For more information about the Library’s publications, visit www.loc.gov/publish/general/.
“Fields of Vision” Series Features 20th-Century Photographers
Selected images from the works of Farm Security Administration (FSA)/Office of War Information (OWI) photographers Esther Bubley (1921-1998), Jack Delano (1914-1997) and John Vachon (1914-1975) are now featured in the Library of Congress book series titled “Fields of Vision.”
The more than 172,000 black-and-white and 1,600 color images that comprise the FSA-OWI Collection at the Library of Congress offer a detailed portrait of life in the United States from the years of the Great Depression through World War II. Capturing people in both rural and urban regions of the country involved in the rhythms of daily life, the photographs allow viewers to connect personally with the 1930s and 1940s. The government documentary project, headed by Roy L. Stryker, employed many relatively unknown names who later became some of the 20th century’s best-known photographers.
Edited by Amy Pastan, an independent editor and book packager, and published by D Giles Ltd. in association with the Library of Congress, each volume in the series presents 50 striking images by one such photographer that demonstrates how his or her vision helped shape the collective identity of America. Each volume includes an introduction to the work of the featured FSA photographer by a leading contemporary author.
In her introduction, New York Times contributor Melissa Fay Greene says, “Esther Bubley chewed up the instruction manual and spat it out. She remained untamed, creative, surprising, and funny to the end, a genius in black-and-white.” Author Esmeralda Santiago observes, “Delano never tells us the meaning of his photographs. Rather, he lures us into an image, and before we know it, we’re asking ourselves what it means to us.” Novelist and journalist Kurt Andersen notes, “The greatness of Vachon’s portrait of America is that it’s not a happy-all-the-time Bedford Falls, nor a ghastly Pottersville, neither propagandistically pro- nor anti-American, but achieves some truer, more complicated, liminal version of the nation at midcentury.”
These new titles join the first three volumes in the series, which feature the work of FSA/OWI photographers Russell Lee (1903-1987), Ben Shahn (1898-1969) and Marion Post Wolcott (1910-1990). Each 63-page, soft-cover volume in the series is available for $12.95 in bookstores throughout the U.S. and the UK, from D Giles Ltd. and the Library of Congress Sales Shop, Washington, D.C., 20540-4985, (888) 682-3557 or www.loc.gov/shop/. Reproduction numbers are provided in the books so that reprints may be ordered through the Library’s Photoduplication Service.
Architecture of Dams Subject of New Publication
The United States boasts more than 2.5 million dams, from the massive federal projects like the Hoover and Grand Coulee dams built between the 1930s and 1970s to small, privately owned structures.
Published by the Library of Congress and W.W. Norton & Company, “Dams” by Christine Macy is a compendium of historic images of North American dams, emphasizing the unique design and engineering complexities of these impressive structures. The book is a singular reference for architects, designers, engineers, students and all those fascinated by the monumental presence of dams in America.
“Dams” is the eighth volume in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks in Architecture Design and Engineering series. The series is a project of the Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering in the Library of Congress, directed by C. Ford Peatross. “Dams” joins “Public Markets” by Helen Tangires, “Barns” by John Vlach, “Canals” by Robert Kapsch, “Theaters” by Craig Morrison, “Lighthouses” by Sara E. Wermiel and “Bridges” by Richard L. Cleary. Also part of the series is a volume dedicated to the work of Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen (“Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archive”) , edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross.
Illustrations in the Sourcebooks series are from the collections of the Library of Congress, and thus the volumes serve as important portals to the collections for a wide range of users—from students and scholars to practicing architects, designers, engineers and preservationists.
Christine Macy is dean of the faculty of Architecture and Planning at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, where she lectures on architectural design and modern architectural history and theory. Her research-design partnership Filum focuses on lightweight structures and cultural landscapes. Her books include “Greening the City: Ecological Wastewater Treatment in Halifax,” “Architecture and Nature: Creating the American Landscape,” “Festival Architecture,” “Responsive Textile Environments” and “Free Labs: Design Build Project from Dalhousie University.”
Established by a bequest from the distinguished American architect Paul Rudolph, the Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering in the Library of Congress preserves and makes accessible to the public the Library’s rich collections in those subject areas. For more information, go to www.loc.gov/rr/print/adecenter/adecent.html.
“Dams,” a 460-page hardcover book with more than 800 illustrations, is available for $85 in bookstores nationwide and through the Library’s Sales Shop, Washington, DC 20540-4985, (888) 682-3557, www.loc.gov/shop/. An accompanying DVD contains high-quality downloadable images of all of the photographs and drawings in the book. It also offers direct links to the Library’s online, searchable catalogs and image files, including the hundreds of thousands of high-resolution photographs, drawings and data files in the Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record and other collections.
New Additions to the Knowledge Card Series
The Library and Pomegranate Communications have produced four new decks of Knowledge Cards—on subjects ranging from Middle English, composers, mysteries and classical music.
They join a series of 28 knowledge cards. These 48-card decks feature invaluable information for the price of $9.95 through the Library’s Sales Shop, Washington, DC 20540-4985, (888) 682-3557, www.loc.gov/shop/. Authors Evelyn Sinclair and Linda Osborne present excerpts from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Middle English, with modern translations and enlightening commentaries on the card backs. Author Aimee Hess presents a challenging collection of Q&A cards that ask you to name that composer. From master luthiers of the Middle Ages to contemporary composers, Author Margaret E. Wagner brings the world of classical music to life. The Mystery Writer of America and the Library of Congress have teamed up to test the knowledge of every aficionado of the yarns of Raymond Chandler, and his fellow masters of the genre.
