Library of Congress: Central Stair Hall

This public domain photo is from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

This is a small image, at approximately 5×6″ at 72 ppi. It captures the central stair hall at the Library of Congress. The space is notable for the pageantry of ornate molding and frescoed ceilings. Some portions of the image are slightly out of focus, which, in this instance, creates an illustrated effect.

This stock image was shot in photochrom, a technique dating back to the 1880s and employed by the several US firms during the early twentieth century. It required the developer to employ a series of toxic chemicals to the print while rubbing the images with tint-bearing stones. The final images were often quite striking.

Most photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company Collection were published prior to 1920, when the firm ended business operations. These images reside in the public domain due to the early publication date. The collection has been passed between libraries and historical societies many times in the subsequent years. It seems reasonable to assume that the intention with each of these transfers was to make the collection more available to the public. For these reasons we are believe that images in the Detroit Publishing Company Collection reside in the public domain.

427 kilobyte TIFF. Hosted at the Library of Congress.