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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The Inventories
Sue Johnson, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
four miniature books; miniature books, accordion with board covers. Sequences of images from ephemera and original drawings in unusual juxtapositions, creating a kind of "visual poetry".
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The Glamour Requirement: the 2014 Buffalo Jills Etiquette Guide
Stefanie Kalem, Whitney Coffin Shaw, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 40 pages, 1 slipcase. In April 2014, the Buffalo Bills were sued by their cheerleading squad,the Buffalo Jills, for several labor law violations, some as basic as minimum wage rate of pay. In the ensuing law suit, a document titled "Buffalo Jills Glamour Etiquette Hygiene Rules" became public and was published online. The appalling and insulting document is reproduced here with an editorial by Stefanie Kalem and illustrations by Whitney Coffin Shaw. -- Publisher's website. "The Glamour Requirement was printed on Rives 8FK paper from Monotype 20th Century and hand-set Futura types. The images are printed from photopolymer plates. The covers are imitation football leather." Edition of 30.-- Colophon. In a slipcase. Text in printed in blue and red. Author's text in blue, etiquette text in red. Seven signatures sewn together with white thread. Bound with open spine. "Typographic and grammatical errors in the Jills Etiquette Guide have been faithfully preserved"--Publisher's note. Signed and numbered by artists.
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All the Aldas
Daniel Kane, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
pamphlet stitch, some fold-out pages; cover; cover page; interior spreads and pages. Poems revealing the author's obsession with actor Alan Alda.
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Some Recent Happenings
Allan Kaprow, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
14, [2] pages . A Great Bear Pamphlet ; no. 7. Cover title. "Four characteristic scenarios by the inventor of the Happening Concept."--page [4] of cover. CONTENTS: Birds -- Household -- Soap -- Raining. Stapled binding. 2nd copy 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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Aunt Sallie's Lament
Margaret Kaufman, Clair Van Vilet, Ellen Dorn Levitt, Audrey Holden, and Mary Richardson
Diamond shape bound book, 24 pages, mounted color illustrations. Limited edition of 120 copies signed by Claire Van Vliet, Mary Richardson, Audrey Holden and E.D. Levitt. "This edition was made using the Permalin text block of the 1993 edition by Chronicle Books.. The design was made with Ellen Dorn Levitt and Audrey Holden who did most of the assembly and made the boxes with Mary Richardson."--Colophon. Book bound in a diamond-shape with the left point blunted for the spine. Each page is a different combination of colors and geometric shapes resembling quilt blocks. Additional Japanese and handmade papers added to this edition. Issued in a drop-spine box (31 cm.) covered with quilt-type fabric. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition Stacked & Altered, summer 2022.
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Flight Textile Book Two
Christine Kermaire, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 textile panel, 4 laminated cards : illus. (1 color). Title from 6 x 15 cm. laminated card. Edition of 300 numbered copies. Consists of a textile panel (62 x 88 cm.) with 2 grommets at top for hanging and velcro strips at bottom. Includes three 22 x 29 cm. laminated cards (description of cemetery, layout of cemetery, picture of shadow of monument on grass in cemetery) with velcro tabs at top so that they may be hung from bottom of textile panel. Also includes one 6 x 15 cm. laminated card with legend: Flight textile book two. 3 sheets fixed by "velcro" on textile panel. Christine Kermaire. Short texts in English, Dutch and French. Library has copy no. 153, gift of the artist.
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I Am the Place Where I Am
Hoon Kim, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
saddle stitch with cover that unfolds to reveal a schematic map of Providence; cover; interior spreads and pages. Documentation of the sounds and experiences of selected places in the city of Providence, rendered in poetry and graphic symbols. RISD alumnus.
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Walk on Red:Soundscapes on Broadway
Hoon Kim, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
sewn signatures with soft cover; cover; interior spreads and pages. Visual and graphic representations of sounds in various areas of Manhattan, using diagrams, satelite maps, and photographs. Incorporates factual information with quotations about cities and spaces. RISD alumnus.
