MUST RUN 5/9

CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS RAKOW RESEARCH LIBRARY Open To Public

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CORNING, N.Y. — The Juliette K. and Leonard S. Rakow Research Library of the Corning Museum of Glass is the world’s foremost library on the art and history of glass and glassmaking. Its mission is to maintain a comprehensive collection of resources on the subject of glass, in multiple formats and languages. The library is now open to the public at One Museum Way.

Holdings range in date from a Twelfth Century manuscript to the latest biographies of contemporary glass artists. There are thousands of original designs for glass objects executed by individual artists, as well as production drawings from a variety of glass studios or manufacturers, glassmakers’ batch books containing recipes for making glass, Victorian pattern books and stunningly illustrated historical trade catalogs.

Hundreds of photographs, many unpublished, and rare documentary material relating to the history of famous designs for the fragrance industry, from the private archive of Mary Lou and Glenn Utt, are part of the collection; so too are Tiffany Studios’ archival materials: the notebooks, journals, letters, and handwritten notes of Arthur J. and Leslie H. Nash, master glassmakers for Tiffany Studios.

Highlights of the library’s collection are many, such as L’Arte Vetraria or The Art of Glass, by Antonio Neri (1612), an important handbook by a Florentine priest working as a glassmaker under the patronage of the de’ Medicis. It was the most popular glassmaking manual for 200 years possibly because it disclosed secret Venetian techniques, and Neri gives clear, no-nonsense instructions on how to make the finest quality glass in a perfect balance of art and technology.

Another library gem is the Mappae Clavicula, or Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques, circa 1150. This manuscript presents more than 200 recipes for making various substances used in the decorative arts. A valuable artifact of medieval culture, the library’s edition is thought to be one of the best examples of an early chemical compendium.

On the Nature of Things by Bartholomew Anglicus, 1492, was originally written in the Thirteenth Century. The library’s edition of this encyclopedia was printed in 1492 by the famous German typographer Anton Koberger, who lived around the same time as Johannes Gutenberg. The subject of glass appears in several different sections of the book, which was meant to cover all of the knowledge that had been accumulated up to that time.

Archives of contemporary galleries and studios, including those of the Heller Gallery, Cummings Stained Glass Studio and Josh Simpson Glass Studio are also available at the Corning Glass Museum library.

For information, 800-732-6845 or www.cmog.org.