Artists' Books
This professional artist's books collection is housed in the Fleet Library Special Collections department. Special Collections includes nearly 18,000 important and rare printed books and periodicals that date from as early as the 16th century to present. Historical as well as contemporary materials cover the fine arts, architecture, photography, decorative arts, and design and provide supplemental and inspirational resources for students, faculty, and outside researchers.
The physical Artists’ Books Collection includes nearly 2,000 multiples, hand-made book objects, limited edition books, and zines dating from the mid-1960’s to present. The collection also includes numerous related book arts references and artists’ ephemera files. Featured collections include bookmaking process archives of internationally known book artists Carol Barton, Ruth Laxson and Angela Lorenz. This digital collection presents an abridged preview of each book. Visit 2nd Floor, Rm. 201 of the Fleet Library or contact risdspecial@risd.edu to view the collection in its entirety.
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Visa and Solo
ottoGraphic, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 24 pages. "A complex screen printed folding book inspired by the Russian Constructivist designs of the 1930.. social commentary on the perils of shopping, and the evils of the credit card."--publisher website. Edition statement from publisher's website. "The book depicts a visual narrative on supermarket shopping. It explores the effect of shopping on human relationships. Solo and Visa are the names of the protagonists as well as brand names of the products. The concertina fold can be opened in more ways than one, but page numbers help to follow the story. Otto created it in 2011 to accompany an exhibition at Bath Artists Studios, for which he designed wallpaper and signage. It is screen printed using blue and red on yellow card. On one side of the card the blue is opaque and the red transparent, on the other side the red is opaque and the blue transparent."--Information provided by the artist by email 16 September 2013.
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Into the Night
Teresa Pankratz, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations. Edition of 15 numbered copies signed by the artist. Hand-printed lithograph tunnel book. "This book was conceived, hand-rendered & bound by Teresa Pankratz -- after a year of dreaming. The 7 original, hand-drawn lithographs were processed & hand printed on Rivers BFK & Mohawk Superfine by Hoofprint Workshop Chicago's inimitable litho expert, Gabe Hoare. The handwritten silkscreened colophon was processed & hand printed by Hoofprint partner Liz Born. ..."--Colophon on back cover. Library has copy no. 3.
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In today's news: alpha males & women power
Kaamna Patel, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 46 pages . "Reappropriates images from print media in India to comment on patriarchy and gender roles."--colophon. Title from last page of book. "Image sources : Mumbai Samachar, Janmabhumi, Mumbai Mirror, Mid-day, Times of India, Hyderabad Times." In Todays News: Alpha Males and Women Power is a photobook by Kaamna Patel wherein she appropriates images from print media in India to comment on prevalent patriarchies and pre-determined gender roles. Using the semiotics of images, In Todays News attempts to reveal the dominant ideology of a people at a particular time in their history, while leaving room for the reader to uncover their own biases that may be informed, consciously or subconsciously, by this ideological structure.--Printed Matter.
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Bottom of the Lake = Fond du Lac
Christian Patterson, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
68, 175 pages : illustrations (some color). Bottom of the Lake is a 256-page facsimile of the artist's family's telephone book for his hometown of Fond du Lac, printed in 1973, soon after his birth. The book includes found markings and reproductions of inserted materials, along with Patterson's own drawings, photographs and marginalia. Bottom of the Lake is a book within a book that carefully combines the original, found, fact-based phone book with the artist's highly subjective re-imagination of his hometown; it playfully juxtaposes different documentary forms and ways of seeing to create a deeply personal, darkly humorous other book. In addition, the experience of the book is extended beyond its pages by an interactive feature -- a telephone number attached to the book that connects users with over 100 experiences mixing field audio recordings, found archival audio and performances that re-imagine and re-create the artist's hometown. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition Stacked & Altered, summer 2022.
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Gold and Silver Do Not Spoil
Robert Peters, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
70 unnumbered pages : illustrations (some color). Single signature stapled into a paper wrapper with cut-out in the front cover revealing part of a photograph on the title page. Offset printed text and images on the theme of money and society. Cut-out in back cover reveals text from last page. "Text compiled from the following authors: Ansel Adams, Aristotle, Samuel Beckett, Charlie Chan, Mary Douglas, Jules Henry, Robert L. Heilbroner, Ann Landers, Claude Levi Strauss, John Locke, Judith Martin, Karl Marx, Octavio Paz, John Ruskin, George Simmel, Herbert Spencer, Abigail Van Buren, Vtgoysky, Ludwig Wittgenstein and others"--Colophon. "This book was produced by Jim Snitzer ... at the University of Iowa's Offset Workshop."--colophon. Signed on the title page by the author. Gift of Estera Milman, RISD Class of 1970. Estera Milman (RISD BFA Painting/Printmaking and Film, 1970) scholar of post-World War II avant-garde art. Founded Alternative Traditions in Contemporary Art (ATCA) at the University of Iowa, 1982, and served as its director until 2000. She is the author of many books, articles, interviews, and exhibition catalogs on Fluxus and No!art. In December 2018 she donated a selection of books from her library to the Fleet Library at RISD. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition By Hand: Women & Books Exhibit fall, 2021.
