July 6: National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum

On Monday afternoon, we visited the Art Library at the Victoria & Albert Museum. We were split into two groups, and one group toured the library while the other group viewed some treasures of the library.

Classmates perusing some treasures of the V&A Art Library.

Photo courtesy of Misti Thornton.

The V&A library is one of the top four art libraries in the world. It collects documentation and materials concerning the decorative and applied arts and design, reflecting the beauty and functionality of the art around us. The collection takes up three floors in the library, plus two rooms and galleries scattered throughout the building. The books are arranged by height, not subject, and the call numbers refer to a size range to indicate where they should be shelved. More commonly used items are kept on the shelves in the two reading rooms and are organized using Dewey.

Photo courtesy of Misti Thornton.

This is a public reference library that serves an international readership. Anyone can come in, free of charge, provide a form of ID and address, and access most of the collection. Or, library staff can scan items and send them to readers electronically. There is a portion of the collection that is restricted, because the items are so rare. But, as we've seen with many restricted library collections in the UK, the items can be accessed if one can make a case for needing to see it. In the stacks, there are many items under lock and key, and only certain senior management have access to them. The library has many reproductions of some items for users to view, to protect the original. Some of these reproductions are valuable in their own right. The library has a few replicas of DaVinci's compasses--the replicas themselves, because they are so detailed and true to the originals, are worth around £20,000.

This library is also the research facility for the V&A staff. Museum departments come to the library to learn about their own collections, research items for possible acquisition, and get information for their exhibits. Staff members can borrow materials from the library, but the materials cannot leave the building.

However, the library is also considered a museum department in its own right, as it acquires and curates a collection of artistic objects--the books themselves, as well as other materials. The library is considered a collection of art forms in its own right--it contains artistic objects about artistic objects/ideas. (This seems a stark contrast to the archives at the British Museum, which seems to give priority to the artifacts displayed above ground and gives little thought to the archives below.)

One of the treasures they showed us was this Bible. Every inch of this small volume was decorated, from its beaded cover to its embroidered ribbons, painted edges, and ornate calligraphy inside. The amount of care and craftsmanship that went into every detail...it was truly a work of art.

 

Photos courtesy of Misti Thornton.

The library has, among other treasures, Shakespeare's first folio, five of DaVinci's notebooks, and all but one of Dickens' manuscripts (except for Bleak House). They hope to digitize some of the rarer materials to make them more accessible online. On the other end of the spectrum, they have a growing collection of comic books and graphic novels, as they reflect trends in graphic design and social history.