edgling, it was a t and jealouslylibrary, Thomas member of Conterest in the Lis a result of the Library. using his list of quisitions from 302, there were

Samuel Latham s of Massachua (all members nded its collecrued before the plans had been

ernment to re- him with the y of Virginia. uropean bookhe destruction the revitalized ase the collec

ce as it relates nd the archihow Latrobe

consulted to n-site inspecngs in Washper of outside e conclusions Latrobe pee Capitol. A g, which has, ng collection t the Library he Maryland

s, maps, and was located

LATROBE AS ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITO

President Thomas Jefferson selected Benjamin Henry La Architect of the Capitol in 1803, a time of tremendous arch importance for the nation because he was the only well-trai fessional architect in the country. Jefferson shared the visio Capitol as a lasting monument to democracy. Himself an in the classical tradition, he appreciated Latrobe's brilliant e ing solutions to the basic spatial problems of the building an ously supported his plans and reports to an often parsimoni gress. The job promised to be a thankless one in many respec accepting the appointment, Latrobe remarked that, "The praise I can ever deserve in this work will be that of la vaincue." 1

Being an architect in America at the beginning of the ni century was difficult; serving as Architect of the Capitol was lean task. Latrobe encountered a plethora of problems and ous resistance to his ideas and designs. In addition to the ig and prejudice with which architecture was regarded in Ame trobe suffered complications over shipments of imported m which could take months or even years, and with retaining de trained workmen.

When Latrobe assumed the position of Surveyor of Public E in 1803, he found the Capitol poorly planned and already of repair. The roof was leaking; the building was badly there was no relationship between the exterior and interior and to further aggravate matters, there were no prior plans for his use.

Additionally, the amount of work he could accomplish d upon appropriations from Congress and Jefferson's appro trobe was forced to wage endless battles with Congress for Many of his plans were never realized because he was often barely enough funds to keep up with repairs. Jefferson took interest in the completion of the Capitol and was in freque munication with Latrobe. They collaborated on alterations a

1 Paul Foote Norton, Latrobe, Jefferson and the National Capitol, A 1961, p. 38.

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tions to the Capitol, but Latrobe's training and keen und of engineering generated frequent disagreements between

Fighting for appropriations, defending his work, securi workers and artisans, and obtaining the necessary material part of the work of implementing his imaginative interpre classic designs.

Despite these adverse conditions, Latrobe has had an impact on the Capitol, the building which George Washi lieved would serve to "inspire or depress public confidence.” 2

2 Op. cit., footnote 1, p. 41.

en understanding between the two. securing trained

aterials were all

terpretations of

THE HISTORY AND USE OF THE ORIGINAL LIB
SPACE

ad an enduring Washington bence." 2

The rooms on the west side of the second, or principal, sto north wing were finished before 1800 to accommodate the Representatives until the chamber in the south wing could pleted. That space is presently designated S-231, S-232, SS-234. It measured 86′ x 35′ x 36′ with an apse at the sout gallery in the third floor, or attic, created a "horseshoe" ar north windows. Albeit a temporary location for the House resentatives, the room was modestly decorated. The report of ber 10, 1799, of James Hoban, Superintendent of the Capit to pilasters and architraves and to the finishing of the cornic cove and ceiling stucco.

The history of these rooms is rife with structural problems ous re-assignments, funding battles and, significantly for of this report, incomplete documentation. The space was ut the Capitol for several purposes but the precise appearand room is not possible to reconstruct for this period.

We are fortunate to have the other detailed and elegant Benjamin Latrobe for the design and structure of the space by the Library of Congress, submitted in 1807. The plan w executed; but it is available today in such detail that it should the Congress decide to do so.

Congress first met in the north wing for the second sessio Sixth Congress in November 1800. At that time, no space in itol had been assigned as a permanent location for the Cong library. Indeed, although the library companies of Philadel New York had extended free use of their books to the Congre few Congressmen had supported legislation to establish a it was not until the movement of the seat of the Congress t ington was imminent that the idea of a Congressional libr given serious attention. The "Act to make provision for the and accommodation of the Government of the United Sta proved April 24, 1800, contains the following provision:

That for the purchase of such books as may be necessary the use of Congress at the said city of Washington, and fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them and

