F&M College Library

Artists' Books at Franklin & Marshall

Welcome to Artists' Books @ F&M

Franklin & Marshall College Library began collecting artists' books--Books As Art as opposed to books about art or on artists--in a deliberate way in 2006. In nearly every sense the books comprise a teaching collection, the exception being the inclusion of books that relate to institutional identity.

In general, artists' books are works of art created by artists who are engaging with the book form, without publisher intervention.
Successful artists' books represent good marriages of form and (often-conceptual) content.  The library's collection represents many such unions. And every work relates to the interdisciplinary nature of liberal arts education in some way.

Associated areas of collecting include artists' book scholarship and technique books. Both types enable students to incorporate the genre into their own academic and studio practices.  

enjoy exploring these pages on the scholarship and practice of making books

For more information

Artists' Books are housed in the Archives & Special Collections Department at Martin Library of the Sciences.  We're available by appointment, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM.  You can browse our artists' books collection by searching the Library Catalog using the following search term - b8:Artists Book Collection

or by linking to our digital collection at https://digital.fandm.edu/islandora/artists-books-collection

Please email to see specific examples from the collection, to schedule a class session, or to learn more about artists' books!

F&M Archives & Special Collections 

archives@fandm.edu

 

 

Featured book

 

A book structured like a water molecule, made out of blue watercolored paper, in a hexagonal shape.

Water by Shu-Ju Wang & Emily Newberry

Special Collections N7433.4 .W354 W38 2014

Image Credit: Raluca Rilla '23