Special Collections Center: Donations

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or Viewing Appointment

Contact the Special Collections Librarian, Cheri:

cmarks@ringling.edu 

Call Cheri: 941-359-7583

Cheri Marks (she, her) MFA, MSI
Special Collections Librarian and Archivist

specialcollections@c.ringling.edu 

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Some visitors may be interested in contributing material resources to the Brizdle-Schoenberg Special Collections Center. We are currently soliciting donations for a History of Illustration teaching collection. We thank you in advance for your support of this endeavor. Our wishlist items include:

• Palm leaf engraving or palm leaf pattachitra from India
• Books and printed matter on non-paper based materials (e.g. parchment, papyrus, tapa) from different geographic regions and cultures
• Illustrated epic literature and tales of national identity
• Japanese prints from Edo and Meiji periods - ghost stories esp., traditional literature also
• Illustrated books from China, Korea, and Japan
• 19th c. natural history books with chromolithograph illustrations
• 19th c. medical atlas with chromolithograph illustrations
• Scientific illustration any era
• 1860s-1880s weekly publications - Harpers Weekly with wood engravings (esp. by Howard Pyle), Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News/Leslie’s Weekly, Munsey’s Weekly/Munsey’s Magazine
• 19th c. cheap print examples - dime novels, penny dreadfuls (British and American), story papers, humor magazines (e.g. Puck)
• 1860s-1920s chromolithographic trade cards - esp. as a collection or in a scrapbook
• 19th c. chromolithographic greeting cards - esp. as a collection or in a scrapbook
• 19th c. popular magazines - Harper’s Monthly, Scribner’s, Century, Godey’s Lady’s Book with fashion plate gatefold intact
• 1890-1920 a single whole newspaper and/or illustrated supplement
• 20th c. popular magazines - e.g. Harpers Monthly with color plates of Brandywine illustrators (1900-1910), Life (before 1936), Vogue (1920s), Saturday Evening Post (1910-1960, but 1940s-50s esp.), Fortune (late 1930s-40s), Cosmopolitan (1920s-1964), McCalls’, Colliers (1900s-50s), Esquire (1930s-1950s), New Yorker (any years), Ebony (1945-1960s)
• Tearsheet collection with a variety of artists and styles from mainstream magazines
• 1900-1930 tearsheets of color comics pages - esp. by Windsor McCay or Rudolph Dirks
• 20th c. cheap print examples - pulp magazines in various genres (detective, western, spicy, science fiction, weird, romance), “art” magazines (nudes and bodybuilding, e.g. Physical Culture), College Humor (1920s-30s), Judge (1930s-40s), “men’s magazines”
• Harlem Renaissance prints by Miguel Covarrubias
• Harlem Renaissance magazines or books - esp. books illustrated by Aaron Douglas or Charles Cullen, Opportunity magazine, The Crisis magazine
• Illustrated books, comics, magazines, and ephemera by African American artists before 1980s - esp. by Elton Fax, Jackie Ormes, E. Simms Campbell, George Herriman, Matt Baker
• 1900-1940 high-end Modernist artists’ books/livre d'artiste (e.g. by Picasso, Dufy, Leger, Denis)
• 1960s-70s alternative newspapers - Village Voice ilk, LGBTQ+ newspapers, alternative newspapers with comix in them
• 1965-75 Playboy (commissioner of new editorial styles at the time)
• 1960s-70s Lithopinion
• 1980s punk zines - esp. Riot GRRL

We are looking to grow our Student and Alumni Authors Collection at the Brizdle-Schoenberg Special Collections Center.

The Special Collections Center hosts Student Acquisition Review Days bi-annually. The review dates for Fall are typically in November and for Spring are typically in April. The Student Acquisition Review Days are open to all majors and sign ups are announced through the portal, campus email, and social media.

Cheri Marks, Special Collections Curator and Archivist will meet with you during a 30-minute appointment to offer feedback on your finished work and make purchase/donation decisions for the collection.

Guidelines: We are looking for things like student-made artists’ books, zines, photobooks, comics, games, card decks, experimental printed matter, etc. Only finished work will be considered. Publications and multiples produced as part of a class assignment, thesis, extra-curricular, independent project, etc. are all eligible.

You can view previous examples by browsing the Student and Alumni Authors Collection in the online catalog.

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Please note: The Alfred R. Goldstein Library does not systematically collect student theses at this time. Alumni who are interested in submitting work to Special Collections are encouraged to send project information or a prospectus to the Digital Curation and Special Collections Librarian. We do not accept unsolicited donations.

We are appreciative of donations and are selective about what materials are added to the Special Collections Center. Selection decisions are made by the special collections librarian in consultation with the library director, librarians, and/or faculty. Due to space limitations, costs of processing, etc. we are seeking a representative sample rather than a deep dive of items on our current wish list.

For inquiries about donating to Special Collections, please contact Cheri Marks, Special Collections Curator and Archivist (cmarks@ringling.edu or 941-359-7583) with images and a list of items for consideration.

Special Collections will consider accepting materials according to the following criteria and conditions:

• That the materials fall into the scope of the Center’s collection and supports the teaching and learning mission of Ringling College;
• That the items offer significant value to the collection, as determined by selectors;
• That the materials are in good physical condition and can be handled by patrons. Note: The Center will not accept any items exhibiting signs of mold, mildew, insects, water damage; or items that are in need of repair, rebinding, rebacking, or costly conservation treatments;
• That the Center is in a position to accept, process, and maintain the gift;
• That no restrictions be placed by the prospective donor on the disposition and use of the gifts offered.

Upon acceptance, gifts are irrevocable and become the property of the Ringling College Library. Items that we are unable to add to the collection may be donated or otherwise disposed of. When gifts are accepted, an acknowledgment letter of receipt will be sent for the donor's tax purposes. Ringling College does not provide valuation of materials, and it is the donor's responsibility to provide a title list if they wish that information to be attached to the letter.

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For inquiries about donating to the Alfred R. Goldstein Library, please read the Library’s Gift Policy or contact Alexandra Vargas-Minor, Co-Interim Director of Library Services (avargasm@ringling.edu or 941-309-4055).