Episode 22 | Dr. Rosenbach’s Rare Relic from the War of 1812
A Conversation with Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress.
Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach enjoyed global fame as a rare book dealer and cultivated important connections—including in Washington, D.C. When he acquired a remarkable volume that survived the torching of the United States Capitol during the War of 1812, Dr. Rosenbach donated it back to the nation, and the volume resides in the Library of Congress today, marking the important role that Dr. Rosenbach played in building many of the great rare book collections in the nation. In this episode of The Rosenbach Podcast, host Dr. Alexander L. Ames visits Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Bok and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress, for a look at Dr. Rosenbach’s wonderful donation and a conversation about the place of rare books and libraries in our national civic life.
Inscriptions on the front pastedown of a book taken from the U.S. Capitol by British troops in 1814 and returned to the Library of Congress by Dr. Rosenbach. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
