NEW YORK, NY.- Behind every great collection lies a great story. That was the premise of the first Grolier Club Collects show in 2002/2003, and a dozen years later it remains the central idea of The Grolier Club Collects II, a gathering of 130 books, manuscripts and works on paper drawn from the international membership of the Grolier Club. On view through February 6, 2016, the exhibition includes unusual, surprising, and important examples of the book arts. Eric Holzenberg, director, and Arthur Schwarz, collector, have overseen the selection and installation.

Reflecting the breadth and quality of those members’ varied collecting interests, the exhibition encompasses medieval manuscripts and early printed books as well as contemporary literature; rarities ranging from Old Master drawings and prints, to nineteenth- and twentieth-century posters, cartoons and ephemera to livres d’artiste, children’s books, book objects, and photographs. Each object comes with a tale, written by the collector, describing how and when the book, manuscript, or print was acquired, under what circumstances, how it fits (or does NOT fit) into an overall collecting scheme and—most importantly—why it is precious to the collector. These unique objects illuminate the remarkable range of subjects pursued by bibliophiles on an international stage and provide proof that the collecting of books and prints in the age of the internet is not only alive and well, but thriving.

The Grolier Club Collects II is a survey of collecting today, as reflected in the interests of current Grolier members. It is not a ‘treasures’ show of jewel-encrusted and gilt-edged rarities, but rather a collection of objects chosen for their power to inspire. Included in this diverse assemblage:

Printed artifacts, ranging from an 8th-century Japanese Buddhist scroll, to a manuscript fragment in Greek of the Testamentum Domini (The Last Will and Testament of Jesus), to a modern miniature book (Robin Llywelyn’s Portmeirion).

Historical works, from a copy of the 1483 Chronicon of Eusebius, to the first book printed in New Jersey (1723), to a copy of Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television;

Autographs, letters and annotations by figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Madame de Sévigné, Carl Sandburg, J. K. Rowling, and King George I of England;

Literature of all places and ages, including Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron, Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Herman Melville’s Typee, Oscar Wilde’s The Sphinx … and an alphabet by Edward Gorey!

Examples of the book arts, including Mughal Indian miniatures, illuminated manuscripts, the 1904 Doves Press Bible, and fine bindings by Michael Wilcox, George Kirkpatrick, Pierre-Lucien Martin and others;

Works on paper in all forms, from an elaborate hand-made nineteenth-century valentine, to prints by Dali and Ben Shahn, to photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron and Candida Höfer.