Searching & Viewing

Fine prints in the division's collections are arranged in a variety of ways, depending, in part, upon how they were received. Substantial collections that were received from a single source in the past few decades are generally kept together as a cohesive collection, while prints received before then were incorporated into "filing series" that have particular arrangements and call number schemes. A growing proportion of the collection can be viewed online, but many more prints are available for viewing on site. Provided below is information about major collections and access to them, as well as general search tips and what to expect when coming to view materials on site.

Viewing Images Online

More than 17,000 works, a relatively small portion of the full collection, currently have online, item-level records that can be searched from anywhere. Many are accompanied by digital images. Some images display only at small thumbnail size for those searching from outside Library of Congress buildings because of rights considerations.

The most effective strategies for finding materials in this collection include searching by artist name, artwork title, collection name (e.g. studio, workshop, publisher, donor), and/or call number or reproduction number. Subject indexing is currently limited and typically focuses on key features in the images themselves, categories such as portraits or landscapes, and such techniques as engraving or lithography, etc.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
Descriptions and, sometimes, digital images for items in Prints & Photographs Division collections. Separate category listings exist for some of the collections listed in the "Selected Collections" section below. Fine print collections that have their own category (e.g. Fine Prints: Japanese, pre-1915, Goldstein Foundation Collection, College Women's Association of Japan Print Show Collection, etc.) that you select from the home page of the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog have "browse lists" that enable you to view artist names, format terms, and subject index terms assigned to the online records in the collections.

Finding Prints that are Not Online

Several types of tools describe the contents of particular fine print collections that may not be represented comprehensively with online descriptions.

Card and Book Catalogs

Card catalogs available in the Prints & Photographs Reading Room include the Fine Print filing series card catalog, arranged by century and artist, and various card indexes that include listings for fine prints and other materials for which researchers have requested reproductions.

Catalogue raisonnés describe the work of particular artists and, in some cases, have been annotated to indicate the presence of a given print in Prints & Photographs Division collections. Check the Library of Congress Online Catalog and the Prints & Photographs Division's Reference Collection card catalog for holdings of catalogue raisonnés.

Container Lists and Finding Aids

Container lists itemizing individual prints are sometimes made as a collection is received or pre-processing occurs.The existence of the lists are generally indicated in the catalog record describing the particular collection or acquisition, and the draft lists are available by request.

Selected Collections

Included below are the major groupings in which fine prints are found in the Prints & Photographs Division's collections. Collections for which all or a substantial portion are online are listed first.

Fine Prints fililng series (summary & search)
Roughly two-thirds of the total collection of fine prints is organized by century and artist name in the Fine Print filing series, corresponding to an on-site card catalog which offers the most comprehensive access to this portion of the collection. Most American prints and a growing number of non-American works have individual online catalog records, some accompanied by digital images. An alphabetical list of artists whose works are in the online portion of the collection links to descriptions of the works.

American prints cataloged up until 1970 are listed in American Prints in the Library of Congress (Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1970) and corresponding online records. To learn more about a subset of prints that were exhibited in the Library’s National Exhibition of Prints or acquired using the Pennell Fund, see the online research guide National Exhibition of Prints (1943-1977) at the Library of Congress (overview).

To locate further artists' fine prints beyond the Fine Prints filing series, including contemporary works and items and groups acquired individually or as collections, search by artist name in the general P&P Online Catalog and/or onsite finding aids.
Pre-1915 Japanese Prints & Drawings (summary & search)
Approximately 2,600 items - all have been cataloged and digitized. Works by Japanese artists working during the Edo and Meiji periods from the 17th to 20th centuries, primarily in the genre called Ukiyo-e. An alphabetical list of artists whose works are in the online collection links to descriptions of the works.
College Women’s Association of Japan (summary & search)
More than 200 items-- all have been cataloged and digitized. Prints by contemporary artists from, or based in, Japan that were featured in the 50th CWAJ Print Show, a renowned venue for contemporary Japanese creative print art, known as hanga. Most works date from 2003 to 2005. An alphabetical list of artists whose works are in the online collection links to descriptions of the works.
Goldstein Foundation Collection of Prints and Drawings (summary & search)
Approxiamtely 2,100 items, primarily prints and about 440 drawings created primarily in the 20th century by American social realist artists as well as Mexican Taller de Gráfica Popular artists and others. An alphabetical list of artists whose works are in the online collection links to descriptions of the works.
Case Books (summary & search)
Artists’ print in bound form, in some cases published as monographs, can be found in this collection. A few selected examples with links to descriptions and, where applicable, images include:
- David Roberts lithographs with hand-coloring by Louis Haghe (ca. 240 items) published between 1842 and 1849, including:
  - Egypt & Nubia (NE2454 .B75 (Case Z)) [view description of Egypt & Nubia] [view images from Egypt & Nubia]
  - The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia (NC1115.R56 1842 (Case Z)) [view description of The Holy Land] [view images from The Holy Land].
- Walasse Ting’s 1¢ Life (artist book) published in 1964, featuring color lithographs by Andy Warhol, Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and others.
- Lynd Ward’s Prelude to a Million Years (illustrated book) – Ward’s wordless/graphic novel, published in 1933. (Note: Additional works by Lynd Ward (over 200 items) include his original wood engravings and woodblocks for Prelude and other works, as well as book illustrations and more, found in other collections e.g. PR13 and Goldstein. They include wood engraving blocks (including many for Prelude to a Million Years), wood engravings, printmaking tools, book illustrations, books, etc.
Groups of Images--LOTs (summary & search)
Artists’ prints (and drawings) are sometimes grouped by source or theme and described as a group. Some items from the group may be digitized and described, especially in response to researchers' purchases of reproductions. Selected examples, with links to descriptions and, where applicable, images, include:
- Charles R. Dean Collection of American Abstract Prints (LOT 13998 - ca. 140 items): American Abstract Expressionist prints from the 1940's to the 1960's collected by Charles Dean of New York City. Strongest in works by California and New York artists, including many women.
- Woody Crumbo screenprints (LOT 5922 - 12 items): Acquired by copyright deposit, mid-20th century screenprints of Native American dancers by Oklahoma-born Potawatomi artist, dancer, and musician Woody Crumbo.
- Japanese popular illustrations of the first Americans in Japan (LOT 10637- 13 items): Includes a book of Japanese woodcuts along with scrolls and sketchbooks. (Items are very fragile; request an appointment to view).

