Show and Bestow: The Ruth Hughes Collection of Artists’ Books, recently assembled and about to be donated to Oberlin College.

This collection, gathered by Library Company Conservator Alice Austin in honor of Chief Cataloger Ruth Hughes, will be on display from November 20 – December 30, 2009 in the Art and Print Department Galleries on the 2nd floor of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine St. After the exhibition, the collection will be donated to Oberlin College’s Clarence Ward Art Library. The exhibition will coincide with Book, Paper, Scissors, an annual artists’ book fair sponsored by the Philadelphia Center for the Book. This year the fair will be held from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm on Sat., December 5th and you will be able to see the work of several present and former Library Company staff members.

For more information on Book, Paper, Scissors, please visit the Philadelphia Center for the Book’s website, http://philadelphiacenterforthebook.org/.

Andrea Krupp. Top: Straighten Up and Fly Right; Bottom: High-Flying Dare-Devil. ( 2009)

Philadelphia On Stone: Radio Broadcast

Saturday, March 13th, at 11 a.m., WRTI 90.1 FM aired the radio interview of Philadelphia on Stone director and Assistant Curator Erika Piola and Project Assistant Linda Wisniewski. Conducted by local historian and commentator Tom Keels, the interview focuses on the library's upcoming exhibition Philadelphia on Stone: The First Fifty Years of Commercial Lithography, 1828-1878and its role as an Independent Project of the graphic arts festival Philagrafika 2010. Visit the Philagrafika website for more information.

Click here for Audio

Huntington Library Visitors

On April 27 the Library Company hosted a group of Trustees and friends of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. This was a stop on the group’s marathon eight-day trip to libraries and museums in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Our visitors heard about the history of the Library Company from Director John Van Horne, saw some of our greatest treasures up close as described by Librarian James Green, and had a tour of our exhibition “Philadelphia on Stone” with curator Erika Piola. Then the group got behind the scenes with visits to the Print Department, the McLean Conservation Department, and the rare book stacks. We have it on good authority that the Library Company was one of the highlights of their trip east.