book arts

The weekend of September 25-28^th art enthusiasts, bibliophiles, the simply curious made their way to the annual NY Art Book Fair. Held at  MoMA’s PS1 in Long Island City, Queens; this year’s event featured more than 350 artists, booksellers, and independent publishers  hailing from 28 countries. Last year’s fair attracted a crowd of 27,000.

The Smithsonian Libraries is pleased to announce the new webpage of the Smithsonian Libraries Artists’ Books Collection!

The color blue has had a long history in the Western world. The ever-changing role of blue has been used in bookbinding and the book arts to color manuscripts, maps, and scientific illustrations. Colorants used in inks, paints, and dyes have come from a variety of natural sources, including clays, gems, plants, and insects. Blue pigments were first made from imported minerals from Central Asia, eventually shifting to local resources within Europe.