Includes rare prospectuses, including specimen leaves, issued in the 1930s announcing the forthcoming publications of Szyk’s most important printed works, The Haggadah and Statute of Kalisz. More than a dozen items, all very scarce, are included here.

Szyk illustrated about thirty books and portfolios during his career. Not only are all included here, but almost all variant editions are included as well. Numerous copies are signed and inscribed. The 1940 vellum edition of The Haggadah, a very rare proof copy of The Haggadah and the rare Statute of Kalisz portfolio are present. Several books contain original artwork laid-in. More than 160 items in this section.

From William Saroyan’s dust jacket for Razzle Dazzle to Nicolas Copernicus 1543–1943, to the early 1940s WWII illustrated dust jackets for Free Yugoslavia Calling and Men of Chaos, Szyk was regularly called upon to illustrate drawings specifically for book covers. His artwork appeared everywhere from Jewish Book annuals to even a 1945 Manhattan Telephone directory. All these are included in the nearly 40 items in this section.

During Szyk’s lifetime, books containing his illustrations (other than those books he specifically illustrated) were published in Łódź and Warsaw, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Buenos Aires, and New York and Chicago. 1930s and 1940s imprints from these cities are included in this section, among more than 60 items. Here also is Szyk’s pastedown illustrations for the US Navy yearbook (Notre Dame, Indiana, 1943), as well as illustrations appearing in publications for the Israeli army.

While numerous biographical sketches are contained in newspapers and magazines about Szyk, this section includes rare short biographical accounts found in books published during his lifetime: Multesjovo Journal (Budapest, 1927) in Hungarian, to a Cookbook for Men with Szyk recipe and bio (New York, 1949), to a write-up by the Limited Editions Club’s proceedings (1950) to Meet the Artist in a 1943 publication by the de Young Museum, San Francisco. About 20 items in this section.

Szyk was friends with many famous, important, and accomplished individuals. Books inscribed to Szyk in this section reflect his relationship with several of them, including writers Shalom Asch and Dale Carnegie, Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser, painter Leopold Gottlieb, the Librarian of Congress (1934) Herbert Putnam, and historian Cecil Roth, among others. These and other volumes comprise the two dozen items than that come from Szyk’s personal library.

Gallery exhibition catalogues are an invaluable source of information. They record the exhibition history of the artist, and this collection fortunately includes Szyk’s very rare 1922 exhibition in Paris, his first exhibitions in London in 1933 (at both the International Art Galleries and at the Bishopsgate Institute), his 1939 showing at London’s Brook Street Gallery, and Szyk’s very own annotated catalogue of the highly important London exhibition “War and ‘Kultur in Poland” at the The Fine Art Society. Numerous catalogues are included also from Szyk’s New York period. More than 20 items are in this section.

Auction catalogues also serve as important reference material. In this instance, the four major Szyk sales at Parke Bernet Galleries, New York (1959, 1961, 1963, 1965) at the order of Szyk’s widow, Julia Szyk, provide descriptions, dimensions, and—more important— provenance. These are part of the 18 items in this section. In addition, more than two dozen recent auction catalogues are also included.

This general reference library supports The Arthur Szyk Collection, embracing many of the subject areas in which Szyk worked. They include books relating to: Political Art, Political Artists, American Art, WWII / Holocaust; Poland / Polish History, Polish Art, Holocaust Art;  Anti-Semitism and Zionism. More than 170 books are included in this section.