In the digital age, we have all been spoiled by the ease with which we can share our written ideas with others, but let’s take a moment to appreciate the skill, time, and resources that were once required to bring a text into print. This post examines the processes involved in operating a printing press in the 15th-18th centuries.
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During the hand press era, composing the text of a book was among the most technical elements of the printing process. This post describes the labor involved in typesetting and imposition.
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This post highlights some of the maps that were scanned and made available on the Library website in 2024.
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Most of us learned in school that Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which is not entirely accurate. He is, however, conventionally credited with inventing the process of mass-producing individual pieces of type. These innovations in moveable type allowed for books to be efficiently produced in large quantities and revolutionized the human ability to share ideas. This post explains the multi-step process of mass-producing metal letters to be used in printing texts.
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Saint John of the Cross was a 16th century reformer of the Carmelite way of life. Together with Saint Teresa of Avila, he lived the primitive Rule of their Order, and paid a dear price for his commitment to reform and authentic living. Saint John of the Cross died in 1591.
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The Blessed Virgin’s appearance at Tepeyac to Saint Juan Diego in 1531, was the beginning of a beautiful story of God’s and Mary’s love and care for the peoples of Mexico. As Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Blessed Virgin was named patroness of all of the Americas in 2003.
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Before today’s thin, brittle paper made from wood pulp became standard, paper was handcrafted by experts using linen rags as the essential material. This post explains the process by which rag paper was made in Europe for centuries.
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Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002, for the canonization of Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in the 16th century. Pope John Paul II celebrated the ceremony at which the poor Indian peasant became the Church’s first saint indigenous to the Americas.
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This post explores a large, colorful map of staple crops in Puerto Rico in the first years of the US administration of the island.
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Saint Peter of Alcantara lived in the 16th century, a time of great Church reform. He was confessor for Saint Teresa of Avila, another great reformer. Peter was known for his life of penitence and the virtue of patience. He founded a branch of the Franciscans known as the Alcantarines.
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At the end of the fifteenth century, simplified versions of medical charts featuring an image of the “Zodiac Man” began to appear in Books of Hours. The Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division contains many examples of these printed editions, one of which uses a skeleton in place of the Zodiac Man.
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Saint John Leonardi was a priest and founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God. He also formed the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Father Leonardi and his priests became a great power for good in 16th century Italy.
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The rosary is a truly Catholic devotion. It is a form of prayer and meditation in honor of Mary and celebrates the mysteries of Jesus’ and Mary’s lives. It has been called a miniature catechism highlighting the key events of our faith. Our Lady of the Rosary remembers Mary’s intercession and celebrates this popular devotion.
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Learn about Sebastian Gryphius, one of the most celebrated printers of sixteenth century Lyon, and about the books printed by him which are held by the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Gryphius printed Latin textbooks and works by humanist authors and was instrumental in divulging the ideas of the renaissance to Lyon and France.
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Learn more about the maps on display at the new experiential exhibition at the Library of Congress.
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An insight into early 18th century trade in the East-Indies focusing on the English East Indies Company and the 1721-1723 trade voyage of the ship Townsend revealed through the maps of British cartographer Herman Moll.
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This second post in the Fabricating the World series explores mapmaking with woodblock printing.
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Printed in Basel in 1543, Andreas Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica is considered to be the first “modern” medical book that emphasizes clinical observation over a dependence on ancient texts. The Library of Congress has recently digitized its copy of De Fabrica, which was part of the generous gift of Lessing J. Rosenwald to the nation.
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Saint Paschal Baylon was born into the Golden Age of the Church in Spain: the 16th century. He worked as a shepherd where he had ample time for prayer and mortification.
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In 1546, Charlotte Guillard (ca. 1485–1557) owned one of the most prestigious printing houses in Paris, the Soleil d’Or, and that year she printed an impressive, updated edition of the letters of Saint Jerome under her own name. The editor and commentator of this particular book, however, was the famous Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus (1468?-1536), whose published annotations on Jerome had been censured by the Venetian Inquisition and the Index of the University of Paris two years prior.
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