Skip to Main Content

Boatwright Memorial Library

Book Arts: Home

Welcome!

This guide will help you navigate our Book Arts Collection and provides tools to assist you in your research on artists’ books, including links to educational resources for those interested in learning how to make artists' books.

What is Book Art?

Book art, also referred to as artists’ books, often defies precise definition. The short answer: artists’ books are works of art that use the book as a medium to convey meaning or reference the book form in their artistic delivery. They have also been referred to as bookworks, artists’ bookworks, book objects, and artists books (no apostrophe). Book art often encompasses many of the following methods and materials:

  • Hand binding
  • Letterpress printing
  • Printmaking (lithography, silkscreen, intaglio, relief, etc.)
  • Digital printing
  • Handmade paper
  • Stenciling
  • Painting and drawing
  • Photography
  • Paper engineering
  • Hand lettering and calligraphy

One perspective on the history and development of artists’ books can be found in Johanna Drucker’s “The Artist’s Book as Idea and Form” from the first chapter of The Century of Artists’ Books.

About the Book Arts Collection at UR

University of Richmond’s Book Arts Collection is housed in the Galvin Rare Book Room within Boatwright Memorial Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections. The Book Arts Collection is a teaching collection, which means the collection contains a broad range of subject areas and book forms to support undergraduate instruction across disciplines. The collection includes artists’ books representing a wide range of binding styles and printing techniques, in addition to sculptural books, artist multiples, serials, and experimental book formats. Some examples of pieces in the collection include hand letterpress-printed editions, hand bound books, digital and offset produced books, silkscreened editions, a music box, a vinyl record, dimensional structures such as tunnel books, and several examples of visual poetry and erasure poetry.

Book Arts Instruction

Because our Book Arts Collection is a teaching collection, the library welcomes class visits and individual appointments to engage in hands-on research utilizing our artists’ books, in addition to gaining creative inspiration for their own class or personal projects. We also offer book arts workshops and project-based instruction for students, faculty, and community partners in our Book Arts Studio located on the fourth floor of Boatwright Memorial Library. To schedule a visit to the Book Arts Collection or inquire about instruction in the Book Arts Studio, email Book Arts Program Director Jen Thomas at jthomas8@richmond.edu.

Book Arts Program Director

Profile Photo
Jen Thomas
She/Her
Contact:
Boatwright B1-50C
804-289-8450
Website

Location & Hours

Location:

Boatwright Memorial Library
Galvin Rare Book Room, Level B1
261 Richmond Way
Richmond, VA 23173


Hours:

By appointment only
Contact Jen Thomas at jthomas8@richmond.edu to schedule an appointment

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.