Artists' Books at the Fine Arts Library: Home

Artists' Books can be found in quite a few of Cornell's libraries. This guide focuses on the collection at the Mui Ho Fine Arts Library. The Fine Arts Library's Artists' Book Collection (ABC) is a growing collection, generously funded by the Arnold B. (Class of 1944) and Gloria Tofias endowment.The collection is designed to allow researchers to directly interact with artists' books during the library's regular operating hours. It is relatively new, but growing. The ABC now includes about 150 works.

The ABC is located on the first level of the Mui Ho Fine Arts Library, which is on the top two levels of Rand Hall. It is just across from the front desk and up a flight of steps.

The ABC is a non-circulating collection. That means you can look at the books in the library, but you can't check them out. Take individual books to the desks by the windows near the front desk to consult them.

At the most basic level, artists' books are "books that are intended as visual art objects" or "a work of art in book form." But what is a book form? The codex format (think: stacked pages, held together with a cover) only describes one particular format. Artists' books are often interactive, sculptural forms, and may or may not include text. Fasten your seat belts: artists' books come in countless forms and formats, such as:

accordion, collage, cut-out, flipbook, miniature, photobook, pop-up, origami structures, scroll, tunnel book, zine, and many more.

Part of the collection has been digitized and is available for perusal online to members of the Cornell community.

Login to JSTOR and take a look at the Artists' Book Collection.