The Library Of Congress would like to share a selection of free cat images with you

Some are just the expected old photographs and illustrations of cats, but a handful of the pictures are really something special. Take, for instance, “Evolution Of A Cat-Cher,” a sort of precursor Animorphs cover that shows a cat transforming into a squat, baseball-playing man with a mustache.

Here, too, is “What George Asked The Cat,” which elevates a straightforward drawing with a mysterious title that forces us to wonder what sort of secret wisdom, exactly, this suit-wearing child sought from a pet sitting imperiously on its chair-throne.

There are other good illustrations, like a beginner’s level anatomy lesson focused on pupils and scratchy tongues and a military recruitment poster featuring a blood-frenzied hellcat, but it’s worth calling attention to some of the most intriguing photographs included here, too.

Chief among them is this 1936 photo of a cat dressed up in Viking gear as if it’s about to star in Wagner’s Die Walküre. (We must hope, despite so much worrying evidence, that the cat isn’t a Nazi sympathizer.)

There’s also a cat listening to swing music performed by Sam Donahue’s band in 1946.

And, for good measure, here’s “In The Rogue’s Gallery,” which sees a cat wearing little spectacles while taking a photo of another cat, and was probably the height of humor when it was published in 1898.

Check out the entire gallery for yourself for more choice cuts.

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