For NJ Colletions please contact the Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center
For Hispanic Collections please contact the New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center.
For non-NJ African American collections please contact the James Brown African American Room.
About the Special Collections Division
The Special Collections Division preserves and provides access to thousands of extraordinary rare books, artists’ books, fine prints and other works on paper in order to enhance the study of the visual arts and to inspire and encourage Newarkers to learn more about the graphic arts.
In 1902, the Library’s second director, John Cotton Dana, began assembling a circulating collection of thousands of illustrations from various periodicals. He supplemented this collection with original prints purchased from around the world. Dana also purchased many art books which he hoped would inspire and encourage Newarkers to learn more about different types of art. Over the years, the collection grew as a result of generous gifts of unique materials by artists, art enthusiasts, and collectors. In addition to prints, the collection now includes posters, artists’ books, autographs, cards, drawings, and shopping bags. The Special Collections Division is one of the foremost collections of graphic art in New Jersey.
Materials from the collections are regularly exhibited at the Main Library. The Special Collections Division is a research collection and materials of interest may be requested and viewed by individuals, small groups, and classes by appointment by writing to specialcollections@npl.org . While some items may be found in the Library’s catalog and some collections have been inventoried in finding aids, most of the holdings have not yet been cataloged. Subscriptions are also maintained for important periodicals about art, printmaking, papermaking, and artists’ books.
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Gertrude Fine Prints Endowment Fund
The Gertrude Fine Prints Endowment Fund was established in 2004, through the generosity of William J. Dane, the Library’s former Keeper of Prints, Posters and Works of Art on Paper. Established as an endowment (in honor of Dane’s sister) for the maintenance and expansion of the Library’s renowned Fine Print Collection, the revenue generated by the Gertrude Fine Prints Endowment Fund is used for the express purpose of acquiring original prints for the Library’s Special Collections.To learn more about giving, click here.
Who Was William Dane?
Digital Collections
A small portion of the collection is available online: Islamic Manuscripts; Medieval Manuscripts; the Edward Colonna Collection; and just a few examples from the William J. Dane Fine Prints Collection. These can be found in the NPL Digital Collections.
History of Special Collections
Art For All: The Special Collections, a short documentary on the history of the Special Collections at the Newark Public Library in Newark, NJ, is a film by Samantha Johnston and Rosie Uyola.
©2008 Clementine Productions.
Click here to watch on Youtube
The Collection
Advertising and Graphic Design
William J. Dane Fine Prints Collection
Jenkinson Collection
Books and Periodicals
Autographs
Manuscripts
Artist Information Files
Shopping Bags This special group of bags, which are frequently referred to as “portable art,” was founded in 1970 due to tremendous popular public interest in shopping bags in the 1960s. They originate from leading commercial firms, shopping malls, deluxe retail stores, and all sorts of merchandising outlets in the United States, and from stores all over the world. The collection contains over 2,000 bags.
Posters This grouping preserves the history of notable poster design with an emphasis on the post-1950 renaissance of poster art. Over 5,000 posters are organized under broad subjects such as World Wars I & II; Travel in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North, Central and South America; notable posters designed by individual artists; the Olympic Games; Photography; Architecture; Sculpture; and Music. This collection contains several noteworthy donations:
- Dave Devine Travel Poster Collection
- Dr. Harriette Kaley Poster Collection
- Judy and Steve Weinstein Poster Collection
- World War I Poster Collection
- World War II Poster Collection
Greeting Cards In these collections are examples of sentimental visual images produced for our major holidays depicting national celebrations as well as a compelling record of business and social manners, customs of vibrant eras in America’s past, and the history of the graphic arts business. Hundreds of cards preserve designs and printed messages from the Golden Age of cards which began in the 1860s. Within the collection are examples of greeting cards designed and sent by artists.
Postcards A collection of thousands, with a focus on popular subjects of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes images of landmarks and structures no longer standing, unique views, novelty cards, and sets of postals, providing a visual record of the places visited by Newark residents.
Calendars A collection of hundreds of various sizes.
Broadsides The collection includes, but is not limited to, historic items printed on the Library’s Washington hand press.
Historic Advertisements A collection of hundreds clipped from popular magazines of the day.
Buttons A small assortment of campaign buttons.
Wallpaper A collection of selected sample books and files.
Barack Obama Election and Inauguration Collection
Fine Prints This extraordinary collection is made up of over 23,000 works in traditional as well as innovative media. There are strong holdings of prints by American artists, European graphics from “old masters” through the 20th century, Japanese prints (including ehon, picture books, engraving tools, and printing blocks) from 1780 to 2001, and many artists who worked in The Garden State. Prints by noted artists, such as John Sloan, Matisse, Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg are included. The collection also includes Newark iconography, many prints by Puerto Rican artists and the Elizabeth Delson Collection, the Shahn Estate Collection, the Maverick Family Collection of Engravings, and the Edward Colonna Archive.
