Its branch was destroyed by Christians in
AD 391. This was a traumatic event.
It is little known that the Library of Congress had a similar fate
1500 years later.
On Christmas Eve 1851, the Library of Congress burnt down entirely.
More than 35,000 volumes - out of 55,000 - went up in smoke, including
two thirds of Thomas Jefferson's invaluable library. It was
reconstructed, but nearly 900 volumes (out of 6487 books) are still
missing. The fire was caused by faulty chimney flues.
Librarian Meehan wrote to Senator Pearce of Maryland, Chairman of the
Joint Committee on the Library:
"It is my melancholy duty to inform you that a fire originated in the
principal room of the Library of Congress this morning, about half
past seven o'clock, and that nearly everything in the room was
destroyed before the flames were subdued."
This was the second fire to have devastated this cultural depository.
On August 24, 1814, the Library's core collection of 3,000 volumes was
destroyed when the British burned the Capitol, where the Library was
housed.
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/history/growing.html
http://www.loc.
Pages:
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101