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Resources for Research
- » Marquand Library
- » Visual Resources Collection
- » Index of Christian Art
- » Princeton University Art Museum
- » Tang Center
- » Firestone Library
- » Other Princeton Resources for Art Majors
Marquand Library
Marquand Library is a non-circulating research library intended for art and architectural historians, archaeologists, historians, classicists, and other humanities scholars. Though the initial intent of the library was to support Princeton University patrons, it now attracts scholars from around the world. It acquires books in all fields of art and architectural history, artistic photography, and several fields of archaeology including Islamic, pre-Columbian, and Asian. The library is also home to numerous electronic databases (accessible throughout the campus) as well as large microform and CD collections. The collection has grown to nearly 300,000 volumes on site and over 100,000 volumes in the Annex.
The new facility, opened in the fall of 2003, has been transformed into a tranquil space filled with light. There are many different venues in which to work, from the tables overlooking the center of campus to the many public computer stations and scanners. One can view a rare book in our rare book reading room or peruse a favorite journal in the comfort of an overstuffed chair. The building is equipped with wireless technology as well as numerous computer outlets. The library is open year round and during the academic year it is open 101 hours a week. Library staff members are eager to assist you with your research needs, whether it is to find an illusive citation or a specific image.
Every senior is entitled to a private carrel with a desk and bookcase, upon application to librarian Laurel Bliss. Junior majors can ask for a designated shelf to store books charged for research on the junior independent projects. Books used for research should be charged to the carrel or shelf, and a paper charge slip must remain prominently displayed in the book during the loan period. Students may also use the scanners in the library for the preparation of illustrations for papers. Copy photography may be done only with approval of the librarian.
Visual Resources Collection
The Visual Resources Collection (207 McCormick Hall) houses slides, photographic prints, and digital images to support the departmental teaching curriculum, as well as to provide resources for research. Holdings also document the history of Princeton archaeological expeditions. The Visual Resources Collection management database has more than 145,000 image records. Images and other digital media are available through the Almagest software developed by ETC (Educational Technologies Center) which is accessible to the Princeton University community for teaching, research and study purposes. More than 30,000 images from the Visual Resources Collection are available in the Almagest system. If you need to borrow slides for a class presentation or consult the collection, you need to speak with a staff member who will arrange for you to check out the images for a short period. Historic photographs from Princeton-sponsored archaeological expeditions can be consulted by contacting Shari Kenfield (205 McCormick Hall).
Index of Christian Art
One of the little known resources of the Department of Art and Archaeology is the Index of Christian Art, which was founded in 1917 by Charles Rufus Morey, chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology. Located in the ground floor of the McCormick building (opposite the entrance to the departmental offices), it is a unique repository which is of considerable use especially for students of Western art history. It offers, in text and image formats, an unrivalled analysis of over 27,000 subjects which are found in medieval art from the Early Christian period to the end of the fifteenth century. The Index is currently available in both manual and electronic formats, with approximately 25 percent of the holdings available on the electronic database. The Index also offers a small non-circulating library as well as several electronic publications not available elsewhere on campus. The Index is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Princeton University Art Museum
The permanent collections of the Art Museum range from ancient to contemporary art and concentrate geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America. There is an outstanding collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, including ceramics, marbles, bronzes, and Roman mosaics from Princeton University’s excavations at Antioch. Medieval Europe is represented by sculpture, metalwork, and stained glass. The collection of Western European paintings includes important examples from the early Renaissance through the nineteenth century, and there is a growing collection of twentieth-century and contemporary art. Significant loans amplify the collection in many areas. Among the greatest strengths of the Museum are its collections of Chinese art, with important holdings in bronzes, tomb figures, painting, and calligraphy; and pre-Columbian art, with remarkable examples of the art of the Olmec and Maya. The Museum also has important collections of old master prints and drawings and a comprehensive collection of original photographs. African art is represented, as well as Northwest Coast Indian art, the latter on loan to the Museum from the Department of Geology.
Special study rooms exist for prints and drawings, photographs, and Pre-Columbian art. All Princeton students can make appointments to see original images not on display by contacting the curators of the respective areas (see list of museum staff, Appendix 5). Students can access museum and object records by contacting the registrar’s office. The museum also has a conservation laboratory directed by Norman Muller and educational and outreach programs managed by Caroline Cassells Harris.
