The Cary Graphic Arts Collection is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

of books, type specimens, manuscripts, documents, and artifacts related to the history of graphical communication. Located in Wallace Library at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...

, New York, the Cary Collection contains literate artifacts as old as

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...

tablets and as recent as computer tablets and

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s, in all comprising some 40,000 volumes in addition to

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s, correspondence, printing types and traditional

letterpress Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker com ...

printing equipment. A recent, newsworthy acquisition is the Albion hand press from the Kelmscott Press of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

. The Cary Collection also possesses one of the rare copies (only 440 printed) of the extravagantly produced and illustrated Kelmscott Chaucer of 1896, which the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

has called "a new benchmark for book design at the end of the 19th century". The Kelmscott Chaucer was hand printed on the Kelmscott Albion press which is also held in the Cary Collection.

History of the Cary Collection

The original collection of 2,300 volumes was assembled during the 1920s and 1930s by Melbert B. Cary, Jr., director of

Continental Type Founders Association Continental Type Founders Association was founded by Melbert Brinckerhoff Cary Jr. in 1925 to distribute foundry type imported from European foundries. The influence of more modern European type design was thus felt in the United States for the ...

, past president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (

AIGA The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity ...

), typophile, and proprietor of the private Press of the Woolly Whale. In 1969, the books that formed the nucleus of the Cary Graphic Arts Collection were presented to RIT by the

Mary Flagler Cary Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, which was first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder ...

Charitable Trust, as a memorial to Mr. Cary. The Charitable Trust also provided funds to support the use and growth of the Cary Collection, which has expanded almost 20-fold since its inception, and now includes materials related to the history of writing, the art of calligraphy, the formats and printing of early books, the design of

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

s, the technology of

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

, the practice of paper-making, the art of the book and

artists' books Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

. The Cary Collection also includes works by recipients of RIT's Frederic W. Goudy Award for excellence of achievement in

typography Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), ...

. The Cary Collection has grown through several major donations. In 1982, the Cary Collection received the donation of The New York Times Museum of the Recorded Word, and in 1983 received the Bernard C. Middleton Collection of Books on Bookbinding. Recent gifts include the Jonathan and Patricia England Collection of American Fine Printing and the Ismar David archive, and an extensive collection, the most substantial in America, of manuscripts, layouts, calligraphy, and books by type and book designer Hermann Zapf. The

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Cary Collection from 1979 to 2011 was David Pankow, now RIT Librarian Emeritus. The Curator, since 2011, is Steven K. Galbraith. The Associate Curator is Amelia Hugill-Fontanel.

The Cary Collection in education

The Cary Collection supports RIT undergraduate and graduate education in graphic design and graphic arts and is open to RIT students interested in researching any of its holdings. The Cary Collection also regularly hosts RIT classes for lectures and demonstrations, and welcomes visiting scholars. The collection also presents public lectures and exhibitions on the art, history, and scholarship of the book. David Pankow, then Cary Curator, was a co-organizer of the June 2010 "Future of Reading" Symposium at RIT and the Cary Collection helped host the April 2012 RIT Symposium on "Reading Digital", organized by Charles Bigelow, then the Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Graphic Arts at RIT.

Highlights of the Cary Collection

ImagineRITCaryGraphicArtsCollectionCuneiformTablet

The Cary Collection contains incunabula (books from the "cradle" of printing, before 1501) including books printed by Johann Fust & Peter Schoeffer, Nicolas Jenson,

Erhard Ratdolt Erhard Ratdolt (1442–1528) was an early German printer from Augsburg. He was active as a printer in Venice from 1476 to 1486, and afterwards in Augsburg. From 1475 to 1478 he was in partnership with two other German printers. The first book ...

, and Aldus Manutius, and books printed during the 16th French "Golden Age" of typography include volumes from the presses of

Simon de Colines Simon de Colines (c. 14801546) was a Parisian printer and one of the first printers of the French Renaissance. He was active in Paris as a printer and worked exclusively for the University of Paris from 1520 to 1546. In addition to his work as ...

and

Henri Estienne Henri Estienne (; ; 1528 or 15311598), also known as Henricus Stephanus (), was a French printer and classical scholar. He was the eldest son of Robert Estienne. He was instructed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by his father and would eventually tak ...

. The collection includes 18th century type specimens by

William Caslon William Caslon I (1692/1693 – 23 January 1766), also known as William Caslon the Elder,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was an English typefounder. The distinction and legibility of his type secured him the patronage of the leading ...

and

Pierre-Simon Fournier Pierre-Simon Fournier (15 September 1712 – 8 October 1768) was a French mid-18th century punch-cutter, typefounder and typographic theoretician. He was both a collector and originator of types. Fournier's contributions to printing were his cre ...

, and books printed by John Baskerville in England and

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

in America. Among the collection's 19th century type specimens is the two volume ''Manuale Typographica'' of

Giambattista Bodoni Giambattista Bodoni (, ; 16 February 1740 – 30 November 1813) was an Italian typographer, type-designer, compositor, printer, and publisher in Parma. He first took the type-designs of Pierre Simon Fournier as his exemplars, but afterwards be ...

, and numerous other 19th specimens from American and European typefounders. Harkening back to ancient materials shaped by modern hands, the collection includes alphabet stones carved by

Edward Catich Edward M. Catich (1906–April 14, 1979) was an American Roman Catholic priest, teacher, and calligrapher. He is noted for the fullest development of the thesis that the inscribed Roman square capitals of the Augustan age and afterward owed their ...

, based on early Roman inscriptions, as well as Catich's

rubbing A rubbing ('' frottage'') is a reproduction of the texture of a surface created by placing a piece of paper or similar material over the subject and then rubbing the paper with something to deposit marks, most commonly charcoal or pencil but ...

s (similar to tracings) of the Trajan Inscription in Rome of 113 A.D. ImagineRITCaryGraphicArtsCollectionHornbook

Images of some of the collection's holdings can be found online in its Digital Collections.

Publications

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References

External links