RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection

RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection Cary Graphic Arts Collection is one of the world’s premier libraries on graphic communication history and practices.

The Cary Collection is one of the country's premier libraries on the history and practice of printing. In 1969, the Cary Collection was presented to RIT by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust as a memorial to Melbert B. Cary, Jr., together with funds to support use of the collection. Today the library houses some 20,000 volumes and a growing number of manuscripts and correspondence collections.

Also included are impressive holdings on bookbinding, papermaking, type design, calligraphy and book illustration, and a functional letterpress printing workshop.

Building community one piece of type at a time! Colleagues from RIT Access, Engagement & Success took over the Cary Pres...
08/03/2026

Building community one piece of type at a time! Colleagues from RIT Access, Engagement & Success took over the Cary Pressroom to print limited-edition letterpress posters. See them at The Mix Up (part of Tiger Fest) on August 28 at 4 pm in Global Village. Get a free poster!

Cloth bindings from The David Pankow Collection of American Trade Bindings, 1890-1915.
07/27/2026

Cloth bindings from The David Pankow Collection of American Trade Bindings, 1890-1915.

Book jacket design for "Invisible Man," published by Random House in 1952 and designed by E. McKnight Kauffer (1890​–195...
07/20/2026

Book jacket design for "Invisible Man," published by Random House in 1952 and designed by E. McKnight Kauffer (1890​–1954).

Lippincott monthly magazine, July poster by J. J. Gould, 1896.
07/13/2026

Lippincott monthly magazine, July poster by J. J. Gould, 1896.

Watch now! Coffee with a Codex: Astronomy Manuscript The Cary.Curator Dot Porter visited The Cary and brought out our 1...
07/06/2026

Watch now! Coffee with a Codex: Astronomy Manuscript The Cary.
Curator Dot Porter visited The Cary and brought out our 15th c. copy of Sacrobosco’s De sphaera mundi (On the Sphere of the World). Originally written in the 13th century, Sacrobosco's work followed the Ptolemaic model of the universe with the Earth as the center of the universe. The Cary's copy of the manuscript is also a palimpsest, in which there are traces of an earlier text that was erased. The book is a gift of Irene Conley and Ethel Harris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSyZjp5Fm4g

A history of typography: from the bottom up, in thirty rapid chapters. This poster by Robert Bringhurst traces the chron...
06/15/2026

A history of typography: from the bottom up, in thirty rapid chapters. This poster by Robert Bringhurst traces the chronological history of typographical development along the outline of the Alpha and Omega characters.

Klaas van Leeuwen (1867-1935) was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, and furniture designer. He was trained in Paris and w...
06/01/2026

Klaas van Leeuwen (1867-1935) was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, and furniture designer. He was trained in Paris and went on to teach at academies in Holland. His 1907 “Letter Book for the Drafter and Craftsman” is a practical guide with mix of geometrically constructed alphabet models, printed in color.

Address

90 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY
14623

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 12pm
1pm - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 12pm
1pm - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 12pm
1pm - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 12pm
1pm - 5pm
Friday 9am - 12pm
1pm - 5pm

Telephone

+15854752408

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection:

Shortcuts

Share