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 Nuclear Fan
Louise Odes Neaderland, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
10 leaves : chiefly color ill.. Paper fan in paper sleeve. Sleeve has a red tassle looped and tied from the base. Title from sleeve.
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Trump Circus
Louise Odes Neaderland, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
2 unnumbered pages : color illustrations, portraits. Paper cover sleeve with cut-out windows. Two sheets of illustrations designed to slide in and out of the sleeve. Edition of 24 numbered and signed by the artist. "Artist ... Neaderland responds to the Trump presidency: a cage-like sleeve provides frames for images of Trump, clowns, and wild animals as two interchangable viewing cards slip through the structure."--Vampandtramp.com (distributor's website).
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Complexities
Bea Nettles, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
perfect bound with soft cover; cover; interior pages. With each photograph, the artist recounts stories revealing the complexities of her life as a mother, artist, and professor and the balancing act it requires to play all those roles.
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Flamingo in the Dark
Bea Nettles, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
case bound in hard cover, foil stamped cover text; cover; interior pages. A series of complex layered photo montages in color.
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Mountain Dream Tarot: 78 photographic cards
Bea Nettles, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
printed cards in cardboard box with printed instruction accordion fold booklet; cover; cards. A set of 78 photographic Tarot cards.
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Seasonal Turns: four accordion books
Bea Nettles, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
4 accordion fold books, enclosed in a plastic box; cover; four small books; three accordion books; two interior spreads . The four seasons are depicted through images of nature and human interactions with it.
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A Hypothetical Analysis of the Twinkle in Stars: (as told by a child to a teacher)
Katherine Ng, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 art work : color illustration. Consists of a single sheet of paper (5 x 64 cm.) folded into a pentagonal shape (9 cm.) that stores five folded paper colored stars (1-2 cm.) permanently constructed in the same manner. "Book structure based on the wishing stars (lucky stars) from Hong Kong. Handset in Centaur, letterpress printed on Mohawk"--Colophon. Library has copy 92 of 100. Initialed by the author. Curated title for Fleet Library Special Collections exhibition By Hand: Women & Books Exhibit fall, 2021.
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Flyway
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume 8 pages. "Second in a series of three about Jamaica Bay. Edition of 200. Printed letterpress from metal type and lino blocks in July & August 2017"--Colophon. Four folded sheets (24 x 30 cm) lift-up from the printed text pages to reveal large, color illustrations. "Brain Washing from Phone Towers, Informational pamphlets, Summer 2017, New York City, Sarah Nicholls, pamphleteer"--Page [4] of cover. Accordion fold binding.
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Fresh Creek
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 folded leaf, 20 pages . "The last pamphlet of 2019 is about: transportation networks, bicycling in the city, the Jamaica Bay Greenway, landfills, Robert Moses, how to get where you need to go, Starrett City and their seaside view, and finally, the Shirley Chisholm State Park out in East New York. It follows a bike ride that I took last fall that I particularly enjoyed."-- artists' website.
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Glasshouse
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 40 pages. ".. printed in an edition of 35 in the fall of 2016 from wood, metal, and plastic on a Vandercook Universal III housed at the Center for Book Arts, New York. Papers used are Sakamoto Heavy, Thai Kozo, and Zerkyll Ingres. Studio support for the development of the edition was also provided by Guttenberg Arts in NJ. Polymer plates were made by Boxcar Press in Syracuse, NY." -- Colophon. Limited edition of 35 copies; numbered and signed by Sarah Nicholls. Pamphlet stich binding; in two gatherings, attached to the heavy purple paper cover. Issued in a blue cloth covered clamshell case, print with title mounted to case cover. "'Glasshouse' is a limited edition artist book that looks at the history of greenhouses, a technology made to cultivate foreign plants in a controlled environment, originally in service to empire."--artist's website.
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Homesteading for the Urban Coyote
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 sheet folded to 5 pages. Edition of 250. "Fall 2018 NYC"--page [4] of cover. Letterpress and linoleum (linocut) block prints on paper folded accordion style and sewn into printed cardstock cover with pamphlet stitch.
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Make the earth say beans
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume. Cover title [Edition of 250] Linoleum cut and letterpress prints on paper. Do-si-do binding, instant book format, that unfolds to reveal additional text and illustrations. Enclosed in printed, paper cover. "Brain Washing From Phone Towers is a series of informative and entertaining Informational Pamphlets produced by hand on a seasonal basis."--Provided by artist. "Summer 2019 NYC"--back cover.
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Plant out of Place
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 folded leaf . Cover title. "A special publication from Brain Washing from Phone Towers Information Pamphlets"--page [4] of cover. "Spring 2019 NYC" Pamphlet stitch, interior is printed on single folded sheet. Metal type and linocut printing.
