Contemporary Visual Books:
A Brief Guide to Resources
STUDY COLLECTIONS
Artists Books and Livres d'Artistes
RIT Library has a collection of several hundred artists' books and
approximately fifty livres d'artistes, most of which are housed in the Special
Collections on the third floor. The collection includes examples of a variety of
reproduction processes, subjects, and physical presentations. Special areas of
collecting interest are works that use photographic imagery, books that use
handmade paper, and books by RIT students, faculty, and alumni. Most of the
items are listed in the library catalog under the form subject heading "artists'
books."
Children's Books
The library collections include several hundred contemporary (1970s to the
present) children's books selected for their notable illustrations. Most of
these are housed together in the open stacks on the second floor, classed at
"PZ," the Library of Congress classification number for children's literature.
The collections also include extensive secondary documentation about children's
book illustration including periodical literature, annuals, and historical and
technical works.
Mechanical Books
The library collection includes approximately fifty examples of commercial
publications, artists' books, and livres d'artistes which incorporate paper
engineering elements such as pop-ups, sliding images, and fold-outs. Most of
these items are housed in the Special Collections. The works are scattered
throughout the collections (depending on their subject matter), but many are
listed under the form subject heading "Toy and Movable Books" in the library
catalog.
MONOGRAPHS
In addition to the study collections of artists' books, livres d'artistes,
illustrated children's books, and mechanical books described above, the library
collections also include a wealth of secondary sources about these forms.
Critical, technical, and historical material about visual books can be found in
monographic sources--books and exhibition catalogs.
Historical Surveys, Technical Guides
ARTISTS' BOOKS
PN1042 .B58 2000
Clay, Steven. A Book of the Book: Some Works and Projections About the Book
and Writing. New York: Granary Books, 2000.
N7433.3.D78 1995
Drucker, Johanna. A Century of Artists' Books. NewYork: Granary Books,
1995.
N7433.3.A75 1985
Lyons, Joan, ed. Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook.
Rochester, N.Y.: Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1985.
N7433.3 .P47 2002
Perree, Rob. Cover to Cover: The Artists' Book in Perspective. Rotterdam:
Nai Publishers, 2002.
Z116.A3S58 1992
Smith, Keith A. Structure of the Visual Book. Rev. and exp. ed. Rochester,
N.Y.: The Sigma Foundation, 1992.
Z116.A3S582 1989
Smith, Keith A. Text in Book Format. Rochester, N.Y.: The Sigma Foundation,
1989.
ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOKS
NC965.B32
Bader, Barbara. America's Picturebooks: From Noah's Art to the Beast Within.
New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1976.
OVER Z286.C48G38
Gates, Frieda. How to Write, Illustrate, and Design Children's Books.
Monsey, N.Y.: Lloyd-Simone Publishing, 1986.
PN1009.A1M37 1995
Marantz, Sylvia S. The Art of Children's Picture books: A Selective Reference
Guide. 2nd ed. New York: Garland, 1995.
MECHANICAL BOOKS
OVER Z1033.T68H34 1979
Haining, Peter. Movable Books: An Illustrated History. London: New
English Library, 1979.
TT870.H486 1985
Hiner, Mark. Paper Engineering for Pop-up Books and Cards. Norfolk,
Eng.: Tarquin Publications, 1985.
Z1033.T68J64 1992
Johnson, Paul. Pop-up Paper Engineering. London: Palmer Press, 1992.
BASIC BINDING AND OTHER BOOK PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES
Z271.D57 1998
Doggett, Sue. Bookworks. New York: Watson-Guptill, 1998.
Z116.A3 G65 2001
Golden, Alisa J. Unique Handmade Books. New York: Sterling Pub. Co.,
2001.
Z266.J36 2000
James, Angela. The Handmade Book. Pownal, VT: Storey Books, 2000.
Z271.J66 1981
Johnson, Arthur W. The Thames and Hudson Manual of Bookbinding. London:
Thames and Hudson, 1981.
Cary 095x M825sl
Moote, Cheryl. Sleight of Binding. North York, Ontario: Moote Points,
2002.
Z271.R97 1999
Ryst, Marie. Handmade Books and Albums: An Introduction to Creative Bookbinding.
New York: Design Books, 1999.
Z271.S65 1990, Z271.S653 1995, and Z271.S652 1995
Smith, Keith A. Non-adhesive Binding Series. 3 vols. Rochester, N.Y.:
Keith A. Smith, 1990-1995.
Z271.Z43 1990
Zeier, Franz. Books, Boxes, and Portfolios: Binding, Construction, and
Design Step-by-Step. New York: Design Press, 1990.
