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There is only one good namely knowledge and only one evil namely ignorance.     Socrates

The Library of Congress’s (LOC) Thomas Jefferson Building is the nation’s jewel box. The rich Italian Renaissance interiors can be a little visual for our minimal, modernist tastes but the Library is full of the most wonderful treasures. From Wikipedia…

~~~ “The Gutenberg Bible and the Giant Bible of Mainz, two of the most popular and valuable items in the Library of Congress, are on display  in the Great Hall. 

Both bibles were created in Mainz, Germany, during the same period in the 15th century. Published in 1453, the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed with movable metal type. The Library’s copy is one of only three perfect vellum copies known to exist (the others copies are in the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the British Library). 

At about the same time as the Gutenberg Bible was produced, the Giant Bible of Mainz was transcribed by hand in the same city. This bible is displayed across from the Gutenberg Bible to illustrate the relationship between the tradition of hand-lettering and printing and to show how the layout of the printed book was influenced by the manuscript tradition. ”~~~

A giant step forward in the transmittal of information… from Wikipedia…

~~~ “  According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “The invention of Gutenberg should be classed with the greatest events in the history of the world.

It caused a revolution in the development of culture, equalled by hardly any other incident in the Christian Era. Facility in disseminating the treasure of the intellect was a necessary condition for the rapid development of the sciences in modern times.

Thus not only is Gutenberg’s art inseparable from the progress of modern science, but it has also been an indispensable factor in the education of the people at large. Culture and knowledge, until then considered aristocratic privileges peculiar to certain classes, were popularized by typography, although in the process it unfortunately brought about an internal revolution in the intellectual world in the direction of what is profane and free from restraint.” ~~~

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From the early beginnings of printing flowed a vast distribution of knowledge… the unleashing of understanding … the democratization of knowing… Three hundred and fifty years later one of America’s founders creates a marvellous collection of books…. Thomas Jefferson, our third President was one of the most erudite Americans ever. From the LOC site..

~~~ ” .. Jefferson believed that the power of the intellect could free a democratic society. As a man who stated he could not live without books, he took a keen interest in the Library of Congress and its collection while he was president of the United States from 1801-1809.

In 1814, the British army invaded the city of Washington and burned the Capitol, including the 3,000-volume Library of Congress. By then retired to Monticello, Jefferson offered to sell his personal library, the largest and finest in the country, to the Congress to “recommence” its library. The purchase of Jefferson’s 6,487 volumes for $23,940 was approved in 1815. ”~~~

Jefferson’s library is displayed in the LOC… (much of it burned in 1841 and the Library has purchased replacements)… as you stroll around the display cases it’s astounding to take in the breadth of Jefferson’s interests… ancient and modern history, political theory and law, sciences, architechture, argiculture, moral philosophy, literature and other topics…

The evidence of two powerful periods for the unleashing of knowledge lie in the Library of Congress… Mainz and Monticello… Gutenberg and Jefferson…

As Socrates said … “There is only one good namely knowledge and only one evil namely ignorance.”

Let us nourish the role of government in finding and spreading knowledge… it is the light which guides individuals to make proper decisions for their well being… knowledge is the path which keeps the boundaries between us healthy… knowledge is a restraint on corruption for those who govern… and knowledge is freedom and liberation from ignorance ….