About the Herbert L. Block (Herblock) Collection

Herbert L. Block (1909-2001), known to the world as Herblock, was one of the most influential political commentators and editorial cartoonists in American history. His long chronicle of major social and political events began to appear in newspapers in 1929, and he continued to document domestic and international events for 72 years. The bulk of the 14,000 original ink and graphite drawings in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division date from 1946 through 2001, when Herblock worked for the Washington Post. Approximately 1,300 drawings represent his earlier work for the Chicago Daily News and the Newspaper Enterprise Association.

A growing proportion of the drawings are represented by online descriptions and, in some cases, digital images. To celebrate the centennial of Herblock's birth, the Library is preparing a retrospective exhibition scheduled for October 2009. A heavily illustrated biography, accompanied by images of each cartoon as it was printed in newspapers, has also been published in celebration of the centennial [view press release].

The Herbert L. Block Collection was generously donated to the Library of Congress in 2002 by the Herb Block Foundation. His extensive papers are in the Manuscript Division [view the Manuscript Division finding aid at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms008073].

Information about obtaining copies is available through the "How to obtain copies" link near the top of each catalog record.

Search This Collection