WASHINGTON, D.C.. — Thanks to the federal government, our nation’s capital churns out more paper than any publishing house in the world — vast forests transformed into prose that, in general, is read by few and understood by fewer.
This doesn’t exactly hone the city’s reputation as a literary mecca, à la New York, Boston, San Francisco or, for that matter, Oxford, Miss.
But Washington, D.C. — and its environs — does have its bookish side.
Some of it hides in plain sight: The Library of Congress is a magical place, a grand and gorgeous collection of great books and inspiring history. Like so many of the museums and repositories here, admission is free.
A few strides away is the Folger Shakespeare Library. Both impressive and quirky, it is home to 82 of the 228 First Folio editions of the Bard’s work still in existence.
Even the walls of the city’s buildings breathe great words.
Step between the towering columns of the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall, and you are flanked by walls that carry two of the greatest prose pieces ever penned by an American president. On one, the . On the other, our 16th president’s . (The memorial also witnessed another titanic moment of literary oratory: Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.)
The first stop on a literary tour of Washington should be the (101 Independence Ave., SE), whose massive vaulted dome rises 160 feet above the main reading room. It is a magnificent building, with colorful murals and ornate filigree work. A soaring glass-topped atrium rises above the central staircase.
While officially the research arm of the U.S. Congress, it functions as our country’s de facto national library. It is also the world’s largest library. : 838 miles of bookshelves, more than 36 million books and print items, 3.5 million recordings, 13.7 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 6.7 million pieces of sheet music and 69 million manuscripts.
The current building opened in 1897, constructed in the ornate Beaux Art style. But its history already went back a century.
President John Adams helped spur the library’s creation in 1800. When British troops torched the original building during the War of 1812, former President Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library of 6,487 books to jump-start the collection that had to be rebuilt. Today the Jefferson collection has its own room. While those books literally can’t be touched, you can lean close enough to read titles.
Visitors should also stop at the nearby (201 E. Capitol St., SE) The LOC and Folger make a nice literary two-fer.
You will need to apply for a pass to use its reading room, but it is worth stopping by for the rotating exhibits in the great hall. In October there was a fascinating one on how heraldry — coats of arms and such — worked in Medieval England, including a family tree tracing King Edward IV’s lineage back to Adam and Eve. That’s a lot of holiday cards to send out, but when you own the royal treasury…
The museum, opened in 1932, was founded by Henry Clay Folger. He was president of Standard Oil of New York, and yes, belonged to the family of Folger’s Coffee fame.
Folger’s collecting had a whimsical streak. The museum is full of ephemera such as Toby”-style beer mugs featuring Shakespearean characters. Nothing like drinking your Bass ale out of Hamlet’s noggin.
The Folger also has a theater where you can watch rehearsals as plays take shape. Be forewarned: No photos in the theater.
Other literary treasures are also worth seeking out.
Consider a trip to the in Anacostia, a D.C. historic district. Born into slavery, Douglass was a civil-rights pioneer, active before and after the Civil War.
Beyond being a renowned orator and influential statesman, Douglass was a noted writer. He authored three autobiographies: The bestselling “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” and “My Bondage and My Freedom,” plus a final one, “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.”
Langston Hughes, the late African-American poet and author, once worked as a busser at a local Wardman Park neighborhood hotel restaurant.
The George Washington University campus, at 2121 Eye St. in the heart of Foggy Bottom, has a statue of Alexander Pushkin. The great Russian poet of the early 19th century is widely considered the founder of modern Russian literature.
The statue was a gift from Russia as part of a cultural exchange (a statue of Walt Whitman stands in Moscow). It is thought to be the first statue of a Russian literary figure erected in the U.S.
And speaking of Whitman, the National Portrait Gallery once housed the U.S. Patent Office, where Walt Whitman worked. During the Civil War it also served as a hospital for wounded troops; Whitman served as an orderly. His portrait hangs there.
Washington also has a vibrant bookstore scene.
at 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW, launched in 1984. It serves as one of the city’s literary hubs and sponsors a number of public readings by noted authors. It also has a cafe called Modern Times, which invites dawdling.
, a reference to Hughes, has four shops in the metro area. The flagship is at 2021 14th St., NW. It’s in the U Street Corridor, a hub of the city’s cultural scene. The great singer Pearl Bailey dubbed it “the Black Broadway.”
And while it requires a drive, fans of Jazz Age author in Rockville, Md., just 19 miles from D.C. It sits in the cemetery of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. (520 Veirs Mill Road.) Fitzgerald is not alone there; his wife, Zelda, is buried beside him. The author of “The Great Gatsby” and “This Side of Paradise” died in 1940; Zelda died in a fire eight years later.
The stone marker bears the haunting last lines of “The Great Gatsby”: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp
“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”
— Orson Welles
Writers, and fans of writing, do not live by words alone. They must have food and drink. (Historically, some writers have needed more of the latter than others.)
Washington long had a reputation as a city where creative fine dining was superseded by the expense- account variety, heavy on the trifecta of premium steaks, potatoes du jour and potent martinis. Frankly, when the Senate cafeteria’s bean soup is touted as a culinary highlight, you have to wonder about a town’s status as a dining destination.
But things have changed in recent years.
Traditional favorites do remain, including at 675 15th St., NW, Operating since 1856, it’s near the White House and offers excellent oysters and clam chowder. The at the Hotel Tabard Inn at 1739 N. St., NW offers contemporary American fare in a lovely, cozy room.
More recently, , a new place known for its addictive fried chicken, was magazine. It is on Capitol Hill at 717 Eighth St., SE, close to a multiline metro stop.
has been a favorite for a decade, serving terrific contemporary Southern fare at 1990 M St., NW. Just south of DuPont Circle, it’s about six blocks from Georgetown.
Being home to a large international diplomatic corps, Washington also enjoys an array of global restaurants. Pick a country, and you can probably find a representative restaurant filled with a mix of expats and pols.
Order a plate, pull out a book and read between bites.
—William Porter
