Welcome

Nicole Morello, Fleurs à effeuiller, 2000. 

This guide is intended to introduce the collection of artists' books from the Fine Arts Library, including a few selections found in the Houghton Library. It provides access to selected artists' books and introductory publications in our collection as well as external links to online journals, blogs, and other resources. Users may explore our holdings by artist, format, or content in order to learn more about the unique world of book art!

This guide was created in a collaboration between Amanda Bowen and Sienna MacArthur.

About Our Collection

Artists’ books are art works created in a wide variety of print media and issued in all types of book formats. Artists’ books have been an important part of the Library’s collections since the 1960s.  Our collection features works from artists such as Lawrence Weiner, Piero Manzoni, Hanne Darboven, the German collaborative Unica T, Ed Ruscha and Rebecca Horn. We collect parodies like Joe Zane's versions of Parkett and artists’ magazines like Scott Hug's K48. We have a strong selection of gay and feminist artists’ books as well as books created by artists associated with Lettrism and Fluxus. These items run the entire range of artistic expression from the abstract and the conceptual to the personal and the political and originate from all over the U.S. and Europe.

Our artists’ books are cataloged in HOLLIS.  Houghton Library also collects artist’s books and these may also be found in HOLLIS.

Harvard Fine Arts Library

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The Fine Arts Library is the primary resource for the study of the history of art and related disciplines at Harvard University. The library provides scholars with access to an exceptional variety of printed materials, visual images, and special collections. 

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