The Old Patent Office

[resqgeek]

Back in June, I wrote about the Gala reopening of the American Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in the Old Patent Office Building. Earlier this week, a colleague handed me a couple of articles from Smithsonian Magazine about the history of the building and the two museums that share it. The articles are interesting, but the accompanying photographs are simply amazing. The renovation of this historic building appears to have done wonders to it, and now I know that I really must make time to go visit in person.

But before I go, I think I want to track down two books to read. The first, Temple of Innovation, is a history of the building itself, and should provide further detail beyond that in the Smithsonian article. The other, The Patent Office Pony is a history of the Patent Office (i.e., the government agency that occupied that building for almost a hundred years), and appeals to me in part because I work at the modern descendant of that institution.

Comments

[antof9.livejournal.com]

wow, what a picture! This *does* all sound interesting.

Thanks for the pointer :)