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Art & Photography  American ViewsBy Gloria-Gilda Deák, introduction by James Thomas Flexner. Stunning prints of early America in color reproduction, with a text illuminating the historical and artistic significance of these highlights from the Library's American historical prints. 1976, 58 color plates, 134 pages, $25.00, ISBN 0-87104-263-0
By Yves Peyré and H. George Fletcher. The Art Deco designs of Pierre Legrain and Rose Adler transformed bookbinding into a medium of playful and dazzling experimentation and craftsmanship. Among their brilliant array of bindings are those made especially for works by Colette, Paul Verlaine, André Gide, Guillaume Apollinaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Michel Leiris, and Jean Giraudoux. These colorful, imaginative works, often made of exotic materials, are found only in a few prized collections and have rarely been available to the general public. Now a selection of more than fifty design maquettes and realized bindings is collected in one exquisite volume, accompanied by insightful texts that introduce the work and discuss its revolutionary effect on modern design. 2004, 60 four-color illustrations, 120 pages, $35.00, ISBN 1-56898-462-6 Published by Princeton Architectural Press Berenice Abbott, Photographer: A Modern Vision Edited by Julia Van Haaften. Essays on her craft by the great modern photographer, with duotone reproductions of the whole range of Abbott's photographic work and a full catalogue of the traveling exhibition documenting her long career. 1989, 41 duotone photographs, 96 pages, paperback, $14.95, ISBN 0-87104-420-X
Catalogue of Japanese Illustrated Books and Manuscripts in the Spencer Collection By Shigeo Sorimachi. An illustrated catalogue, in Japanese and English, of a singular collection of Japanese art and literature. 1978, b/w illustrations throughout, 36 color plates, 152 pages, paperback, $35.00, ISBN 0-87104-306-8 By Karl Kup. A chronological telling of the Christmas story, by one of the Library's great collecting librarians, using masterpieces of illuminated manuscripts found in the collection. 1969, 55 b/w illustrations, 120 pages, paperback, $10.00, ISBN 0-87104-053-0 By Reynaldo Alejandro, foreword by Vartan Gregorian. A fascinating look at menus and menu design from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. 1988, over 400 color illustrations, 256 pages, $60.00, ISBN 0-86636-064-6 Published by PBC International, Inc. 
Ehon: The Artist and the Book in JapanBy Roger S. Keyes. Ehon--or "picture books"--are part of an incomparable 1,350-year-old Japanese tradition. Created by artists and craftsmen, most ehon also feature essays, poems, or other texts written in beautiful, distinctive calligraphy. They are by nature collaborations: visual artists, calligraphers, writers, and designers join forces with papermakers, binders, block cutters, and printers. The books they create are strikingly beautiful, highly charged microcosms of deep feeling, sharp intensity, and extraordinary intelligence. In this elegant, richly illustrated volume, renowned scholar Roger S. Keyes traces the history and evolution of these remarkable books through seventy key works, including many great rarities and unique masterpieces, from the Spencer Collection of The New York Public Library, whose holdings include one of the foremost collections of Japanese illustrated books in the West. In addition to its 250 color illustrations, Ehon includes an essay on the materials and structure of the Japanese book, an inventory of the approximately 1,500 printed Japanese books in the Spencer Collection, and full bibliographic information on the seventy featured works. 2006, illustrated, 320 pages, $49.95, ISBN 0-295-98624-7 (978-0-295-98624-1) Published by the University of Washington Press and The New York Public Library Order from The Library Shop
Edited by Stephen C. Pinson. Eminent Domain features selections from recent photographic projects by five contemporary New York-based photographers: Thomas Holton's The Lams of Ludlow Street, an empathetic account of one family's daily life in Chinatown and a photographer's personal quest to better understand his own heritage; Bettina Johae's borough edges, nyc, a digital project exploring the edges of the city's five boroughs, which the photographer traversed as a way of "remapping" the supposedly well-known city; Reiner Leist's Window, a series of views taken each day over an 11-year period that capture a slice of Manhattan including One Penn Plaza, Madison Square Garden, and, until September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center towers; Zoe Leonard's Analogue, a lyrical documentation of the city's slowly disappearing local character as a result of the city's economic transformation; and Ethan Levitas's Untitled/This is just to say, an exploration of the most apparent, if overlooked, of the city's public spaces, the cars of the New York City subway. Turning on the nature of photography itself (which always complicates the relationship between private and public property), these works intersect and resonate with current concerns about the reorganization of urban space, and its public use, in New York City. As a counterpoint, Glenn Ligon offers the literal narrative of his own housing in the city, as a reminder that behind these (now) public images lie myriad personal and private stories. This volume, a companion to a New York Public Library exhibition, also includes an introduction by the editor, suggestions for further reading, and a list of landmark eminent domain court cases. 2008, 68 color and black-and-white photographs, 80 pages, $22.50, ISBN-13: 978-0-87104-460-0 Published by The New York Public Library Order from The Library Shop