Photographs Approximately 1,000 photographs on a variety of subjects. Includes the Donald R. Farkas Collection
Drawings
Bookplate Collection Represents the work of notable engravers and the interests of bibliophiles. This collection was begun in 1901 and contains more than 2,500 items.
Bank Notes Over 300 engraved bank notes, including items from Newark (NJ)
Jenkinson Collection Thousands of publications (approximately half of which, 3,600 works, have been catalogued), this collection has major value to casual as well as dedicated scholars concerned with printing history, paper making, and the art of fine typography and design. Publications from more than 800 presses are included and these are augmented by manuscript pages, incunabula, broadsides and announcements, periodicals and the art of papermaking. Begun by Richard C. Jenkinson, a Trustee of the Newark Public Library for more than 35 years, the collection represents the history of books and written communication, and the arts of typography and fine printing. Contained are examples from the great printers and typographers from the 16-18th centuries, including Aldus Manutius, William Caslon, and Giambattista Bodoni. Works by noted book artists William Morris, Dard Hunter, and Bruce Rogers are also represented, with examples of notable illustrations, bindings, title pages, and colophons from the past 500 years. Also included are:
Leaf from a Book of Hours (Folio 47) in Fifty Original Leaves from Medieval Manuscripts compiled by Otto Ege. Late 15th century.
Sumerian cuneiform tablets
Papyrus, lead tablets, and scarabs from Egypt
Scrolls from Ethiopia
Medieval manuscripts (bound and loose leaves). Digitized at: here.Oriental and Islamic manuscripts are also available.
Jenkinson Information Files Covers fine printers, associations, and papermakers.
Rare Books A wide-ranging collection of over 2,500 items including atlases from the 16th century, first editions, autographed books, and collectible items
Pop-Ups Over 500 historic and contemporary examples of books with three-dimensional elements designed by artists and paper engineers
McEwen Christmas Collection Begun by a Newark physician and donated to the Library in 1932, contains over 1,000 adult and children’s books about national, religious, and intercultural aspects of the celebration of Christmas. The nostalgic collection also includes a collection of Christmas seals sold by the Essex County (NJ) Tuberculosis League, mounted and captioned in books, including the very first seal sold by the League in 1908.
Wilbur Macey Stone Children’s Collection Acquired from a patent attorney, engineer, and collector of rare children’s books and includes almanacs, fables, illustrated storybooks, miniature books, and primers (17th – 20th century). Stone served as a trustee of the Newark Museum. The collection of 300 books has been augmented to more than 1,200 works.
Miniature Books
Reference Collection of Books
Artists’ Books More than 800 publications spanning the decades from the late 1950’s to the present. These works are produced in highly innovative formats by groups as well as individuals who combine literary, artistic and social commentary usually with visual images and highly avant-garde design elements.
Illustrated Books In this collection, over 2,500 titles present a survey of the work of celebrated illustrators of the 19th and 20th centuries including Walter Crane, Walt Disney, Kate Greenaway, Picasso, Edward Gorey, Charles Dana Gibson, Lynd Ward, Gustav Doré, and Arthur Rackham. Also included are a group of stories made into films. These include black and white stills from the various historic and nostalgic Hollywood productions mostly from the era of “silents.”
Art and Design Periodicals The Library retains long runs of many esoteric periodicals with absorbing content in text and illustration for users interested in particular aspects of art history and social and historic concepts of lasting importance. These magazines helped to form opinions and developments in the fine arts and humanities in our contemporary world of the 21st century. Among these permanent holdings are: Kokka, Parkett, S.M.S., and Cahiers D’Art
Autograph Collection A unique gathering of over 1,000 signed items from celebrated persons such as Thomas Paine, Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, John Hancock, Booker T. Washington, Willa Cather, Verdi, Wagner and Washington Irving.
Rabin and Krueger Gallery Collection Consists of letters, notes, and other materials from the Newark (NJ) gallery which flourished on Halsey Street from 1930-1965. Many of the records relate to NJ artists and collectors.
John Tasker Howard Collection of 20th Century American Music Contains responses from hundreds of composers and artists, including Aaron Copland and Charles Ives, to Howard’s survey questionnaire of American music. Howard was a composer, pianist, and eminent writer on American musical subjects.
Schlesinger Collection of Theatre History Includes autographed photographs of notable performers, including Billie Burke, Helen Hayes, Eddie Cantor, and many others, assembled by a local theatre director.
The Newark Public Library’s Special Collections Division has many unique files on artists from 19th and 20th century. The files contain such items as: news clippings, articles from various art magazines and journals, brochures and flyers from exhibitions and events, pamphlets, and reproduced images. Over the last 50 years, staff from the Library’s Special Collections, Reference, and New Jersey Information divisions have continued to add to these files.
Artist Files Artists represented in the Special Collections Division (printmakers, photographers, book artists). For Newark artists, please see below.
Newark Artist Files For artists associated with New Jersey, consult the New Jersey Artists Information Files in the Charles F. Cummings New Jersey Information Center.
Engravers Picture Files include examples of small engravings collected by John Cotton Dana in the early 20th century from books and periodicals.