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Fat Book Week

10-player tournament bracket on a yellow background with "Fat Book Week logo showing a bear with a stack of books.

You've heard of Fat Bear Week...now get ready for Fat Book Week! In honor of the 10,000+ books in the Longfellow family collection, Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters NHS called on other literary-minded sites to submit the fattest book in their museum collections for a tournament-style bracket of 10 heavyweight tomes. Check out the bracket, then visit @LONGNPS on Instagram each morning from October 6-12 to vote for your favorite bulky book!

We’ll kick off on October 6 with two massive matchups: Yosemite NP vs. James A. Garfield NHS, and Thomas Edison NHP vs. Sagamore Hill NHP. On October 7 Weir Farm NHP goes head to head with Frederick Law Olmsted NHS, followed by Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters NHS vs. Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP. On 10/8, the chubby champions will advance to take on Adams NHP and Salem Maritime NHS. Stay tuned on 10/9-10/12 to crown our winner!

Books - like bears - come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities. Our entries range from a well-loved tome of children’s stories to massive dictionaries and encyclopedias. Any book could prevail! Get to know the competitors below.

The Cosmopolitan guest register, part of the 2015 summer exhibit “Yosemite Viewed” in the museum gallery. Large historic book with ornate brown cover.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite NP really weighed in with the Guest Register of the Cosmopolitan Bathhouse & Saloon.

"The Guest Register of the Cosmopolitan Bathhouse & Saloon embodies the sturdy/delicate dichotomy that brought it and the Cosmopolitan's other furnishings to Yosemite. It's massive. The book, custom-made in San Francisco for the steep price of $500, measures 24 inches by 18 inches by 8 inches, and contains 800 pages. It is heavily morocco-bound and silver plated and sits in the Yosemite Museum propped only slightly open to keep the weight from its own pages from destroying its binding. And yet, within this behemoth object is flourishing black laceworks of signatures. The hefty book protects the dark gossamer marks made by the hands of 18,000 guests.

Indeed, the book is weighted by the weightless signatures of four U.S. Presidents: James Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Theodore Roosevelt. Distinguished generals, foreign lords, counts, and dukes such as Duke Alex of Russia, the famous London actress Lily Langtry, and English writer Rudyard Kipling all graced its pages alongside American legends John Muir, Galen Clark, and Buffalo Bill Cody. ” (Read more: https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/curious-matters-dirt-granite-and-fine-china.htm)

Size Stats: YOSE 6825 is W 50.5, L 59.0, H 19.0 CM and weighs around 80 pounds.


A composite of three images: James Garfield bobblehead next to the spine of a large brown dictionary, the front cover of the book, and an entry from the dictionary for the word "Fat"

James A. Garfield National Historic Site

Mentor, OH

James A. Garfield NHS submits the 1860 Worcester's Dictionary.

"James Garfield's wife, Lucretia, added the James A. Garfield Memorial Library to the Garfield residence after his assassination. The site's chosen chunky book is an 1860 Worcester's Dictionary. It measures in inches: 11x9x4. Please note the President Garfield bobblehead for scale."


Left: large historic books on bookshelf. Right: Very thick brown book "Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office Volume CXXVII. March – April 1907"

Thomas Edison National Historical Park WINNER!

West Orange, NJ

Edison NHP submits: Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office Volume CXXVII. March – April 1907.

"This tome is the perfect summer beach read. Nothing else will fit in your bag so don’t worry about bringing towels or tools to build a sandcastle because you’ll be instantly swept away into the fantasy world of United States Patents."

Size Stats: H 28.0, W 20.5, T 17.3 cm - 3820 pages!


Brown historic book with gold imagery on the cover displayed on a table.

Sagamore Hill National Historical Park

Oyster Bay, NY

Sagamore Hill NHS submits a 1904 edition of Nibelungenlied, a work first published in the 1200s.

“This book has everything: heroes, queens, epic battles, lyrical verse - and, as a 1905 gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Theodore Roosevelt, is a token of their close but complicated pre-war friendship."