By Julia Van Haaften. A stunning gathering of full-page duotone reproductions of the treasures of the Library's Photography Collection going back to the early Talbot experiments. 1982, 96 duotone plates, 126 pages, $27.50, ISBN 0-500-54077-2  Graphic Modernism from the Baltic to the Balkans, 1910-1935By S. A. Mansbach, with Wojciech Jan Siemaszkiewicz, with an essay by Robert H. Davis, Jr., and Edward Kasinec. In this visually stunning companion volume to a New York Public Library exhibition, art historian S. A. Mansbach offers an overview of the progressive eastern European graphic artists and writers who, in the first four decades of the 20th century, redefined and reshaped culture and its social meanings as they sought to comprehend and interpret the dynamics of a modern, postwar age. Illustrated in color with more than 50 examples of modernist publications, it includes works on paper by such artists as El Lissitzky, Laszla Moholy-Nagy, Karel Teige, Niklavs Strunke, Victor Brauner, and others, all drawn from the Library's extensive holdings of eastern and southeastern European materials. The volume also includes an essay on the growth and development of the Library's collections in this field, as well as a checklist of the exhibition. 2007, 63 illustrations, 80 pages, $25.00, ISBN 978-0-87104-459-4 Order from The Library Shop
 Inventing the American Past: The Art of F.O.C. DarleyBy Nancy Finlay. A celebration of the work of one of America's greatest nineteenth-century draughtsmen, this illustrated volume explores the achievement of F.O.C. Darley, illustrator of works by Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the popularizer of such national types as the Pilgrim, the Pioneer, the patriotic Minuteman, and the canny Yankee Peddler. In style and subject matter, Darley's work ranges from the earthy realism and humor of his early illustrations for popular fiction through the heroic grandeur of the large engravings of historical subjects and the deluxe editions of his later career. Many of these compositions are closely related to contemporary developments in history and genre painting. The reproductions presented here are all from originals in the collections of The New York Public Library and include drawings demonstrating Darley's great skill as a draughtsman, as well as wood engravings, steel engravings, and lithographs revealing how other artists interpreted his work. 1999, 25 b/w illustrations, 52 pages, paperback, $19.95, ISBN 0-87104-445-5 The Littlest Book of Christmas: Images of Santa Claus from The New York Public Library A wonderful stocking stuffer for the child of any age. This tiny book features twelve unusual images of Santa - including several from an 1864 edition of A Visit from St. Nicholas - selected from the collections of the Library. 1993, 9 color, 4 b/w illustrations, 28 pages, $4.00, ISBN 1-56021-224-1 Published by W. J. Fantasy, Inc.  The Look of ArchitectureBy Witold Rybczynski. What is style in architecture? "Style is like a feather in a woman's hat, nothing more," said Le Corbusier, expressing most modern architects' low regard for the subject. But Witold Rybczynski disagrees, and in this book, based on a series of lectures delivered at The New York Public Library, he makes a compelling case for the importance of style to the mother of the arts. The heart of the book illuminates the connection between architecture, interior decoration, and fashion. Rybczynski shows us how style and fashion have been expressed in the work of major architects--including Frank Gehry, Mies van der Rohe, Charles McKim, Allan Greenberg, Robert Venturi, and Enrique Norten--and helps us see their works anew and, ultimately, to look afresh at our surroundings. 2001, illustrated, 130 pages, $22.00, ISBN 0-19-513443-5 Published by Oxford University Press
 Making the Scene: The Midtown Y Photography Gallery, 1972-1996By Stephen C. Pinson. While photographs are exhibited widely today, their acceptance into the mainstream art world has been a long process, periodically fraught with controversy and debate. One of the more recent manifestations of this debate occurred in the late 1970s, when the rise of postmodern theory led to a reevaluation of the medium and a critical scrutiny of the museum's role in the promotion of photography's status. Until recently, less attention has been paid to the role of alternative spaces, particularly those devoted to the exhibition of photography. The Midtown Y Photography Gallery was the first nonprofit organization in New York City with a mission to provide a public space for the display of photographs, helping dozens of photographers make the scene that it helped to bring about over the 25 years of its existence, from 1972 to 1996. This publication, a companion to an exhibition at The New York Public Library, is drawn from the Midtown Y Photography Gallery Archive, bequeathed to the Library in 1998, and housed in the Photography Collection of The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, and the Manuscripts and Archives Division. It includes an introduction by the exhibition curator, two dozen photographs reproduced in black and white and in color, a complete list of exhibitions presented at the Midtown Y Photography Gallery, and a chronology of significant happenings on the photography scene during the same time period. 