Wednesday 7 January 2009Big new book about the great moments in American history

Featuring fascinating and rarely seen images, BIG: Big Records, Big Events and Big Ideas in American History: Celebrating 75 Years of the National Archives is to be published in March 2009 by London-based fine art publisher D Giles Limited in association with the Foundation for the National Archives, Washington, D.C..

Starting with the 13-foot scroll of the Articles of Confederation—the first constitution of the United States—the full-scale records included in this book reveal some of the formative moments in American history and nationhood, and are among the treasures of the US National Archives’ collection. Big personalities and weighty national concepts and ideals are represented in the pages that follow, finishing with the “biggest” idea of all, the first printing of the Declaration of Independence dating from 1776.

Among the items reproduced, some with fold-out pages, are a section from the enormous 13-foot square map of the Gettysburg battlefield, drawn a few years after the critical Civil War battle; a design drawing for the Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922; the helmet worn by Major General Clarence Huebner, commander of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division (known as the “Big Red One”) which was in the first wave of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944; and a 19-page telegram, called “the long telegram”, sent by George Kennan, a U.S. diplomat in Moscow in 1946, which set the direction for US/Soviet relations over the next 50 years. The variety of documents and objects is huge, ranging from orders relating to the fitting out of a ship with reinforced beds and extra large baths to carry William H. Taft – at 320lbs, the heaviest President in U.S. history – to prints of the mammoth glass-plate negatives by photographer Carleton Watkins of Yosemite Valley in California, now the site of a National Park, dating from the 1860s.

The Author:
Stacey Bredhoff became curator at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in September 2008. Prior to that time, she served as senior curator, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Museum Programs.

BIG!
Big Records, Big Events and Big Ideas in American History: Celebrating 75 Years of the National Archives
96 pages, including 4 gate-folds, 10 x 12 in.” (305 x 254 mm), portrait
104 colour illustrations, hardback
Text: Up to 20,000 words
ISBN: 978 1 904832 62 1 (13 digit)
ISBN: 1 904832 62 8 (10 digit)

Price: US$29.95/UK£16.95
Publication date: March 2009
Publisher: D. Giles Limited, London

Distributed in the UK and Rest of World (excluding US and Canada) by
Antique Collectors’ Club
Sandy Lane
Old Martlesham
Woodbridge
Suffolk
IP12 4SD, UK
T: +44 (0)1394 389950
F: +44 (0)1394 389999
Enquiries: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Distributed in the US and Canada by
Antique Collectors’ Club
Eastworks,
116 Pleasant Street, Suite 18
Easthampton, MA 01027
Toll-free orders: 800-252-5231

For Further Information and Review Copies:
In the UK contact:
Liz Japes
20 Lockitt Way
Kingston
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 3LG
Tel: +44 (0)1273 480225
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

In the USA contact:
Karen Lunstead, Marketing Manager
Eastworks,
116 Pleasant Street, Suite 18
Easthampton, MA 01027
Tel: 1 413 529 0862
E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

For more information about BIG! or to obtain images of the items included in the exhibition, call the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 1-202-357-5300.