Library Catalog
Einstein, the RIT Library catalog, includes listings for all visual books
by title, by the names of their artists and authors, and under the form subject
headings given in the first section of this guide. Use the following subject
headings to find information about visual books in books and exhibition catalogs.
ARTISTS' BOOKS AND LIVRES D'ARTISTES
Artists' Books
Conceptual Art
Happening (Art)
Performance Art
ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Children's Literature--Illustration
Illustrated Books, Children's
Juvenile Fiction
Picture Books for Children
MECHANICAL BOOKS
Paper Work
Toy and Movable Books
BINDING AND OTHER BOOK PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES
Bookbinding--Handbooks, Manuals, Etc.
Book Boxes--Handbooks, Manuals, Etc.
Book Covers--Handbooks, Manuals, Etc.
Browsing Guide
Most of the visual books and documentation about visual books in the Special
Collections and circulating collections are located at these call numbers:
ARTISTS' BOOKS AND LIVRES D'ARTISTES
N7433 Artists' Books
N6490-N6494 Twentieth-century Art
Z116 Book Design
ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOKS
NC965 Illustration of Children's Books
PZ Juvenile Fiction
MECHANICAL BOOKS
TT870 Paper Work
Z1033.T68 Toy and Movable Books
BOOKBINDING
Z271 Bookbinding
PERIODICAL LITERATURE
Many art, photography, and graphic arts periodicals available at RIT Library
regularly review recent artists' books, livres d'artistes, and notable new
illustrated children's books. They also include exhibition reviews and critical
and historical articles about visual books. Use the indexing and abstracting
services listed below to help locate periodical articles about visual books.
Indexing and Abstracting Services
Art Full-Text
Electronic Format: Via WilsonWeb from Databases, Catalogs and more section
on RIT Library Web page.
Includes indexing from September 1984 to the present and abstracts from
Spring 1994 to the present. Selected full-text from 1997 to the present.
Art Index Retrospective
Electronic Format: Via WilsonWeb from Databases, Catalogs and more section
on RIT Library Web page.
Includes indexing from 1929 to 1984.
[Artist and/or Author's Name]
Artists' Books
Art, Twentieth Century--Recent Trends
Children's Literature
Illustrated Books
Illustrated Books, Children's
Printing Industry--Private Presses
Artbibliographies Modern.
Electronic Format: Via CSA from Databases, Catalogs and more section on
RIT Library Web page.
Print format back issues: INDEX N1.A79. Vol. 1- 24, 1969-93. Semi-annual.
Useful subject headings are:
[Artist and/or Author's Name]
Artists' Books [term used from 1983 to the present]
Book, Art of the [term used from 1969-1979]
Book Design
Book Illustration
Children's Books
Design and Applied Arts Index.
Electronic format: from Databases, Catalogs and more section on RIT Library
Web page.
Print format back issues: INDEX NK1110.D47. Vol. 1-6, 1987-93. Semi-annual.
Useful subject headings are:
Artists' Books
Books
Illustration: Children's Books
Periodicals
OVER PER TR640.A2 / CMS
Afterimage. Vol. 1- , 1982- .
PER Z674.2.A67 / CMS
Art Documentation. Vol. 1- , 1972- .
PER NE1.P692 / CMS
Art on Paper. vol. 3, no.1 - , Sept/Oct 1998 -.
PER N1.A814 / CMS
Artforum. Vol. 2- , 1963- .
PER Z199.F55
Fine Print. Vol. 1- , 1975-1990.
PER NX1.H44
High Performance. Vol. 1- , 1978-1997.
PER NE 1.P692
On Paper: The Journal of Prints, Drawings, and Photography. Vol.
1- , 1996-1998.
PER NE1.P69
Print Collector's Newsletter. Vol. 4- 27, 1973- 1996 .
PER N1.U42
Umbrella. Vol. 2-7, 1979-1984.
PER Z119.J88 / CMS
Visible Language. Vol. 1- , 1967- .
Also available electronically through Periodical
Abstracts -- Research II via ABI Inform.
WEBSITES
The Center for the Book Arts (New
York, New York)
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
(Minneapolis, Minnesota)
San Francisco Center for the Book (San
Francisco, California)
Visual Studies Workshop (Rochester, New
York)
Women's Studio Workshop (Rosendale,
New York)
Women's Studio
Workshop Digital Archives (A new archive of over 60 artists' books
published by Women's Studio Workshop over the past 23 years. Examine each
book page by page!)
Maintained by Kari Horowicz.
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