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Solastalgia
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, 170 pages. "Solastalgia" is a term coined over a decade ago by Australian professor of sustainability Glenn Albrecht, which he defined as "the pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediƯate assault.. a form of homesickness one gets when one is still at home." He originally described this emotion as being familiar to people who lived in sacrifice zones-- lands decimated by open-pit mining, or clear-cut logging. But it is quickly becoming, in an era defined by climate change, a universal human experience.--artists' website. Printed on a risograph and a Vandercook Universal I, using metal type, pressure prints, woodcut, linocut, and polymer plates on a variety of French Paper Company papers and some glassine. Sewn boards structure, case binding. In cloth-covered slipcase.
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The Acclimatization Society
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume. "The Acclimatization Society is a new limited edition pamphlet about birds that are local to New York City, their adaptations, and survival tactics. Focused on select native and invasive species in their urban habitats: the rock pigeon, red-tailed hawk, sparrows, and European starlings, the text also explores speciation--the process by which species adapt to circumstances, develop genetic mutations, and in time, evolve into new species. The title of the pamphlet references the voluntary associations in the 19th and 20th centuries that encouraged the introduction of non-native species into locations worldwide." Title from cover. "In conjunction with Avifuana: Birds & Habitat on view at Wave Hill, April 7-June 24, 2018"--Colophon. Letterpress and linoleum (linocut) block prints on paper (24 x 55 cm) folded accordion style and sewn into printed cardstock cover with pamphlet stitch. "Brain Washing From Phone Towers is a series of informative and entertaining Informational Pamphlets produced by hand on a seasonal basis. These small-scale publications combine text (handset in metal type) and image (carved in wood or linoleum) produced via obsolete technology in editioned works which are distributed at will to a chosen audience. The content of the series aims for historical interest, commemorative intent and a healthy dose of humor, and the distribution methods are based on the values of the gift economy."--Provided by artist.
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The liquid fault line
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume. "The Liquid Fault Line is the Summer 2018 Informational Pamphlet. It addresses strategic retreat from the shoreline in an age of rising sea levels. What are the costs? What if you don't want to leave your home and community? What are the various adaptation strategies and who benefits? What will happen if we don't plan ahead?" Title from cover. "Edition of 200"--From artist's website. Letterpress and linoleum (linocuts) block prints on French Paper Co. paper, folded accordion style and sewn into printed cardstock cover with pamphlet stitch. "Brain Washing From Phone Towers is a series of informative and entertaining Informational Pamphlets produced by hand on a seasonal basis. These small-scale publications combine text (handset in metal type) and image (carved in wood or linoleum) produced via obsolete technology in editioned works which are distributed at will to a chosen audience. The content of the series aims for historical interest, commemorative intent and a healthy dose of humor, and the distribution methods are based on the values of the gift economy."--Provided by artist.
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The Morse Dry Dock Dial
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations ; 31 x 46 cm folded to 17 x 13 cm. Cover title. Edition of 250. "The Morse Dry Dock Dial is the Spring 2020 Informational Pamphlet, taking its name from the magazine published by the Morse Dry Dock Company, my great-grandfather's employer in the early years of the twentieth century. The original publication reported on the lives and activities of their community of workers, many of which lived in the neighborhood, what was then called Bay Ridge and is now named Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This pamphlet talks about my family's history in the neighborhood, the changes in the neighborhood since then, the industrial past, the post-industrial present, how nature has adapted the waterfront left behind by industry, how nature will change the waterfront in the coming decades, and what we might do in response, among many other things. Edition of 250, letterpress and linocut on paper. There is also a virtual walking tour of the neighborhood to accompany the publication."--artist's webpage. Letter press and linoleum cut prints on paper. Single sheet folded to create 8 pages which can be unfolded to reveal more content. Bound in printed red cardstock covers with linen thread using pamphlet stitch method. "Brain Washing From Phone Towers is a series of informative and entertaining Informational Pamphlets produced by hand on a seasonal basis. These small-scale publications combine text (handset in metal type) and image (carved in wood or linoleum) produced via obsolete technology in editioned works which are distributed at will to a chosen audience. The content of the series aims for historical interest, commemorative intent and a healthy dose of humor, and the distribution methods are based on the values of the gift economy."--Provided by artist "Funds raised from the sale of individual copies of this pamphlet will go to UPROSE. UPROSE promotes sustainability and resiliency in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood through community organizing, education, indigenous and youth leadership development, and cultural/artistic expression. The 2020 Brain Washing from Phone Towers Informational Pamphlet Series is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council."--Artist's website, viewed February 23, 2021.
