Saturday morning, after a trip to Panera for breakfast, we got started with a tour of the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world. It is amazing to think that one of the ancient wonders of the world, the Library at Alexandria, has been reincarnated and now sits in America (and happens to sit across the Potomac from an Alexandria). There is a public tour that lasts about 45 minutes that takes place in the Jefferson building, oldest of the three buildings (each are a city block in size). The architecture and decoration is as ornate as any building in the states; truly it is a temple of knowledge, guarded, in fact by numerous statues and paintings of Minerva.
Also on display are some portions of the largest "rare book" collection, among which we saw was a Gutenberg Bible, "America's Birth Certificate" (the oldest known map, 1507, to recognize and record the American Continents as separate from East Asia, writings of John Smith (of Jamestown/Pocahantes infamy), and portions of Thomas Jefferson private collection. Mr. Jefferson (as he is know in Charlottesville- a.k.a. Mr. Jefferson's town) sold his personal library to the governement after the British burning the Capitol building during the War of 1812, which housed the Library back then. It didn't hurt that Mr. Jefferson was also deeply in debt at the time (actually, all of the time).
Sorry to delve into the nuances of Founding Fathers politics and history, but if you will indulge for one more quick aside (on this topic at least). One of those books from Thomas Jefferson collection was "A Treatise of a Defense of the Consitution of the United States" by John Adams, politcal foe. Adams wrote the book while in London as the US's first ambassador to Britian as a way to promote the strength of the US's political future among the English. He wrote the whole book, having only read a copy of the US Constitution absent heated debate that took place in Philadelphia and newspapers in America.
Jefferson, at that time, was also living in Europe serving as US Ambassador to France. It is interesting to think that John Adams personally sent that copy (possibly, this is my surmising) to Thomas Jefferson across the Atlantic, two brillant jugernaughts debating the merits of a new form of governance. It would be that document, the US Constitution that drove two political allies in the Revolution to become bitter rivals during the Presidency of George Washington. Maybe this book was the first wedge in that friendship. Personally, that book was pretty cool!
Saturday morning, after a trip to Panera for breakfast, we got started with a tour of the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world. It is amazing to think that one of the ancient wonders of the world, the Library at Alexandria, has been reincarnated and now sits in America (and happens to sit across the Potomac from an Alexandria). There is a public tour that lasts about 45 minutes that takes place in the Jefferson building, oldest of the three buildings (each are a city block in size). The architecture and decoration is as ornate as any building in the states; truly it is a temple of knowledge, guarded, in fact by numerous statues and paintings of Minerva.
Also on display are some portions of the largest "rare book" collection, among which we saw was a Gutenberg Bible, "America's Birth Certificate" (the oldest known map, 1507, to recognize and record the American Continents as separate from East Asia, writings of John Smith (of Jamestown/Pocahantes infamy), and portions of Thomas Jefferson private collection. Mr. Jefferson (as he is know in Charlottesville- a.k.a. Mr. Jefferson's town) sold his personal library to the governement after the British burning the Capitol building during the War of 1812, which housed the Library back then. It didn't hurt that Mr. Jefferson was also deeply in debt at the time (actually, all of the time).
Sorry to delve into the nuances of Founding Fathers politics and history, but if you will indulge for one more quick aside (on this topic at least). One of those books from Thomas Jefferson collection was "A Treatise of a Defense of the Consitution of the United States" by John Adams, politcal foe. Adams wrote the book while in London as the US's first ambassador to Britian as a way to promote the strength of the US's political future among the English. He wrote the whole book, having only read a copy of the US Constitution absent heated debate that took place in Philadelphia and newspapers in America. 
Jefferson, at that time, was also living in Europe serving as US Ambassador to France. It is interesting to think that John Adams personally sent that copy (possibly, this is my surmising) to Thomas Jefferson across the Atlantic, two brillant jugernaughts debating the merits of a new form of governance. It would be that document, the US Constitution that drove two political allies in the Revolution to become bitter rivals during the Presidency of George Washington. Maybe this book was the first wedge in that friendship. Personally, that book was pretty cool!
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