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The
Library of Congress: An Architectural Alphabet
 The
Library of Congress: An Architectural Alphabet. Foreword by
James H. Billington. Introduction by C. Ford Peatross. San Francisco:
Pomegranate, 2000. ISBN 0-7649-1262-3. $17.95.
The
Library of Congress: An Architectural Alphabet is a creative introduction,
from "Arch" to "Zigzag," to the art and architecture of the Library's
magnificent Thomas Jefferson Building.
 More
than 40 American sculptors and painters contributed works of art
to the Jefferson Building, which was hailed as America's "Temple
of Art" when it opened in 1897. The book presents an illustrated
tour of the art, architecture, and sculpture, exploring the unusual
architectural details--egg and dart molding, helixes, jambs, pilasters,
quoins, spandrels, tripods, vaults, and printer's marks. The photographs
are paired with antique letters from the Library's collections,
providing an extraordinary visual tour of a great national institution.
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