Top left: book cover "“Letters Given by the English Longfellow Memorial Committee to The Longfellow Memorial Association of Cambridge.” Top right: Handwritten letter. Bottom: Thick brown book with pencil for scale.

Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site

Cambridge, MA

Tournament hosts Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters NHS submit Letters Given by the English Longfellow Memorial Committee to The Longfellow Memorial Association of Cambridge.

"The many volumes of poetry in our collection are on the slim side, but this tribute to a poet is massive. The leather-bound volume, almost 7 inches thick, contains manuscript “Letters Given by the English Longfellow Memorial Committee to The Longfellow Memorial Association of Cambridge.” The letters – many written by notable British authors and aristocrats – lend their support and funds to the installation of a memorial bust of #HenryWadsworthLongfellow in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. We’re not sure how much it weighs, but our curatorial staff assure us it is 'very heavy.'"

Size Stats: H 30.3, W 43.0, D 17.3 CM
Thick historic book with faded black marbling on brown cover.

Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP

Fredericksburg, VA

Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP submits from Chatham Manor: Edinburgh Encyclopedia, 1808-1830.

“This book is volume ten of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. It bears James Horace Lacy's bookplate - Lacy owned Chatham during the Civil War, but it was occupied by the Union army. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia was originally edited by Sir David Brewster, a British scientist principally remembered for his experimental work in physical optics, and published in Edinburgh between 1808-1830, but Lacy's set is an American edition. It is generally considered to be the strongest on scientific topics. This "fat book" measures (in inches) D 3 x L 9.5 x W 11. Lacy's granddaughter donated the set in 1984 (the last private owner of Chatham, did not will it to the National Park Service until 1975).”

Size Stats: (in inches) D 3 x L 9.5 x W 11


Worn maroon front cover of historic book, Popular Fairy Tales in Words of One Syllable. Illustration of two people strolling on the front.

Weir Farm National Historical Park

Wilton, CT

Weir Farm NHP submits Popular Fairy Tales in Words of One Syllable, by Harriet B. Audubon.  (New York: Leavitt & Allen Bros, 1870.) 

“It doesn’t matter how fat a book is if it was never enjoyed. This petite, but “stout” children's book comes in at only 6 inches tall but 2 inches thick. It was given to Anna Baker when she was 9 years old; its scuffed-up cover and slightly loose pages shows it was read again and again – exactly what should happen to a fat book!

Although we know it will not be the fattest book in the competition, we think it punches above its weight!


Smiling park ranger holds open a very large book showing a historic photograph from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site

Brookline, MA

Frederick Law Olmsted NHS submits two volumes of photographs from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and reminds us, “Girth is not the only measure of a book! “

“Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site holds two volumes of photographs from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition showing the design and construction of "The White City" (in the planning of which, the Olmsteds were instrumental). Measuring 19" x 25", not QUITE elephant folio (23" high, according to the American Library Association (ALA)'s Glossary of Library and Information Science, Fourth Edition) these two volumes of collected photos definitely qualify as the fattest books in our collections!”


Thick historical dictionary with centimeter rule for scale.

Salem Maritime National Historic Site

Salem, MA

Salem Maritime NHS submits Webster's New International Dictionary with Reference History, 1908. SAMA 2973

“Before the internet, how did you look up the meaning of words like sesquipedalian or bloviate? This dictionary was purchased by the U. S. Customs Service for use in the Salem Custom House around 1908, and as you can see it was well used by the Custom Service staff.”


Top left: black and gold book cover. Top right: Side image of book on table. Book with ruler. Bottom Left: Bottom Right: Title Page.

Adams National Historical Park

Quincy, MA

Adams NHP submits The Book of Common Prayer, with a morocco leather binding.

“This book is on exhibit at the Adams Birthplaces. It is not original to the Adams family but a descendent purchased it for the Birthplaces when they were being furnished. It certainly draws a lot of attention and does represent the literacy that John Adams grew up in absence of any original materials.”

Size Stats: 24 CM x 30 CM x 120 CM

Adams National Historical Park, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, James A Garfield National Historic Site, Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Thomas Edison National Historical Park, Weir Farm National Historical Park, Yosemite National Park more »

Last updated: October 13, 2021