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The World Turned Upside Down
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume. "The World Turned Upside Down is the third Informational Pamphlet for 2016. The third pamphlet of 2016 addressed truth, fiction, the sound of type in your head, and the history of pamphleteering itself. Is the end nigh? How can one identify a witch? What is globalism? These questions are posed, but probably not answered." Woodblock and letterpress prints on French paper. Handbound in pamphlet stitch method with accordion foldout. "Brain Washing From Phone Towers is a series of informative and entertaining Informational Pamphlets produced by hand on a seasonal basis. These small-scale publications combine text (handset in metal type) and image (carved in wood or linoleum) produced via obsolete technology in editioned works which are distributed at will to a chosen audience. The content of the series aims for historical interest, commemorative intent and a healthy dose of humor, and the distribution methods are based on the values of the gift economy."--Provided by artist. Edition of 200.
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Wipe the slate
Sarah Nicholls, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 folded sheet. Edition of 200. "December 2015 New York City" Folded pamphlet, with text and background illustrations, printed from wood and metal type and hand carved lino blocks. Can be viewed unfolded flat or folded into accordion-style book. Sheet folds out to 32 x 47 cm, one side illustrated with woodcuts, the other with linocuts. Title printed in red letterpress, text printed in blue letterpress.
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The End: A Summing Up
Peter Norton, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
72 pages : color illustrations ; 31 cm + supplemental video book with video file (approx. 5 minutes) + earbuds + scorpion sculpture in case.. "The format of this project -- the book, the excised sculpture, and the scorpion theme -- were inspired by an original art work, shown below, by Robert The." (page 70 of printed book) This set was produced in an unnumbered edition of 2000. Includes scorpion sculpture that had been excised from the printed book. It is inspired by an original artwork by Robert The. Includes video book that plays when opened. Includes earbuds and volume control on inside panel. Video file demonstrates all objects from 1988-2017 in chronological order. Video player has external speaker and headphone jack (includes earbuds). Device can be charged with a mini B USB cable (not included). Includes illustrated sheet explaining contents of project. This 3-part project catalogs the complete collection of art edition gifts comissioned by the Norton family from 1988 to 2017. The limited edition artist series were meant to "celebrate the artists, many young, early in their careers and underexposed. To evangelize contemporary art. To have play value. And, perhaps, be kept in work spaces or living rooms, where visitors might encounter them and discover some contemporary art."--from introduction (page 5 of printed book)
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Domestic Science: Idioms
Nance O'Banion, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume, slipcase, 50 pages. Added title-page has subtitle: Pop-up icons. "Edition of 150 copies and a deluxe edition of 15 copies"--Colophon. Printed on both sides of a continuous strip with additional leaves attached, folded accordion style and laid loose in a box. The "idioms" appear on 1 side of the strip, the "pop-up icons" on the other. Julie Chen printed the book and designed the book structure and engineered the pop-ups. Letterpress printed from handset metal type; linoleum block prints.
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Local Conditions: One Hundred Views of Mount Rainier (at least)
Chandler O'leary, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 container box, 120 card-sized prints, 1 guide (50 pages). Consists of 120 card-sized prints in a container box (20 x 26 x 19.5 cm) and a viewing box with slats for inserting the cards to create different views of Mount Rainier. The container box has three drawers, two of which contain the cards and the last containing the viewing box and a guide to the cards called "Locator key." The top of the container box is a viewing platform to hold the viewing box. The container box is inserted in a five-paneled wrapper printed on the interior with an explanation and instructions for use. Wrapper has two Japanese-style bone clasp closures. Four pictorial labels depicting Mount Rainier from the compass points are affixed to the wrapper and sides of the container box. Container box, drawers, viewing box, and wrapper are cloth-covered boards. Guide is bound Japanese-style in indigo cloth. "Text and images were letterpress printed at Springtide Press. Images and topographic map patterns are hand-drawn and watercolored"--Interior of wrapper. Title from label mounted to portfolio wrapper. "Artist book consisting of viewing box and 120 image flats, illustrated and compiled from data collected in person, on location, over the course of two years. Housed in a set of drawers with nested stab-bound book and Japanese-style outer wrapper"--Description from artist's Web site.
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Grapefruit : A Book of Instructions
Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
1 volume (unpaged) : illustrations. "First printing" Originally published in a limited edition of 500 copies by the Wunternaum Press in Tokyo in 1964. This new edition contains material from the original, and pieces and drawings done in subsequent years by Yoko Ono. Gift of Glenn Gissler.
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Sample Book
Sheryl Oppenheim, Special Collections, and Fleet Library
28 unnumbered pages : all color illustrations. Paper cover, staple binding, full color digital printing. Unlimited edition. Publisher, edition, and materials information from publisher's website. "'Sample Book' by Sheryl Oppenheim playfully explores the collision of east and west through digital collages and juxtapositions colorful marbling patterns produced in her studio. Using suminagashi and western marbling techniques, the artist creates a new visual tension between craft and contemporary art." --Small Editions NYC.