This new series of titles is published to coincide with the ongoing exhibition World Treasures of the Library of Congress and presents for the first time the Library's unparalleled collections, which began with the acquisition of Jefferson's library. The collections now total more than 120 million items, ranging from books, pamphlets, manuscripts, music and maps, to newspapers, microforms, and graphic arts. Beginnings is the first volume in the series, and first exhibition, and reveals how common themes have been treated in different cultures -- be they African, Hindu, Hispanic, Tibetan, Islamic, Judeo-Christian or Native American -- and is an exploration of how such cultures have dealt with the creation of the universe and explained the heavens and the earth.