2007, black-and-white and color photographs, 32 pages, $6.00, ISBN 978-0-87104-458-7 Edited by Robert Rainwater, essays by Anne Hyde Greet, Evan M. Maurer, and Robert Rainwater. A retrospective of the artist's books and prints. 1986, b/w illustrations throughout, 21 color plates, 192 pages, paperback, $19.95, ISBN 0-87104-290-8; hardcover edition available through Oxford University Press  Momotaro and the Island of Ogres A Japanese folktale, retold, with a postscript, by Stephanie Wada; paintings by Kano Naganobu. The amazing adventures of Momotaro, a boy found inside a peach and raised by an elderly couple, is one of Japan's most popular folktales. One of the finest illustrated versions of the tale known today appears in an exquisite handscroll painted by Kano Naganobu (1775-1828), in the Spencer Collection of The New York Public Library; those illustrations are reproduced here in their entirety. The story follows Momotaro's journey to the terrifying Island of Ogres where, with the aid of some animal friends, he lays siege to the demons' ill-gotten treasures. One of the first Japanese folktales to have been translated into English, Momotaro is a delightful and lively voyage of the imagination that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. A postscript looks at the tradition of illustrated folk stories in Japan, with examples of Momotaro pictures and related imagery in various forms of art, including painting and woodblock printing. The career of the artist, Kano Naganobu, and the artistic climate in which he worked are also reviewed. 2005, color illustrations throughout, 47 pages, $19.95, ISBN 0-8076-1552-8 Published by George Braziller, Inc. Order from the Library Shop
 The New York Public Library, A Beaux-Arts Landmark By Ingrid Steffensen. This small illustrated book elaborates not only on the "great artistic collaboration" that created The New York Public Library's magnificent flagship building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, but also on the cultural and historical influences on its architecture. Among the topics discussed by the author, an architectural historian, are the ornamentation of the Fifth Avenue facade, decorative motifs within the building, the murals on the first and third floors, and many other points about which Library tour leaders are questioned every day. The book is structured so that visitors may use it to guide themselves around the building for a leisurely exploration. The illustrations include several images from the NYPL Archives and elsewhere that have rarely, if ever, been reproduced. 2003, 64 pages, illustrated, paperback, $7.95, ISBN 1-85759-137-2 Published by Scala Books and The New York Public Library Order from The Library Shop
Edited by Robert Rainwater, with a glossary of papermaking terms compiled by Leonard B. Schlosser. A translation of an ancient Chinese poem about paper printed in a unique portfolio of 34 leaves of handmade and other fine papers. It was included in the American Institute of Graphic Arts selection of the best-designed books of 1990. 1990, $19.95, ISBN 0-87104-425-0 Published on the occasion of a joint exhibition mounted by The New York Public Library and The San Francisco Public Library, this catalogue highlights the tradition of fine printing as a form of art. 1995, 42 two-color illustrations, 6 four-color illustrations, index, 65 pages, paperback, $25.00, ISBN 0-87104-439-0
Compiled by Robert H. Davis, Jr., and Margaret Sandler. Introduction by Gail Harrison Roman and Robert H. Davis. Jr. Russian and Ukrainian Avant-Garde books and journals represent a particularly intriguing chapter in the complex history of Russian book culture. A manifestation of the incredible outburst of creativity and productivity that marked the culturally exciting decades surrounding the Russian Revolution, the Civil War, and the NEP, the movement affected every aspect of book production, from the content of the text to its typographical design, layout, publication, and distribution. The New York Public Library's holdings in this area represent an unusually large and distinguished group of works that encompass the finest experimental literature combined with innovative design. This catalogue, part of The New York Public Library Slavic, Baltic, and Eurasian Resource Series, includes printed books and manuscripts by Russian and Ukrainian artists and writers identified with the Futurist and Constructivist movement who were active in the homelands and/or in emigration during the period circa 1907 to 1970. Each entry includes title, place of publication, pagination, and some NYPL copy-specific information. NYPL and British Library classmarks are also given, as are selective notes on artists or authors represented in a work. 1998, 100 pages, hardcover, $40.00, ISBN 0-88354-383-4 Published by Norman Ross Publishing Inc.
