About the Collection

The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Collection: Books as Aesthetic Objects consists primarily of visual books created more for their artistic merit than for their informational content. Words and text were not the primary consideration in building this collection. The collection has been assembled within a wide parameter of aesthetics and book structures (including books that defy traditional structure completely).

The essential focus of the collection is on the Book Arts: letterpress printed limited editions and unique artists' books, fine bindings, handmade papers, etcetera. It is currently one of the largest and most varied collections of its kind in the country. And even though it began as a private collection it is very well suited to its current use as a teaching or academic collection because of the broad range of techniques, styles and genres it encompasses.

The beginnings of the collection were rather accidental: Arthur Jaffe was not acquiring books with a collection in mind, but simply began buying books that interested him. His earliest books reflect his long interest in the Hebrew “aleph bet” with a majority of the works being black and white expressionis

t woodcuts. As his tastes changed and developed so did the collection. Through Mata Jaffe’s influence, the collection became more lighthearted, brighter and full of cheerful style. Arthur says that Mata brought "color and light to the collection."

Since the Jaffes' donation in 1998 to Florida Atlantic University, the collection has more than doubled in size due to continued donations from Arthur, as well as the donations of our many supporters through the Jaffe Collection Support Fund. The collection includes over 4,000 titles in our main database, the complete collection of the International Society of Copier Artists Quarterly (ISCA), which includes almost 4,000 small books, pamphlets and contributions from its members, and thousands of pieces of ephemera that bring additional depth to the collection. (Ephemera includes correspondence, exhibit invitations, newspaper and magazine articles, and even letterpress printed drink coasters.) The collection includes such important works as Keith Smith’s "Book 91 (String Book"), an extensive collection of the work of Leonard Baskin and the Gehenna Press, and numerous pieces by book artists in the regional South Florida community. We have recently acquired a collection of early artists' books (including many works by Ed Ruscha), and the collection is also home to the Rosa Trillo-Clough Archive of Italian Futurism, which includes many original printed items of great interest to typographers.

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Listening to Mutanabbi Street
A Benefit Concert and Reading
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Concert begins at 7:00 PM

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