There are numerous ways that majors can participate in museum activities and exhibitions. The museum’s Student Advisory Council, with representatives from all Princeton undergraduate classes, welcomes student applicants for positions. Term and summer internships are also available (see section on Internships in this Handbook). Student volunteers also give docent talks on the weekends. For more information about student employment in the museum, see Caroline Cassells Harris, curator of education.
Tang Center
The P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art was established in 2001 to advance the understanding of East Asian art and culture. A sponsor and facilitator of scholarly exchange, the Tang Center brings together scholars, students, and the general public through interdisciplinary and innovative programs, including lectures and symposia, film series, publications, graduate education, museum development and exhibitions. Building upon Princeton University's long history of activity, scholarship, and leadership in the field of East Asian art, the Tang Center supports and encourages continuing inquiry into those issues which help to shape East Asian art. For further information on the Center’s activities, contact the director, Professor Jerome Silbergeld, or the associate director, Dora Ching.
Firestone Library
Most students know Firestone Library as the place to go for research materials, but many are not aware of its extensive holdings in the visual arts. Manuscripts, prints, photographs, and even some paintings and sculptures are located within the Rare Books and Special Collections, which are normally consulted in the reading room located to the right upon entering the library (through the exhibition space visible from the foyer). Students using the reading room must check all bags and personal items in lockers provided and can only bring in laptops and paper distributed by the receptionist. Pencils must be used at all time in the reading room. Reading room hours are M, T, TH, F, 9-4:45; W 9-7:45. Normally, materials that appear in the on-line catalogue for Firestone Library can be immediately consulted; materials in the Cotsen Library and uncatalogued materials can be consulted only by prior appointment with the curator. Some of the most important collections for majors are the following:
The Manuscripts Division contains 8500 linear feet of materials ranging from 1300 cuneiform tablets to Man Ray photographs. It has the largest collection of Islamic manuscripts in North America (11,000 volumes) as well as very significant collections of Western textual and illuminated manuscripts ranging in date from the 9th to 16th centuries, with special strength in the English, French, Italian, and Byzantine world. Other particular treasures for modernists are the photographic albums of Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), some 700 items; 900 Middle Eastern photographs by Felix Bonfils; 130 Beardsley drawings; and the Sylvia Beach Collection.
The Graphic Arts Collection includes artists' and private press books, as well as materials for the study of paper and papermaking, printing, calligraphy, printmaking, fine binding, typography, and book design. Of special interest are the Sinclair Hamilton Collection of American Illustrated Books; 18th- and 19th-century British artists and illustrators (particularly George and Robert Cruikshank, Thomas Rowlandson, and William Hogarth), and the Charles Rahn Fry Pochoir Collection.
The collection includes more than 22,000 examples of fine letterpress printing, bookbinding, papermaking, modern calligraphy, and artists' books, as well as reference works on the history of the book and printing. Among the primary source materials are over 20,000 drawings, prints, paintings, and photographs related to the history of book illustration, vintage printing presses and type, approximately 350 blocks and plates for printmaking, and 100 linear feet of printed ephemera such as bookplates, trade cards, and postcards.
The Cotsen Children’s Library is an unusual collection of illustrated children's books, manuscripts, original artwork, prints, and educational toys from the 15th century to the present day, the Cotsen Library has over 60,000 items dating from the first primers to the latest anime cartoons. For anyone interested in the history of childhood, popular culture, and the often forgotten involvement of fine artists such as Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, and Edward Steichen in children’s book illustration, this is a treasure trove.
The Western Americana Collection includes prints, photographs, paintings, and illustrated books of the Western territories and states, including amateur albums by explorers and early settlers.
The Numismatics Collection has over 25,000 objects with particular strengths in Greek and Roman coins.
Other Princeton Resources for Art Majors
Seeley G. Mudd Library is home to the Princeton University archives, which contain historic photographs, prints, and portraits relating to Princeton. Other libraries on campus that contain original drawings, prints and photographs include the School of Architecture Library and the East Asian Library and the Gest Collection, with over 102,000 early string-bound Chinese books. Films and videos by leading directors are found in the Language Resource Center (011 East Pyne).