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placing them therein the sum of five thousand dollars shall be, and hereby is, appropriated; and that the said purchase shall be made by the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives, pursuant to such directions as shall be given, and such catalogue as shall be furnished by a Joint Committee of both Houses and that the said books shall be placed in one suitable apartment in the Capitol in the said city, for the use of both Houses of Congress and the members thereof, according to such regulations as the committee aforesaid shall devise and establish.3

The few books owned by the Congress were moved to Washington and placed in the Office of the Clerk of the Senate on the second floor, south of the Senate Chamber. The books and maps purchased by the Joint Committee under the above provision were added to the collection in May 1801. Shortly after the convening of the first session of the seventh Congress in 1801, the Library Committee recommended "that the books, the larger number of which, recently imported, had been hitherto stored in trunks, be set up in portable cases with handles to them for the purpose of easy removal." 4

The first designation of the west side of the north wing as a library comes with an act, approved January 26, 1802, which provided for the organization of the library in the space temporarily used by the House during the second session of the sixth Congress. The act specified that the books and maps heretofore kept separately by the House and Senate be combined with those lately purchased, "numbered and labelled and set up in portable cases with handles for easy removal, with wire netting, doors, and locks." 5

Because this act specifically refers to the space occupied by the House during the second session of the sixth Congress, it can be inferred that the House moved to its temporary quarters in the south wing (shortly afterward christened the Oven) for the first session of the seventh Congress (December 7, 1801-May 3, 1802). The library remained in this location on the west side of the north wing until December 2, 1805, the opening of the first session of the ninth Congress."

Unfortunately, no further primary source description of the bookcases, the space itself or the furniture inventory can be found. Portable bookcases were probably made of pine, and either painted or stained. It can also be surmised, by evidence of later use of the library, that these bookcases were used until the fire of 1814.

3 William Dawson Johnston, History of the Library of Congress, Vol. I, 1800– 1864, Washington, 1904, p. 23.

Op. cit., footnote 3, p. 41.

5 Op. cit., footnote 3, p. 27.

6 Op. cit., footnote 3, p. 34.

dollars shall id purchase nd Clerk of h directions Furnished by - said books - Capitol in ongress and s as the com

to Washington the second floor, urchased by the ed to the collecfirst session of e recommended imported, had ses with handles

ing as a library provided for the ed by the House et specified that House and Sened and labelled oval, with wire

ccupied by the ss, it can be inrs in the south first session of 1802). The li the north wing on of the ninth

on of the bookFound. Portable nted or stained. he library, that

ess, Vol. I, 1800

In his study of the Library of Congress and its collection Mearns describes it as a "vertical library, composed of books nized as to be consulted standing up, rather than read at leisure;" it was thus essentially a reference library.

In 1804 Latrobe presented his plans for locating the Ha House in the south wing on the principal level or second fl level of the present library." It was obvious that the tempora ment of the House in the "Oven" was unsatisfactory and ur Efforts to complete the south wing were pressed and an appro bill of $50,000 for another year's expenses was passed on M 1804.

In April, 1804 Latrobe recommended to President Jeffer the House be accommodated in the Library during the wor south wing and that the books be placed in the adjoining c room to the south where "there is ample room round the wal apartment for cases, and for any addition to them that is lik made within the next two years."

998

Latrobe's letter of December 30, 1804 insisted that $100,000 sary as the "only means of insuring the House of Representa occupancy of their own hall at the session of 1806 and of pr their being confined for more than one other session to the inco situation of the Library." An appropriation bill providing for completion of the south wing and $20,000 for necessary rep alterations to the north wing and other buildings was pass ary 25, 1805.

A Civil Appropriations Act of March 1, 1805 provided $700 mantling the library room and $900 for the removal of the 1 the committee room adjoining on the south.10 The library 1 there until 1810 while its space was assigned successively to t (until October 6, 1807), the Supreme Court (October 6, 18071809), and the Senate (May 22, 1809-May 1, 1810). While the Court was in the Library, the Senate met in the basement roo the Library.

The use of the Library space by these other bodies was nec by the renovation of the north wing. Latrobe's objectives fr on included both erecting the south wing and rebuilding the no "in solid construction." Latrobe's reports to the President litany of problems: poverty of design, lack of working draw

'David C. Mearns, The Story Up to Now—The Library of Congress, Washington, pp. 12–13.

8 Op. cit., footnote 7, p. 174.

'Documentary History of the Construction and Development of t States Capitol Building and Grounds, Washington, 1904, p. 114. 10 Op. cit., footnote 3, p. 41.