The Book History Colloquium at Columbia will welcome Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress on March 23, 2010. Mr. Dimunation recently completed the project to reconstruct Thomas Jefferson’s Collection. He will speak on Mr. Jefferson’s Library and how it shaped the nation’s library.

The nucleus of the Library of Congress was forged in fire. In 1815 Congress purchased Thomas Jefferson’s personal library–then the largest private book collection available in North America–to replace the congressional library destroyed when the British burned the U.S. Capitol the previous year. When Mr. Jefferson’s books arrived in Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress found its center and its impetus.

Throughout his life, Jefferson gathered books across a vast spectrum of topics and languages. The nation’s library today mirrors this universal approach to collecting. Reconstructing this landmark collection provides fresh insights into the mind of Thomas Jefferson and the world of the Enlightenment from which he drew his revolutionary ideas. It was the wellspring to one of this nation’s deepest thinkers–the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, the third President, and a true visionary who helped mold a new form of government. 

This event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
6PM
Butler Library, room 523