Newberry Library - Plainly Spoken Exhibition

Title Plainly Spoken Exhibition

Date 2014-04-22/2014-07-08

Subjects Artists' books, Book collectors, Exhibitions

Description In 1998, Julia Miller began the monumental task of sifting through notes and observations made during her 30-year career as an archivist and book conservator, then sat down to write. The resultant Books Will Speak Plain (The Legacy Press 2010) is a 500-page handbook aimed at conservators, collectors, librarians, and book lovers, for the identification and description of book structures and styles.

To honor Miller’s immense contribution to book arts and highlight the strong impact design has on our relationship with books, the Midwest Guild of Book Workers invited bookbinders from across the country to take the text pages from Miller’s book and rebind them, then submit them to a jury of three experts who would choose the finalists for this traveling exhibition.

In April, the Newberry will showcase the 17 chosen designs, which include models that replicate books from a historical period; cutaways that visually reveal their hidden structure; design bindings that interpret a concept from the text; and artists’ bindings that play with structures and materials to create something new.

Titled “Plainly Spoken,” the exhibition will open Tuesday, April 22, and run through Tuesday, July 8, at roughly the same time and across the lobby from the Newberry’s annual calligraphy exhibition.

Also a juried show, “Exploration 2014” is presented by the Chicago Calligraphy Collective and this year marks its 28th anniversary. The show runs from Monday, April 7, though Friday, June 27, and features submissions of a wide range of stunning and thought-provoking calligraphic art. A special event featuring the award presentation, demonstrations, and discussions will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 12.

Archival Collection Title Newberry Library Archives

Link to Catalog View record

Call Number NL Archives

BibID 991051478805867

Rights Status Copyright Not Evaluated

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

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Size 4711px × 3982px 53.71 MB

Filename books_speak_plain_exhibit_2014_02.tif

Unique Identifier NL19ZHB