This is what the Library of Congress could have looked like if Leon Beaver’s design from 1873 was selected.
Beaver was one of twenty-eight firms that entered that 1873 competition. The design that won went to John Smithmeyer and Paul Pelz — who then spent thirteen years revising their plans before Congress fired them. Their story did not have a happy ending.
Here’s a second rendering of the building with some perspective.
Check out a few more of his drawings here.