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Abracadabra: an homage to N.H. Werkman
Werner Pfeiffer, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
2 dimensional flexagons and corresponding loose plates, enclosed in a four sided, cloth covered shaped portfolio; cover; various elements; detail; flat view of flexagon structure; detail. A tribute to the life and work of N.H. Werkman, noted German Graphic Designer. As Werkman playfully used text and letter forms as image, the flexagons revolve to reconfigure each composition.
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Alphabetica II: explorations around the alphabet by senior design students at Pratt Institute in New York
Werner Pfeiffer, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
French fold pages hand sewn and glued, with paper cover; cover; interior spreads and title page. 12 students in Pfeiffer's class at Pratt Institute created this digital alphabet book.
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B
Werner Pfeiffer, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
accordion fold, machine sewn, volvelle, match book structure, folded broadsides, all enclosed in a hinged plastic box with an elastic cord and plastic bead closure; cover; interior pages and spreads; four small books. Sampling of book works made by 9 Pratt Institute students in Pfeiffer's class, featuring the historical, culinary, ethnic, natural, and cultural diversity of Brooklyn.
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Pickings
Werner Pfeiffer, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
scroll, machine stitched French fold pages, cards in envelope, shredded book pages, kaleidoscope structure, 4 sided fold out accordions, all housed in a brown paper bag; exterior (bag); colophon; first opening; contents of bag; . 9 artists' books made by students of Werner Pfeiffer as part of an exhibition celebrating 50 years of book arts at Pratt Institute.
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Blizzard Book
Virginia Phelps, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
Multi-section slip case. Publication information from 23 Sandy website. Edition of 3. "Blizzard Book is a nod to the well-known book structure created by Hedi Kyle, so named because she created the structure during a blizzard. This Blizzard Book is focused on snow and wind. Six personal stories about the artist's experiences with blizzard conditions accompany booklets containing moveable structures which depict and explain the six basic types of snow identified by the International Commission on Snow and Ice in the early 1950's. Each type of snow is created by specific atmospheric conditions that are present when water droplets freeze and result in radically different crystal shapes. The personal stories are a walk down memory lane from days when the artist lived in colder parts of the United States. At least three of the various structures incorporated into this book are attributed to Hedi Kyle. The whole book fans into the shape of a snowflake and the text is read through frosted windows."-- 23 Sandy website (accessed October 23, 2018). Structures include: multi-section slip case, flag book, fishbone fold, Turkish map fold, double-inverted concertina. Made with Mohachi, Nyodo and Arches papers with Hollytex, Tyvek, & acetate.
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A Humument
Tom Phillips, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
367 pages : color illus. ; 18 cm. "After its first publication in book form in 1980, 'A Humument' rapidly became a cult classic. This new revised edition incorporates over fifty entirely new pages."--inside front cover. Gift of the RISD Museum. "A Humument has been a work in progress since 1966 when artist Tom Phillips set himself a task: to find a second-hand book for threepence and alter every page by painting, collage and cut-up techniques to create an entirely new version. The book he found was an 1892 Victorian obscurity A Human Document by W.H. Mallock and Phillips transformed it into A Humument. The first version was printed by the Tetrad press in 1973, and Phillips has continued to transform it, revise it and develop it ever since." -- Artist website (https://www.tomphillips.co.uk/humument). Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition Stacked & Altered, summer 2022.
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Snake
Maria G. Pisano, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
tunnel book variation with parallel concertina sides, enclosed in a printed wrapper; cover; accordion, folded out; colophon. A long, narrow tunnel book unfolds like a slithering snake.
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Change = anything can happen next!
Bob Pliny, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 27 pages. Publication information from 23 Sandy Gallery website. "A meditation upon the nature of change. Change is everywhere and always. It is the ceaseless motion of things continually being transforming into other things."--23 Sandy Gallery website. Text and illustrations were handpainted using graphite and colored pencil, acrylics, photo copies and composition gold leaf. Layers of recycled book pages and wallpaper. Altered book, re-used hardcover book binding. Unique artists' book. Accordion fold, attached to back cover. Text extends out to 148.5 inches.
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Changing Face, Saving Face
Josephine Ren, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
6 unnumbered pages : chiefly color illustrations. Title from front and back cover. "Designed, printed, and bound by Josephine Ren at the Scripps College Press for Art135: Typography and Book Arts, Fall 2017, taught by Tia Blassingame. Accordion fold, Garamond, linoleum-cut blocks, BFK Rives & Hahnemueler paper, Vandercook."--Colophon. "Inspired by love for my culture and the immigrant & Chinese American experience."--Colophon. Edition of 15 signed and numbered copies. Pages [2]-[5] each have a single illustration of a mask which can be removed to reveal printed text. Library has copy no. 11. Instructor is RISD Alumna. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition By Hand: Women & Books Exhibit fall, 2021.