Unprocessed collections--including items and groups of prints acquired individually or as collections, especially in recent decades up through the current day.
Approximately 7,300 items, generally grouped by source, not yet fully prepared for service or integrated into processed groupings above. Unprocessed artists' prints which are most effectively searched by specific artist or collective/collection name. Samples, with links to descriptions and, where applicable, images, include:
- the Robert Hamilton Blackburn Printmaking Workshop [ view Blackburn collection description] [view Blackburn collection online items]
- Visual Materials from the Harmon Foundation, Inc., Records[ view Harmon Foundation collection description] [view Harmon Foundation online items]
- Mission Gráfica/La Raza Graphics Collection [ view Mission Gráfica/La Raza collection description] [view Mission Gráfica/La Raza online items]
- Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Collection [ view Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Collection description] [view Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Collection online items]
- ASARO Archive [ view collection description] [view ASARO Archive online items]
- Brandywine Workshop [view Brandywine Workshop online items]
- California Society of Printmakers [ view California Society of Printmakers collection description] [view California Society of Printmakers online items]
- Crows Shadow Institute [view Crows Shadow Institute online items]
- Hand Print Workshop International [ view Hand Print Workshop International collection descriptions and online items]
- The Lawrence Lithography Workshop [ view collection description] [view The Lawrence Lithography Workshop online items]
- Navigation Press [ view Navigation Press collection description] [view Navigation Press online items]
- Gerald Cerny collection of Central and Eastern European print[ view Gerald Cerny collection collection description] [view Gerald Cerny collection online items]
- Japanese woodcuts of Sino-Japanese War, 1894-1895 and Russo-Japanese War [ view Japanese woodcuts of Sino-Japanese War collection description] [view Japanese woodcuts of Sino-Japanese War online items]
- Carl Zigrosser/Weyhe Gallery Prints [ view Carl Zigrosser/Weyhe Gallery Prints collection description]
- Small Press Expo artists’ prints [ view Small Press Expo collection descriptions and online items]
The unprocessed collections also include printmaking matrixes. Examples include etching plates by Mary Cassatt, Joseph Pennell, and James McNeill Whistler; wood engraving blocks by Lynd Ward; and woodblocks by Gustave Baumann and Jim Dine.

Advance arrangements must be made to view unprocessed collections, which are served by appointment. For information about requesting unprocessed materials, follow the "Access to Unprocessed Materials" link below.

Looking at Prints in the Reading Room

Prints in processed collections

Researchers who are able to visit on site may request to view prints by submitting a call slip in the reading room. We generally request that for prints already digitized at high resolution, researchers first look at the highest resolution file (tiff file) to gain as much visual information as possible, before requesting to view an original, as retrieving and refiling fragile prints puts added wear and tear on them. Please contact us in advance if you want to see more than 15 prints on a single day.

Unprocessed prints

For items with call numbers that begin with "PR 13," the items are not yet prepared for ready service. Request information or an appointment in advance by filling out an Access to Unprocessed Collections form.

Further Information

Prints and Photographs Reading Room
Submit a question through our Ask a Librarian service, call the Research Center at (202) 707-6394, or visit us in person in Room LM 337 of the James Madison building in Washington, D.C. Learn more about conducting research in this reading room and remotely.

Fine Print Collections in the Library of Congress

Prints & Photographs: Ask a Librarian