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1, 2, 3, 5: building a collection of artists’ books

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Stephen Bury*
Affiliation:
British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
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Extract

Because artists’ books can be expensive to buy and to keep, institutions need to have a clearly articulated rationale for collecting them. This could range from documenting the history of art, and contemporary art in particular, to a survey of how artists have used the book format to explore their ideas. This latter approach would support the use of artists’ books in practical workshops leading to the creation of yet further artists’ books.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 2007

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References

1. Life-cycle costing was pioneered by the British Library in the late 1980s, and revived there in the 2000s, including its extension into electronic materials. The formula for printed and manuscript is K(t) = s + l + a + c + pl + hl + p(t) + ht, where K(t) is the cost over time; s = selection cost, 1 = literature cost, a = accessioning, c = cataloguing, p1 = initial preservation cost and h1 = first handling cost.Google Scholar
2. For an obituary and tributes, see Umbrella 23, no. 1 (April 2000), http://colophon.com/umbrella/tonyzwicker.html.Google Scholar
3. The Chelsea collection was the basis of Bury, Stephen, Artists’ books: the book as a work of art, 1963-1995 (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995).Google Scholar
4. A library is potentially vulnerable in a pursuit of completeness, with some dealers or when the artist is still producing books.Google Scholar
5. Rowell, Margit and Wye, Deborah, The Russian avant-garde book 1910-1934 (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2002).Google Scholar