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One Night
John Risseeuw, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
instant book, pamphlet stitch cover; cover; interior spreads. Sounds are experienced through nonsensical words, using type size and color to convey intensity.
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Roadkill
John Risseeuw, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
maze book accordion variation with hidden pamphlet stitch booklet; cover; interior pages and spreads; colophon. Images of highways, traffic, petroleum production and government statistics, provide the background for testimonials by Americans who love their cars. Hidden in one section is a series of footnotes, telling the real story of the impact of cars on our environment
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Roadkill
John Risseeuw, John Nolt, Beauvais Lyons, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
[12], [8] pages : color illus. Fictional text on accordion folded pages with factual notes in booklet attached to accordion pages. "Roadkill was created during a collaboration between John Risseeuw, John Nolt, and Beauvais Lyons in the Spring of 2001 in the University of Tennessee School of Art printmaking studios... Lithography, screenprint, and letterpress were printed on Rives heavyweight text paper and Rives BFK cover."--Colophon. Edition of 50. Library has copy number 22. Sally Hume Lincoln Memorial Fund.
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Vasilisa and the Witch's fire
Joanna Robson, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 4 pages. Title from cardboard slipcase cover. Pattern cloth over cover boards. Lasercut silhouette illustrations, with pages that fold out concertina style. In paper box, 14 x 14 x 2 cm. Certificate of authenticity ([6] pages ; illustrations ; 10 x 10 cm) includes instructions on how to display the book. "A papercut re-telling of Vasilisa the Beautiful's flight from the hut of Baba Yaga the Witch"--Certificate of authenticity. "Book no. 16 of 30 was completed by Joanna Robson in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, on 11/1/2019"--Certificate of authenticity.
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I Desire You Would Remember the Ladies
Vanessa Nieto Romero, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 8 folded sheets of muslim fabric each containing one booklet. Title from cover and colophon. Edition of ten copies, numbered and signed by the artist. "The contemplative action of folding, unfolding and revealing is evoked in this book as a way to praise and remember the labor of immigrant women and how these historical facts resonate in our contemporary political arena. The texts are letterpressed printed, using polymer plates, and the photographs are laser printed on Washi Natural heavy weight of 80 g/m2. The covers are made with muslim fabric, which was used for the sac pillows in the installation. The sections are stitche and bound by hand. 'I Desire You Would Remember the Ladies' was made possible with a Graduate Studies Project Grant, awarded by Graduate Studies from the Rhode Island School of Design. This piece was printed and bound by Vanessa Nieto Romero, in collaboration with Cesar Faustino in an edition of 10 artist books. Summer of 2017. Providence, Rhode Island." --Colophon. Eight folded sheets of muslim fabric, sewn together as signatures. Inside each fold is a 15 x 15 cm paper leaf or booklet with printed text and illustrations. The signatures are laid into a tri-fold cover (18 x 64 cm) "This artist book includes documentation of the site specific installation 'I Desire You Would Remember the Ladies'.. During the fall of 2016, this installation was part of the exhibition 'Fort Adams: Drawing Parallels, Listening for Echoes;' a collaboration between Fort Adams State Park and the Rhode Island School of Design in Newport, RI."-- inside back cover.
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Bok 3b und Bok 3d : Rekonstruktion der im Verlag "Forlag ed." Reykjavík 1961 erschienenen Bücher
Dieter Roth, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 550 pages. Gesammelte Werke / Dieter Roth ; Bd. 7
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Daily mirror : variante der als 'Quadratbuch' bel de Jong in Hilversum 1961 erschienen Mappe
Dieter Roth, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
462 pages : chiefly ill. (some color) ; 23 cm. "Vorwort zur ersten ausgabe (aus einem brief von dieter rot an den herausgeber Pieter Brattinga)"--page preceding p. 1. / "Foreword to the first edition (from a letter from Dieter Rot to the editor Pieter Brattinga)" - page preceding p. 1.
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Ritual: A Book of Primitive Rites and Events
Jerome Rothenberg, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
14 pages. A Great Bear Pamphlet; no. 6. Cover title. Includes bibliographical references. Paper wrappers, stapled. Gift of Estera Milman, RISD Class of 1970. Estera Milman (RISD BFA Painting/Printmaking and Film, 1970) scholar of post-World War II avant-garde art. Founded Alternative Traditions in Contemporary Art (ATCA) at the University of Iowa, 1982, and served as its director until 2000. She is the author of many books, articles, interviews, and exhibition catalogs on Fluxus and No!art. In December 2018 she donated a selection books from her library to the Fleet Library at RISD. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition By Hand: Women & Books Exhibit fall, 2021.
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Every building on the sunset strip
Edward Ruscha, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume unpaged.
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Twentysix gasoline stations
Edward Ruscha, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 45 pages. "First edition, 1963, 400 numbered copies; Second edition, 1967, 500 unnumbered copies; Third edition, 1969, 3000 unnumbered copies; The Cunningham Press, Alhambra, California."--Title-page verso.