Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology

Collections

SA Photography (SAPH) Rare Books (SAX)
Reserves & Storage (SARP) Reference (SARF)
Tang Reading Room
Sales Catalogs Artist Catalogs Off-site

Marquand's stacks are arranged by size, with octavos on one side of the aisle (marked with yellow cards), and the quartos (oversized) on the other (pink cards). The folios and elephants are on B floor (white cards).

There are several location designations for Marquand print collections: SA ("Seminar Art"), SAPH, SAX, SARP, and SA- and SAPH-Reference.

SA is the code used by the Princeton Library to designate Marquand, and the SA collection--the bulk of Marquand--covers all periods of art and architecture from most areas of the world, as well as archaeology (including strong collections in classical, Byzantine, medieval, Islamic, and pre-Columbian archaeology).

The SAPH or Artistic Photography collection covers the history of artistic photography from its inception to the present day. The collection is housed on the first floor. Pay close attention to call numbers marked SAPH, as they are shelved together and are separate from the general collection.

The SAX or Rare Book collection--including SAPHX--contains rare first editions, scarce copies of early texts, and numerous facsimiles. The Rare Book collection is housed on the first floor, in the Rare Book vault. Patrons must have a special Rare Books access card to use this collection and are limited to consulting one item at a time in the Rare Book reading room. When school is in session, rare books are available 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9:00 am - 8:00 pm on Wednesday. Requests for classroom use of Marquand rare materials must be submitted at least one week in advance. Please read and submit the Classroom Registration Form.

The SARP or Reserve collection is housed on the first floor, and items must be requested at the first service desk on your right as you enter the library. For items on permanent reserve (location says Storage), please inquire at the reference desk. In general, there should be a stacks copy of any item in Storage; please consult this copy before requesting a storage copy. Items on permanent reserve are slowly being integrated into the SA collection.

The Reference collection (SARF) is housed on the first floor, to the left of the information desk as you enter the library. Materials from this collection should be used in the Reference room.

The P. Y. Tang Reading Room is located on the 2nd Floor of Marquand Library, and houses a growing collection of reference materials on Chinese and Japanese art. For more information about the Tang Center for East Asian Art, see the Center's website.

Patrons seeking sales catalogs should inquire at the front desk. We house sales catalogs from Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and other major houses in the fields of paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, and photography, but not comprehensively (1820s-present). In addition to those dates listed on the spreadsheet, we have many older catalogs housed in Annex A. Please ask for these items at the reference desk and Marquand staff will retrieve them or assist in requesting from off-site.

Patrons seeking artist and dealer/exhibition catalogs not listed individually in the main catalog should inquire at the front desk. These materials are currently largely uncataloged and held in boxes in Annex A. See title entries in the library catalog for "Artists' catalogs," "Art dealers' catalogs," and "Exhibition catalogs of [artist's name]." Library staff can assist by consulting an in-house card file, listing individual artists, and dealers/galleries/museums by geographic region (1930s-90s).

Many other Marquand books and serials, including new titles and periodicals, are housed in Annex A and ReCAP (off-site). There are also collections of art, archaeology, and architecture books in Firestone Library, the East Asian Library, and the Architecture Library.