The Franklin Furnace Artists’ Books Collection is now housed on the campus of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. This research resource is made available to the faculty and students of Pratt as well as artists, curators, and the general public for study, enjoyment, and exhibition.

Franklin Furnace actively seeks Artists’ Books to be donated to its collection.

We request that you send one copy of your work, the completed forms below, and a resume. Also, if you can include other documentation of your work, scholars and other users of the collection will have the opportunity to use it for research purposes. Be advised that all information and materials you send will become the property of Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. and may be used in exhibitions and publications.

Through an ongoing special arrangement with MoMA, if you send an additional copy of your book, the second copy will be given to MoMA to be included in MoMA’s special collection of artists’ books entitled the Museum of Modern Art / Franklin Furnace / Artists’ Books Collection. Please do not send any books directly to MoMA, as they will only accept materials processed by Franklin Furnace.

Please read below for important additional information and then download this biographic information form and bibliographic information form and mail the completed forms and your submission to:

Franklin Furnace Artists’ Books Collection
Pratt Institute
200 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205

Additional Information

It is important that all types of artists be represented in a world class museum like MoMA. In order for your artists’ book to be included in the Museum of Modern Art / Franklin Furnace / Artists’ Book Collection you must send two copies to Franklin Furnace for processing.

Getting your book into the permanent collection of MoMA is a lengthy three-step process. First, your book is cataloged and processed into the Franklin Furnace Collection. Second, your book is shipped to MoMA as part of a group which includes other artist’ books and cataloging data. Third, the group of pre-processed books are accessioned into the MoMA permanent collection. Be advised that Franklin Furnace and MoMA are both experiencing considerable backlogs for processing artists’ books.

When you donate two copies of an artists’ book (one to Franklin Furnace and one to the Museum of Modern Art), you can immediately publicize that your book is in the Franklin Furnace Artists’ Book Collection. It’s your choice as to when to publicize that your book is in the MoMA collection. To be absolutely sure, you should wait until your book’s title appears in the online MoMA Dadabase, but expect that this will take some time. We ask that individual artists NOT contact MoMA directly regarding the status of their books. Instead, please direct all inquiries to Michael Katchen, Senior Archivist at Franklin Furnace.

Additionally Franklin Furnace cannot guarantee that MoMA will agree that your book is indeed an artists’ book. Franklin Furnace has an exceptionally liberal collections policy – if an artist says their publication is an artists’ book, we take them at their word and accession it into our collection. Other organizations have stricter definitions. For example, one of a kind books, book sculptures, books of photography, richly illustrated books of poetry or fiction, portfolios of prints, catalogs of artworks, and still image excerpts from video works, are often confused with artists’ books. The Printed Matter website contains a very good definition of the artists’ book.

Also, bigger is not necessarily better. Franklin Furnace is a small organization with storage size limitations. We are set up for normal size books and book-like works, not oversize objects. If size is vital to the content, we will accommodate it but please inquire ahead of time before you send it.

Sincerely,
Michael Katchen
Senior Archivist

Franklin Furnace began as an artists’ bookstore. When Printed Matter opened up a few blocks away, through a mutual agreement, Printed Matter became an artists’ bookstore and Franklin Furnace became an artists’ book archives and exhibition center.

Years later, the Franklin Furnace collection of artists’ books became the largest in this country. In 1993 the collection was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art Library’s collection, forming the world’s premier repository, and entitled the Museum of Modern Art / Franklin Furnace / Artists’ Books Collection. To this day, Franklin Furnace maintains this mutually beneficial relationship with MoMA by contributing additional copies of artists’ books as well as by maintaining its own collection on the campus of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.