History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics

I used to think that the United States Government Printing Office was responsible for putting out lots and lots of documents only politicians and lawyers might find interesting, as well as pamphlets on home canning, fallout shelter design, and other arts. I was thus delighted to find that this government branch has produced a quite beautiful volume, _History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics_ by William C. Allen. It even has a publication note: "106th Congress, 2d Session / Senate Document 106-29 / Printed pursuant to H. Con. Res. 221," but don't be put off by this. It may be an official US Government publication, but it is a large format book of almost five hundred glossy pages, it is well illustrated, and it is written with no touch of bureaucratese. Cynics alert: the government can do some things very well. Of course, that is what the book itself is about. The Capitol is a real triumph, a gorgeous building that does everything architecture can do to inspire hand-over-the-heart patriotic feelings. Underneath that magnificent dome are wings that are beautifully proportioned and decorated, and it comes as a surprise to learn just how much the building consists of additions that were never anticipated when its first stone was laid in 1793. Indeed, the splendid dome we see now was before just a smaller spherical cap without decoration, and the building consists more of additions than it does of the original structure. We may now think of the building as essentially finished; indeed, historic preservation activists have in recent decades prevented any major additions or changes, but for most of its history, the Capitol has been tinkered with and pieced together. In 1827, Representative Charles Wickliffe of Kentucky addressed the house to complain that the building was not yet finished, and that old men from his district who had worked on it were now amazed to find out that the work was incomplete.