Photographs and text comprise an expert tour of the holdings of the Library of Congress.

A completely new and revealing story of Pre- and Post-Columbian art as told through over sixty extraordinary artefacts now in the Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress.

Baseball, the sport that helped reunify the country in the years after the Civil War, remains the national pastime. The Library of Congress houses the world's largest baseball collection, documenting the history of the game and providing a unique look at America since the late 1700s. Now Baseball Americana presents the best of the best from that treasure trove. From baseball's biggest stars to its street urchins, from its most newsworthy stories to sandlot and Little League games, the book examines baseball's hardscrabble origins, rich cultural heritage, and uniquely American character. The more than three hundred and fifty fabulous illustrations feature first-generation photographic and chromolithographic baseball cards; photographs of famous players and ballparks; and newspaper clippings, cartoons, New Deal photographs, and baseball advertisements. Packed with images that will surprise and thrill even the most expert collector, Baseball Americana is a gift for every baseball fan.

Full-colour illustrations of all the items in the exhibition with commentary on each.

From the archives of the Library of Congress: “An irresistible treasury for book and library lovers.” —Booklist (starred review) The Library of Congress brings book lovers an enriching tribute to the power of the written word and to the history of our most beloved books. Featuring more than two hundred full-color images of original catalog cards, first edition book covers, and photographs from the library’s magnificent archives, this collection is a visual celebration of the rarely seen treasures in one of the world’s most famous libraries and the brilliant catalog system that has kept it organized for hundreds of years. Packed with engaging facts on literary classics—from Ulysses to The Cat in the Hat to Shakespeare’s First Folio to The Catcher in the Rye—this is an ode to the enduring magic and importance of books. “The Card Catalog is many things: a lucid overview of the history of bibliographic practices, a paean to the Library of Congress, a memento of the cherished card catalogs of yore, and an illustrated collection of bookish trivia . . . . The illustrations are amazing: luscious reproductions of dozens of cards, lists, covers, title pages, and other images guaranteed to bring a wistful gleam to the book nerd’s eye.” —The Washington Post

Published to coincide with the ongoing World Treasures exhibition, which first opened in the summer of 2001, Beginnings reveals how common themes have been treated in different cultures - be they African, Hindu, Hispanic, Tibetan, Islamic, Judeo-Christian or Native American - and is an exploration of how such cultures have dealt with the creation of the universe and explained the heavens and earth.Underlying these seemingly complex issues are three key questions: Where does it - the universe, the cosmos - all come from? How can we explain and order the universe and cope with it? How do we record the experience?These questions and the answers to them are presented in over 130 color images from the Library's collections ranging from a twelfth-century Taoist scroll painting of The Eight Immortals by Zhao Boju, to a Mesopotamian Incantation Bowl. Beginnings closes with a section that includes the earliest examples of writing and printing.

Volumes 2 and 3 present selections of nearly 200 key holdings from the Library collection, dealing with encounters among cultures - how different cultures have viewed and responded to each others beliefs - and ceremonies and celebrations - the rituals and events which different cultures employ to bind their beliefs and outlook on the world together

In an innovative mix of history, anthropology, and post-colonial theory, Vicente L. Rafael examines the role of language in the religious conversion of the Tagalogs to Catholicism and their subsequent colonization during the early period (1580-1705) of Spanish rule in the Philippines. By tracing this history of communication between Spaniards and Tagalogs, Rafael maps the conditions that made possible both the emergence of a colonial regime and resistance to it. Originally published in 1988, this new paperback edition contains an updated preface that places the book in theoretical relation to other recent works in cultural studies and comparative colonialism.