Schomburg Center, New York Public Library

---

Bone Straight, Afro Centric, and Bad Hair are three books housed in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. The Center is located in Manhattan and “is generally recognized as the world’s leading research library devoted exclusively to documenting the history and cultural development of peoples of African descent worldwide.” The Center was founded during the Harlem Renaissance, and since that time, the collection has grown to over 10 million items.

The Center offers diverse programming, including lectures, exhibitions, classes, and workshops in addition to supporting research. Many of the collections are available digitally. Access to the Center is free, but a library pass is required for entry. Visitors who do not reside in NYC are invited to apply for a free library card on-line, which is valid for three months.

The Center has an extensive website that also includes helpful tips. In addition to obtaining a library card, visitors are encouraged to reach out to the staff to reserve materials in advance. Researchers can search the collections on-line prior to visiting and tours are also available and can be arranged in advance. Personal items must be checked in before entering the research areas and check in service is free.

Hair fiber is feature in several of my works, including the three that are in the Shomburg collection. Sometimes, the subject of the works are hair culture and sometimes not, but these three in particular are. Afro Centric is celebratory, while Bone Straight is a witnessing. Bad Hair is about discriminatory employment practices.

bookish terms

---

Here is a brief rundown two common terms used in book arts:

Edition

This term is often seen in book descriptions. A book will either be part of an edition or a unique offering.

• An artist can determine how many of a book to make. An edition can be as few as two or it can be hundreds. An open edition means that more of the book can be made in the future. Other editions are finite - the artist determines how many to make, usually before production.

• Each individual work in an edition may be exactly the same, or may differ somewhat. For example, in my Edges series, which is made from books that were altered by cutting and adding needlework, I created four for the edition. Each of the four original books are from same literature series and the subject of the finished pieces are the same, but each individual book features a different “hair style.”

• Sometimes an artist will decide to create a deluxe and standard edition. Deluxe editions usually have something special that the standard edition does not. The special item may be how the book is printed (more on that later), a custom box made to house the work, inclusion of a sculptural component, or the addition of a precious metal. Deluxe editions are usually costlier than standard editions.

• In order to identify individual books in an edition, the artist will assign it a number. For example, the third book of an edition of 10 will be notated as: Edition 3 of 10 or 3/10. This numbering system is also used in printmaking. Some may feel that the number in the edition denotes quality, but this is usually not the case.

• A unique book means that it is the only one. No other copies were made.

• An Artist Proof (A/P) means that there is something a little different in this book. Even the most streamlined book requires test runs. An artist proof is often a run that is acceptable, but maybe a feature, such as a type of paper, color of ink, image, etc. was changed before the edition was produced.

Press Name

Some books will feature a small logo or text denoting the press name. Consider a book obtained from a mainstream bookseller. The publisher’s imprint (name) is listed - usually on the spine, and the front or back covers. In basic terms, a publisher charges to print and sell books. Publishers offer other services too, such as editing and designing. Most makers of artist books are self publishers - they make the decisions for their work and often fabricate the work themselves. Many artists use a press name even if they create books without text. Others do not. Having or not having a press name in an of itself does not determine the value of an artist book.

In the next Bookish post, we’ll discuss printing terms.