Image reproduced with the kind
permission of the artist, Lucien
Freud. Taken from The Glass Tower, poems by Nicholas
Moore, with drawings by Lucien Freud. London: Editions Poetry London,
and Nicholson & Watson, 1944. British Library shelfmark: 11656.p.24.
Art History
The Library has substantial art history collections.
British books, journals and other publications relating to the study
of fine, applied, and popular art have been received comprehensively
through Legal Deposit
since the middle of the nineteenth century, complemented by manuscripts
and sound recordings.
Research level books published overseas but distributed in this
country are received through Legal Deposit as well, notably books
from the United States. Through purchase and exchange the Library
acquires the catalogues of major overseas collections and exhibitions
and other foreign publications of academic standard in this field.
The Library's Early Printed Collections
mean that British and European treatises on art from earlier periods
are also held.
The collections include:
• general theoretical works
• studies of movements, periods, and individual artists
• dictionaries and encyclopedias of art and other works of
reference
• periodicals on art, including indexes to prices
• Sale Catalogues,
including unique sets annotated by the auctioneer
• Manuscripts letters
by artists from Michelangelo up to Roger Fry and beyond.
• Sound Archive
recordings by artists speaking about their work
• practical manuals on different techniques
• catalogues raisonnés
• exhibition catalogues
Through a special arrangement with the National Art Library (NAL)
at the Victoria and Albert Museum,
many British exhibition catalogues received by Legal Deposit are
catalogued individually by the NAL and deposited there, where they
are available for consultation.
Through Images
Online a growing number of British Library collection images
can be purchased online.
Books as Works of Art and Other Visual Materials
Many items in the collections can be considered as works of art
in their own right, notably the Library's Treasures,
and its substantialcollections of Fine
Presses, Artists' Books, and Book Arts.
The Library has particular strengths in:
• Illuminated Manuscripts
from Britain and Europe
• Oriental sacred texts in the Asia,
Pacific and Africa Collections
• Early Printed Collections,
including early photography and illustrated books
• Maps
• Bindings
and Decorated Papers
• Russian
Avant-Garde Books
• Zines,
fanzines, alternative comics, and graphic novels
The Library has digitised a number of these items through projects
such as Turning the
Pages, the Catalogue
of Illuminated Manuscripts, the Early
Printed Collections Digitisation Projects, Collect
Britain, and Moving
Here.
Many images are also available for purchase through Images
Online.
The Library's Exhibition
Galleries present a selection of collection items often with
strong visual qualities, and a selection of Previous
Exhibitions is mounted online. Sculpture, photographs and paintings
are on display throughout the Library.
Other Art Libraries and Organisations
The Library has an agreement with the Victoria
and Albert Museum for a collaborative approach to developing
and promoting their respective collections of art related publications.
The British Library's Art:
A Guide to Resources includes further information on other art
libraries and on reference resources held within the British Library:
Art
Reference Resources within the British Library
Art
Electronic Resources within the British Library
Art
Electronic Journals within the British Library
Art
Internet Resources including Art Libraries, Associations, and
Catalogues
ARLIS
UK & Ireland Art Libraries Society
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