 The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts at The New York Public LibraryBy Jonathan J.G. Alexander, James H. Marrow, and Lucy Freeman Sandler. The New York Public Library's collection of nearly three hundred Western European illuminated manuscripts is one of the largest in America but also one that is very little known. Dating from the turn of the tenth century unto well into the period of the Renaissance, these works give vivid testimony to the creative impulses of the often nameless craftsmen who discovered ever-new ways of animating the contents of hand-produced books through inventive and sometimes exuberant manipulations of all the elements of the book: form and format, layout, script, decoration, illustration, and binding. To introduce this magnificent collection and many of its most important works to scholars and the wider audience, The Splendor of the Word presents one hundred manuscripts of particular cultural, historical, and artistic significance, selected from the Library's collection by three of the most distinguished scholars in the field. 2005, illustrated, 480 pages, paperback, $55.00 through February 12, 2006; $75.00 thereafter, ISBN 1-905375-00-X Published by Harvey Miller Publishers Order from The Library Shop
Edited by Luis Revenga and M. L. Lopez-Vidriero. A copiously illustrated companion book to the Library exhibition of major treasures on loan from repositories in Spain, with essays by writers from around the world. Bilingual Spanish/English. 1985, b/w illustrations throughout, 61 color plates, 440 pages, paperback, $19.95, ISBN 84-398-4960-5 By Chobunsai Eishi. Introduction, commentaries, and translations by Andrew J. Pekarik. Reproduced from a volume in the Spencer Collection of The New York Public Library. 1991, 74 color plates, 192 pages, hardcover, $45.00, ISBN 0-8076-1256-1; paperback, $24.95, ISBN 0-8076-1257-X Published by George Braziller, Inc.
 Utopia: The Search for the Ideal Society in the Western WorldEdited by Roland Schaer, Gregory Claeys, and Lyman Tower Sargent. This companion volume to the exhibition on view at the Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library features essays by the distinguished editors as well as by Alain Touraine, J. C. Davis, Krishan Kumar, and other leading European and American scholars of utopian thought and literature. Elegantly designed and richly illustrated with over 300 images from the collections of The New York Public Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, this book explores the long tradition in thought and art envisioning the "perfect place," from classical antiquity to the present. Also included are an extensive bibliography of utopian literature, a bibliography of secondary sources, and a filmography. Contents of the volume 2000, 300 illustrations in color and black and white, 400 pages, hardcover, $49.95, ISBN 0-19-514110-5; paperback, $27.95, ISBN 0-19-514111-3 Published by Oxford University Press
By Gloria-Gilda Deák, introduction by Dale Roylance, checklist and commentaries by Roberta Waddell and Theresa Salazar. Full-page prints of early Americana by the master of aquatint, with critical and biographical introductions and a complete, annotated checklist of the Library's holdings. 1988, 32 b/w duotones, 9 color plates, 92 pages, paperback, $17.95, ISBN 0-87104-411-0 |
