the Washingtoniana II project (1986-present), funded entirely through a series of grants from the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.

"Capital Drawings," a 264-page hardcover book with 55 color illustrations and 123 halftones, will be available for $55 in bookstores nationwide and through the Library’s Sales Shop, Washington, D.C. 20540-4985. Credit card orders are taken at (888) 682-3557. Online orders can be placed at www.loc.gov/shop.

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PR 05-208
09/27/05
ISSN 0731-3527

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