Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: RITArc-0236

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection records document the beginnings of the Cary Collection in 1969 with a gift by Mary Flagler Cary up to the present day, including some promotional materials regarding the Cary Graphic Arts Press. Clippings on events, staffing changes, and acquisitions; promotional brochures, broadsides, and invitations; and publications round out the collection. Also present are copies of the sample issue of Festina Lente (June 1979), as well as the first issue (February 1980). Festina Lente was the much lauded journal of the Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection. The journal was written and produced by students and faculty of the School of Printing at RIT.

Dates

Creation: 1969-2010

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers.

Biographical / Historical

The Cary Collection is one of the country's premier libraries on the history and practice of printing.The original collection of 2,300 volumes was assembled by the New York City businessman Melbert B. Cary, Jr. during the 1920s and 1930s.

Cary was director of Continental Type Founders Association, a former president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and proprietor of the private Press of the Woolly Whale. His professional and personal interests in printing led him to collect printer's manuals and type specimens, as well as great books of the printer's art.

In 1969, the Cary Collection was presented to RIT by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust as a memorial to Mr. Cary, together with funds to support use of the collection. Today the library houses some 20,000 volumes and a growing number of manuscripts and correspondence collections. Also included are holdings on bookbinding, papermaking, type design, calligraphy and book illustration.