Bruce Guthrie Photos: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself)

DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself) -- Notes:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific people (or other things) in the pictures which I haven't labeled, please identify them for us. Or fill in any other descriptions you can. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture).

Slide Show: Want to see the pictures as a slide show? [Slideshow]

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by Bruce Guthrie who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the Creative Commons definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. If asked for permission in advance, I'll usually waive the non-commercial clause unless it's for people trying to sell the photos. A free copy of any printed publication using the photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from official signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Help? The 0640x0480 links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

[1] LOCMRR_130218_002_STITCH.JPG

0640x0480

[2] LOCMRR_130218_009_STITCH.JPG

0640x0480

[3] LOCMRR_130218_011_STITCH.JPG

0640x0480

[4] LOCMRR_130218_016.JPG 0640x0480	[5] LOCMRR_130218_023.JPG 0640x0480	[6] LOCMRR_130218_044.JPG 0640x0480
[7] LOCMRR_130218_054.JPG 0640x0480	[8] LOCMRR_130218_060.JPG 0640x0480	[9] LOCMRR_130218_063.JPG 0640x0480
[10] LOCMRR_130218_070.JPG 0640x0480	[11] LOCMRR_130218_082.JPG 0640x0480	[12] LOCMRR_130218_087.JPG 0640x0480
[13] LOCMRR_130218_099.JPG 0640x0480	[14] LOCMRR_130218_118.JPG 0640x0480	[15] LOCMRR_130218_148.JPG 0640x0480
[16] LOCMRR_130218_163.JPG 0640x0480	[17] LOCMRR_130218_166.JPG 0640x0480	[18] LOCMRR_130218_172.JPG 0640x0480
[19] LOCMRR_130218_177.JPG 0640x0480	[20] LOCMRR_130218_189.JPG 0640x0480	[21] LOCMRR_130218_200.JPG 0640x0480
[22] LOCMRR_130218_207.JPG 0640x0480	[23] LOCMRR_130218_219.JPG 0640x0480	[24] LOCMRR_130218_227.JPG 0640x0480
[25] LOCMRR_130218_238.JPG 0640x0480	[26] LOCMRR_130218_245.JPG 0640x0480	[27] LOCMRR_130218_250.JPG 0640x0480
[28] LOCMRR_130218_270.JPG 0640x0480	[29] LOCMRR_130218_282.JPG 0640x0480	[30] LOCMRR_130218_297.JPG 0640x0480
[31] LOCMRR_130218_305.JPG 0640x0480	[32] LOCMRR_130218_308.JPG 0640x0480	[33] LOCMRR_130218_317.JPG 0640x0480
[34] LOCMRR_130218_330.JPG 0640x0480

Limiting Text: You can turn off all of this text by clicking this link: [Thumbnails Only]
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: THE MAIN READING ROOM

Visitors should take the elevators to the third floor to view the Main Reading Room from the Visitors' Gallery, or walk up the two flights of marble stairs.

The Eight Symbolic Statues and Their Inscriptions:

From the Visitors' Gallery, eight large statues can be seen above the giant marble columns that surround the reading room. They represent eight categories of knowledge, each considered symbolic of civilized life and thought. Their titles are inscribed in gilt letters on a tablet in the frieze below them. Beginning with the figures on the east side of the room--from the perspective of the Visitor's Gallery--the symbolic statues are: Philosophy, by Bela Lyon Pratt; Art, by Francois M.L. Tonetti-Dozzi (after sketches by Augustus St. Gaudens); History, by Daniel Chester French; Commerce, by John Flanagan; Religion, by Theodore Baur; Science, by John Donoghue; Law, by Paul Wayland Bartlett; and Poetry, by John Quincy Adams Ward.

Above each statue is a large tablet bearing an inscription in gilt letters. Each of the eight inscriptions, appropriate to the subject of the statue below it, was chosen by Harvard University President Charles W. Eliot.

Above the figure of Philosophy:
THE INQUIRY, KNOWLEDGE, AND BELIEF OF TRUTH
IS THE SOVEREIGN GOOD OF HUMAN NATURE.
Bacon, Essays, "Of Truth"

Above the figure of Art:
AS ONE LAMP LIGHTS ANOTHER, NOR GROWS LESS,
SO NOBLENESS ENKINDLETH NOBLENESS.
Lowell, Yussouf

Above the figure of History:
ONE GOD, ONE LAW, ONE ELEMENT, AND ONE FAR-OFF DIVINE EVENT,
TO WHICH THE WHOLE CREATION MOVES
Tennyson, In Memoriam

Above the figure of Commerce:
WE TASTE THE SPICES OF ARABIA YET NEVER FEEL
THE SCORCHING SUN WHICH BRINGS THEM FORTH.
Anon. [Dudley North, East India Trade]

Above the figure of Religion:
WHAT DOTH THE LORD REQUIRE OF THEE, BUT TO DO JUSTLY,
AND TO LOVE MERCY, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH THY GOD?
Holy Bible, Micah 6:8

Above the figure of Science:
THE HEAVENS ...More...
Bigger photos? To save space on the server, photos larger than 640x480 are not loaded for previous years. If you need the bigger sizes of selected photos, email me and I can email them back to you or I can re-load this page temporarily with the bigger versions restored.
Stitched photos: "Stitched" photos are made up of two or more individual photos merged together to form one big picture by overlapping them. While the results are frequently impressive (being able to see panoramic views), the photos are seldom all that precise due to distortion as well as differences in lighting and exposure from picture to picture.
Size of Stitched Photos: Stitched photo files end up larger because the photos are combined to form one larger photo. While the file sizes aren't bad for the 160x120 and 640x480 pages, the original stitched files can be 10+ megabytes each. To save space, the biggest versions of the stitched photos are not loaded on the site.
Directly Related Pages: Other pages here that have content directly related to this one:
- 2008_DC_LOC_MRR: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself) (80 photos from 2008)
- 2009_DC_LOC_MRR: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself) (161 photos from 2009)
- 2010_DC_LOC_MRR: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself) (135 photos from 2010)
- 2010_DC_LOC_MRRD: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself -- detailed art) (86 photos from 2010)
- 2011_DC_LOC_MRR: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself) (37 photos from 2011)
- 2012_DC_LOC_MRR: DC -- Library of Congress -- Main Reading Room (room itself) (34 photos from 2012)
Generally-Related Subject Pages: Other pages here that have content somewhat related to this one:
- 1999_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (13 photos from 1999)
- 2005_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (43 photos from 2005)
- 2004_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (33 photos from 2004)
- 2006_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (70 photos from 2006)
- 1997_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (14 photos from 1997)
- 2002_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (14 photos from 2002)
- 2007_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (34 photos from 2007)
- 2008_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (101 photos from 2008)
- 2009_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (227 photos from 2009)
- 2010_DC_LOC: DC -- Library of Congress (110 photos from 2010)
- ...More (49 total)...
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [Structures]
2013 photos: So far, my camera is mostly the Fuji X-S1 but, depending on the event, I'm also using a Nikon D7000 and Nikon D600. Trips this year have been limited to a Civil War Trust conference in Memphis.
Photo Contact: Email Bruce Guthrie.