From Dolly to Dickens

Next time you visit the V&A, take a moment to look at the books on display outside the National Art Library doors, where we are highlighting some of our recent acquisitions. From a biography of Dolly Parton through her clothes to monthly instalments of Dickens’s novel The life and adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, there is something for everyone!

We are happy to showcase not only the dynamic range of material we collect but also the many ways in which we are able to acquire these objects. They have come to us through purchase, gift, bequest, but also through the continued support of generous individuals, of the Friends of the National Libraries, and through the Acceptance In Lieu Scheme or the Cultural Gifts Scheme, administered by the Arts Council.

Our special collections chart the art and crafts of the book from medieval manuscripts to contemporary comics and artists’ books: the selection on display is just a taste of some recent additions.

Eyebrows is one of four sculptural book objects designed by Matthew Ronay in a series entitled Modal modules. They are meditation altars that blend the artist’s visual expression and spiritual practice and take the form of paper peepshows (also known as tunnel books). For each module, a visual interpretation of a different meditation has been translated into a tunnel book formed of twelve laser-cut layers. Each layer is hand-painted in the subtle and distinctive colours that characterise Ronay’s sculptural work and assembled by Three Star Books in Paris.

This work is a great addition as it complements the Gestetner collection of paper peepshows acquired in 2016 through the Cultural Gifts Scheme. 

Hoda Hofshar’s photobook Speak the Wind unfolds on the islands in the Strait of Hormuz, off the southern coast of Iran, where it is common belief that the winds can possess a person, bringing illness and disease. Hofshar attempts to picture the wind and its psychic entanglements through subtle and perspective images of the extraordinary landscapes, the people and their rituals.

This book was acquired through the generosity of David Solo, who has been supporting the NAL photobook acquisitions since 2016. This allows us to purchase and make publicly accessible in our reading rooms contemporary photobooks which exemplify the themes, styles, and innovation in modern photographic bookmaking.

Dolly Parton’s Behind the Seams. My life in rhinestones, in which she shares the story behind her lifelong passion for fashion is a colourful example drawn from our general reference books. Our small team of librarians and cataloguers acquire and accession hundreds of books a year to keep the collections up to date and relevant for researchers and enthusiasts who use the library.

What’s on display?

1. Dolly Parton, Holly George-Warren and Rebecca Seaver, Dolly Parton: behind the seams. My life in rhinestones (London: Ebury Press, 2023). Museum no. 38041023021355.
2. Edward Wates, One aspect of art work (1944), by Anni Albers. Calligraphy and gouache painting by Edward Wates (Oxford, 2020). Museum no. MSL/2022/1.
3. Matthew Ronay, Eyebrows (Paris: Three Star Books, 2024). Museum no. 38041024011280.
4. Hoda Afshar, Speak the wind (London: MACK, 2021). Museum no. 38041023005432. Acquisition supported through the generosity of David Solo.
5. Jean Émile Laboureur, Characters from the American army in France: series of ten woodcuts (Types de l’armée américaine en France: suite de dix images taillées sur bois) (Paris: La Belle Édition, 1918). Museum no. 38041024009938. From the collection of Philippe Le Stum, given by Margareth in his memory.
6. Golnar Adili, Father gave water (Baabaa aab daad) (Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Miami Paper & Printing Museum, 2020). Museum no. 38041024001737. Jameel Acquisition. 
7. The Day-Glo designer’s guide (Cleveland, Ohio: Dayglo Color Corp., 1969). Museum no. 38041024001695.
8. Bálint Bánk Varga, Kristián Tuli and Adrienn Rihana Tuli-Berke, The penultimate hussar 1. Fuck you, Hamm! (Az utolsó előtti huszár 1. Hamm, bekaplak!) (Kaposvár, Hungary: Hollóhegy Kiadó, 2020). Museum no. 38041024018186.

   Colomba Leddi and Lisa Corva (dir.), Pattern: from the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional (Cartamodello: dal bidimensionale al tridimensionale)(Macerata, Italy: Quodlibet, 2024). Museum no. 38041024017147.

9. Charles Dickens, The life and adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, parts 7 and 8 (London: Chapman and Hall, July and August 1843). Museum nos. 38041023004203 and 38041023004211. Donated from the Blavatnik Honresfield Library by the Friends of the National Libraries, 2022.