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The Cursive Scandinavian Salve
Bengt af Klintberg, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
15 pages. A Great Bear Pamphlet (Unnumbered) Paper wrapper, 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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Intrusion
Ellen Knudson, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 18 double leaves. "Intrusion is a modern bestiary that illustrates the conjured effects of human encroachment on nature and wildlife. These contemporary beasts are the amalgamation of animal bodies and environmental abuses - the illustrated outcomes of the human excesses of plastic bottles and bags, the unrestrained consumption of goods and the inordinate amount of garbage it creates, the imprudent disposal of decor and furniture, the overuse of water and the naive assumption that water is forever guaranteed, and the evolution of disease that is the consequence of carelessness "--Artist's statement, Vamp & Tramp, bookseller's website. "Text adapted from various online sources. Other text by the artist. Letterpress printed on Okawara mulberry paper from woodcuts on Baltic birch plywood, handset types, and photopolymer plates. Poetic verses on the reverse side are wriiten by the artist's son, Gus. Accordion binding by the artist with helpful conversations from Anna Embree. Printed in Gainesville, Florida."--Colophon Issued in slipcase with foil-stamped label. Accordion fold structure "12 tri-paneled pages.. Canson Ingres endsheets and pastedown. Dubletta and Duo book cloth on all enclosures--Vamp & Tramp, bookseller's website. Awarded the Jacque Mielke Award at the Bibliophoria V exhibition at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 2018
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Fledged
Lauren Koenig, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
2 unnumbered pages, 6 folded sheets, all parts are housed in a blue leather strap cover with a single tie. Title from invoice and confirmed by Tia Blassingame. "Fledged by Lauren Koenig is a collection of five myths behind the Aquila, or eagle, constellation. Contained in a leather cover, the booklets were letterpress printed on Rives Bfk and Chinese Heather papers using linocuts, handset letterpress, and a digital reprint of an original monotype"--Tia Blassingame, instructor. "Designed, printed and bound by Lauren Koenig in the spring of 2017 for Scripps College Press as part of the Art 135: Typography and Book Arts course taught by Professor Blassingame.. The Wergaia artwork is printed in collaboration with Alexandra Varga. All other artwork is linoleum cut and oil board printed."--colophon page.
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Monas (Unity): Notes on Time and Seasons
Louise Kohrman, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
4 stab bound booklets, enclosed in an Asian wrapped portfolio, held with bone clasps; portfolio cover; first opening; title page; interior spreads; four volumes; two volumes open; portfolio closed, with four volumes fanned out. Each booklet, through abstract images and poetry, offers personal musings on nature and life, creativity, and time, within the changing seasons. RISD Alumna
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Hair
Sun Young Kong, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume. Title from colophon. Title on cover in Korean. "Embroidery using hair"--colophon. Korean text is embroidered. Accordion folded, self cover. Limited edition of 20 + 1 artist's proof. Text in Korean, English translation on colophon.
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The Historian : A Novel
Elizabeth Kostova, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 book object. Altered book by unknown book artist. After page [iix] the remainder of the text is cut-out. A 19.5 x 9.5 window has been carved into the text block. A text message which begins, "My dear and unfortunate sucessor: ..." is printed on various raised lines of text which read from top to bottom. Original book was published: New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2005. Map on lining-paper. Gift of Jan Baker. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition Stacked & Altered, summer 2022.
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Incessant White Noise
Karen S. Kunc, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume. Cover title. Trade edition of 30. Throw out accordion fold book. Irregular accordion fold bound into folio of covered boards with etching and mixed media decorative papers.
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Solid Phases
Sara Langworthy, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume ([50] pages) : illustrations ; 24 x 32 cm. Edition of 33 copies. Most of this book was designed and printed in 2008, during a Visiting Artist Residency at the University of Iowa Center for the Book, made possible by a grant from the Windgate Foundation. The final twelve press runs and binding were completed in the fall of 2012. The text was hand-set from a very worn case of Helvetica, and printed on a Vandercook SP-20. Images printed from a photopolymer plates and linoleum blocks. Papers, in order of appearance and omitting repetition, are: Sakamoto, Shin-Tobi, an overbeaten flax sheet made by Bridget O'Malley of Cave Paper, and assorted text-weight sheets made at the UICB Papermaking Facility. Four one-pound cans of transparent white ink were used in the printing of this book. Solid Phases is contained in a modified full-cloth case binding.--Colophon. Solid Phases is inspired by drawings of the molecular structure of ice, and the language used to describe the brittle bond of water in its solid phase. This book explores the fragile nature of connection, tendency towards stasis despite change, and the impact of stress upon a solid. The text is culled from the book Ice Physics (Peter V. Hobbs, 1974) in particular the first section of the book entitled "Solid Phases of the Water Substance."--Artists' website.
