Using the Library’s Catalogs

Reference Material

The Print Collection’s reference books are catalogued in the online catalogue of the Research Libraries, CATNYP, which is available on the World Wide Web via http://catnyp.nypl.org/. For general instructions on using CATNYP, please consult Using the Library’s Online Catalog.

For basic information on printmakers, the dictionaries of artists listed in the Art and Architecture Collection’s research guide, Art Research: Beginning Strategies (Benezit; Thieme-Becker, etc.), are a good place to start.

For general print catalogues consult CATNYP by author or title.

For catalogues raisonnés, a search under the printmaker’s name as author or as subject will find books on that printmaker.

To determine availability of print-related periodicals, many of which are housed in the Print Collection, consult CATNYP for as well as the Dictionary Catalog of the Prints Division (Boston, Mass., G. K. Hall & Co., 1975). Desk-Prints Div. 75-1240; Art and Architecture Division MAC+ 75-1241; check CATNYP for other copies.

The ephemera, or artists’ files are catalogued in unique files in the Prints and Photographs Study Room, Room 308. Those files created before 1971 are also indexed in the Dictionary Catalog of the Prints Division.

Illustrated Books

Reference material on the history of book illustration is collected by the Print Collection, and can be found by searching in CATNYP. The illustrated books themselves are housed throughout the Library’s reading rooms, including the Print Collection. Many of them are already catalogued in CATNYP, although for some specialized collections, such as the Arents, Berg, Pforzheimer and Spencer Collections, it is advisable to consult the individual divisions. For books catalogued in CATNYP, the electronic record will contain information on the location of the book.