Today, I spent almost six hours at the Library of Congress. What a way to spend New Year's Eve! The LOC has an excellent rare books and special collections reading room. It has been a few years since I visited last, but I recall seeing some original manuscript sources from John Witherspoon (among other eighteenth-century religious figures).All of today was spent at the newspaper and current periodical reading room. The LOC offers access to several digitized collections of colonial newspapers. I was glad to find some substantial information on advertisements and announcements regarding some important religious books published in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. From my findings today, I need to amend the chapter that I recently wrote for my current project on Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture.
If you are attending the AHA/ASCH conference in Washington D.C., and have some extra time, you should consider visiting the LOC. You may also want to visit the Folger Shakespeare Library, located near the LOC.