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Wandering Stars
Sara Langworthy, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 20 pages. Edition of 33 copies, signed by the artist. Text is letterpress printed. Images printed from multiple layers of collagraph blocks and pressure print templates. The paper is Okawara Handmade. Size and shape of papers varies. Handsewn into black paper cover. This book is made from remnants of the artist's work, "Sidereal," also printed in 2019.
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Thrift Store: the past & future secret lives of things
Emily Larned, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
case bound in hard cover; cover; interior spreads. The relative value of things is brought to mind when looking at objects in thrift stores. Discarded or recycled "treasures" reflect the life of their former owners. Interesting juxtapositions create found visual narratives.
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A Basket is a reminder
Aimee Lee, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 24 pages . Cover title. Unique copy. "A basket is a Reminder celebrates baskets and their overlooked role in creating and advancing human culture and life."--colophon. Pages of handcut handmade paper, laminated. One side is made of iris leaves; the reverse is of milkweed parts (seeds, coma, pods, bast fiber, inner stalk), cutouts, ink on handmade laminated paper (iris + milkweed). Text inkjet printing on handmade yucca paper. Sewn binding. Covers of walnut inked hanji basket rolled onto Arches Cover paper. Laid in four-fold wrapper with title printed on front flap. Plant harvesting and processing, papermaking, writing, and binding by the artist. Signed and dated by the artist. Copyright date hand written on back cover. Colophon printed on wrapper.
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Conversations in the Sky
Andre Bassuet Lee, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 folded sheet. Numbered and signed edition of 100 copies Photography and design by André Lee. Printed in Osaka, Japan --colophon. "When I look at the modern Japanese landscape, I see continuous lines of communication, telephone wires connecting friends and family. The Japanese sky is unique in it's infinite lines against a mountainous and architectural backdrop. Can you imagine all the conversations going on in the sky through telephone threads?"--colophon. A single thread runs through the entire text and covers. Accordion fold. Text and back cover printed in light blue on white. Cover printed in light blue and green on white. Colophon text in Japanese and English.
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Picto Diary: After 1983
Bing Lee, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume (unpaged) : chiefly ill. ; 22 x 22 cm. Includes three page introduction: "Calligraphic automatism" by Eleanor Heartney.
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Nightfall Faces
Carolyn Leigh, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
drum leaf binding with hidden built up compartment holding BB's. Enclosed in a collaged and painted wrapping envelope, held with woven ribbon. Book closed with wrapper; book closed with wrapper open; interior spreads; back cover; cover. Visions of a primitive ritual dance performed around a fire are evoked through these images of tribal masks. Rhythmic sounds can be made by shaking the book like a maraca.
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Si Lewen's Parade : An Artist's Odyssey
Si Lewen, Art Spiegelman, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume (unpaged), 71 pages : chiefly illustrations (some color). Opened one way, the accordion-fold book is unpaged and is comprised of Si Lewen's Parade with a short introduction by Art Spiegelman and a short excerpt of an interview with Si Lewen by Steve Grieger and Laura Mirsky from 2007. Opened the other way, the book contains a 71 page commentary by Art Spiegelman about Lewen and his work. "Si Lewen's Parade is a timeless story told in a language that knows no country--a wordless epic that, despite its muteness, is more powerful than the written or the spoken word. First published in 1957, The Parade is a lost classic, newly discovered, remastered, and presented by Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus. Reproduced in a unique two-sided accordion-fold format with an extensive overview of the artist's career on the verso, The Parade is a celebration of art and the story of recurring war as Si Lewen experienced it over the past 90 years, watching the joyful parades that marked the end of World War I lead into the death marches of World War II and the Korean War. As The Parade unfolds, the reader is taken on an unforgettable journey of sequential images"-- Provided by publisher. Editing and design: Art Spiegelman. In paper slipcase.
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Autobiography Sol LeWitt 1980
Sol LeWitt, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 126 pages. Printed by Morgan Press Inc., Dobbs Ferry, New York.