By: Bridey Heing Category: ART+FASHION Date: 24.Jun.2014

Henry Theodore Tuckerman, Book of the Artists: American Artist Life, New York, 1867

 

This week is the last chance to visit the National Gallery’s “In the Library: Deforming and Adorning with Annotations and Marginalia,” an exhibit featuring rare books with notes and drawings in the margins.

“In the Library” offers a unique view of literary history, taking works considered collectors items and highlighting “defacing” done by the original owners. Intricate calligraphy and precisely set margins are offset by the scrawl of readers. Illustrations and sketches bring prose to life, while insights carefully written into the blank space on the page bring a personal touch and in some cases challenge the authority of the author.

According to the NGA website, “The books on view all began as copies identical to hundreds or thousands of others, but each has been transformed by the addition of new information.” These works are one-of-a-kind in an
honest, verging on intimate way.

“In the Library: Deforming and Adorning with Annotations and Marginalia” is on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., through June 27.