INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINTS & BOOKS COLLECTIONS

Prints Collections

Aubrey Beardsley, poster, 'Pseudonym and Autonym Libraries'. Museum no. E.1376-1931

The Prints collections include:

• Caricatures and cartoons
• Costume prints, including fashion plates and fan leaves
• Designs for the decorative arts, including a comprehensive engraved ornament collection
• Ephemera and commercial graphics, such as advertisements, packaging, stationery
• Fine art prints from the Renaissance to the present day
• Greeting cards
• Illustration
• Posters
• Playing cards
• Portraits (including the Seligman Bequest of portrait prints)
• Prints illustrating social history and religious symbolism
• Reproductive prints  
• Topographic prints
• Trade cards
• Wallpapers and decorative papers

Key examples from the Prints collections are displayed in the Museum's galleries, while the other items can be seen in the Prints & Drawings Study Room.