Book Arts Collection

A guide to discovering artists' books in the Book Arts Collection at Hill Memorial Library.

Pop-Up Books

A multi-layered stage pops up from a black and purple folio.

Bluebeard's Castle

King, Ron. Bluebeard's Castle. Guildford : Circle Press Publications, 1972.
N6797 .K56 A4 1972 FLAT, Rare

Based on the opera by Bartok, Ron King produced this first pop-up artist's book, which plays off the idea of seven doors and seven secret chambers from the opera. The folios open to reveal a sculptural pop up, sometimes referencing a stage, alongside Roy Fisher's printed poetry. Materials include screen printed color card stock papers, reflective papers, and metal pins.

Orange and yellow printed type popping out of the book when opening.

[Seasons]

Rindl, Deb. [Seasons]. London: Deb Rindl, 1994.
N7433.4 .R56 S43 1994 FLAT, Rare

Four volumes each representing a different season and each uses a different pop up structure. Rindl plays with typography and structure to illustrated the mood of the seasons.

Book held open to show a drawing of a face. An alternate view shows the book slightly closed and the image appears as half-drawing and half-photo of a child's' face.

Vision Shifts

Barton, Carol. Vision Shifts. [Glen Echo, Md.?: Popular Kinetics Press], 1998.
BD373 .B37 1998, Rare

Photographically illustrated cover sheets with letterpress and cut-out widows. An ironic change in the backing photographs, set-up by the narrative letterpress, is revealed as each page is opened further

View this book in motion: https://youtu.be/dcjzFzcb4vU

Large centerfold pop-up showing tumbling rock-like shapes.

Panorama

Chen, Julie. Panorama. Berkeley, Calif.: Flying Fish Press, 2008.
N7433.4 .C436 P36 2008 FLAT, McIlhenny Natural History Collection

"Panorama explores the issue of climate change from an artist’s perspective, simultaneously expressing hope and helplessness in the face of this growing crisis. Opening to a full width of 5 feet, Panorama engulfs the reader/viewer in an experience both moving and surprising with large format pop-ups and interactive folded sections that interlace personal thought with aspects of a more universal reality." --Artist's website

Spikey, multi-colored, star shapes pop up from a pulp painted base.

The Gospel of Mary

Ruether, Rosemary Radford. The Gospel of Mary / English translation from the Greek by Karen King. Newark, Vt.: Janus Press, 2006.
BT1392 .G65 A3 2006 FLAT, Rare

Accordion with woven binding, letterpress printing on Barcham Green paper, centerfold pop-up and pulp painting are all featured in this book work by Janus Press.

Scenes from the Alphabet

Fisher, Roy. Scenes from the Alphabet. Guildford [Surrey]: Circle Press, c1984.
PR6056 .I8 S34 1984 OVER, Rare

Ron King designed pop-up alphabets in several of his pieces. This example appears in the center of a folio and accompanies a poem by Roy Fisher.