Public Collectors is founded upon the concern that there are many types of cultural artifacts that public libraries, museums and other institutions and archives either do not collect or do not make freely accessible. Public Collectors asks individuals that have had the luxury to amass, organize, and inventory these materials to help reverse this lack by making their collections public.
This page consists of sample findings and excerpts. It is also an account of the contents of my home and digital files from my camera. If you have suggestions, have a collection you want to share, or are in Chicago and would like to see something in person, please contact me. This blog is intended as a casual, more personal supplement to the main Public Collectors website.
Public Collectors is maintained by Marc Fischer.
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Common tags: Book Cover Design • Chicago • Drawing • Flea Market • Flyers • Illustration • Prison • Records • Religious Tracts • Signage • Zines
A sample 2-page spread from 17 Indian Books, a beautiful little photo ‘zine by longtime friend and tireless photographer Oscar Arriola. This was published by Fotoflow Press in 2010 and consists of color reproductions of book covers spotted at the library where Oscar works. Be sure to also check out the over 12,000 photos on his amazing Flickr page: Fotoflow
A sample 2-page spread from 17 Indian Books, a beautiful little photo ‘zine by longtime friend and tireless photographer Oscar Arriola. This was published by Fotoflow Press in 2010 and consists of color reproductions of book covers spotted at the library where Oscar works. Be sure to also check out the over 12,000 photos on his amazing Flickr page: Fotoflow
This Hungarian guide book, Kisemlösök (Rodents), was published in Budapest in 1985. It’s one of several similar handy illustrated books that I picked up on my recent trip. More exciting drawings of bats to follow (and maybe some rats and squirrels later on?).
The cover of Stereobook by Paul Dean / Paper Shrine, published by Barefoot Press, Raleigh, NC, 2000. Described, accurately, as “A celebration of the promotional ephemera of the twentieth-century high fidelity stereographic phonograph record, Stereobook is not a parody!” More here.
How to Write Signs, Tickets and Posters, edited by Paul N. Hasluck, published by David McKay Company, Philadelphia, PA, undated.
Human Groups by W. J. H. Sprott, published by Pelican Books, Baltimore, Maryland, 1962.
Design as Art by Bruno Munari, Penguin Books, Baltimore, MD, 1971. I’ve been meaning to get a copy of this classic book for years. Finally scored one in Chicago yesterday at a 25 cent book sale.
En bog om Frankrig (A Book About France) by Jacques Berg, Tranehuse, 1983. A Danish book about France for juvenile readers. And what better way to capture their attention than a cover photo of a riot?
A paperback book, Ud Af Satans Gred, by Doreen Irvine, spotted in a Copenhagen thrift store this afternoon.
The back cover of Red Flag Black Flag: French Revolution 1968, by Patrick Seale and Maureen McConville, Ballantine Books, New York, 1968. See the front cover here.
Red Flag Black Flag: French Revolution 1968, by Patrick Seale and Maureen McConville, Ballantine Books, New York, 1968. See the back cover here.
The cover of the 2005 supplementary book catalog of Loompanics Unlimited (R.I.P.), Port Townsend, WA.
Dig U.S.A. edited by Arthur Daigon and Ronald T. LaConte, Bantam, New York, 1970.
The next batch of scans will come from the mini Hungarian horror pulp book 101 Rettenetes Történet (101 Terrible Stories) by Szentmihályi Szabó Péter with illustrations by Fujkin István. This book, published in 1989, was part of a fun package exchange that I did with Gergely of the excellent Hungarian art and illustration focused blog Paper Dungeon.
