Abaris Books
Encyclopedia
Abaris Books is a scholarly publishing house based in Norwalk, Connecticut
, which produces authoritative art reference books. Abaris is renowned for its definitive collections of titles in art history and other subjects, and for its cataloguing of renowned artists such as Albrecht Dürer
, Rembrandt van Rijn, Marcantonio Raimondi
, Jean Duvet
, Wenceslaus Hollar, Antonio Tempesta
, The Carraccis
, and Caravaggio. The pictorial encyclopaedia, The Illustrated Bartsch, is pre-eminent in their collection. Founded by Walter L. Strauss, Abaris is named for Abaris the Hyperborean
. According to legend, Strauss named his company to appear in alphabetical listings before the other two leading art reference publishing companies, Abbeville Press and Abrams Books
.
's famous 24 volume list, le peintre-graveur
, as The Illustrated Bartsch
. This massive project was left unfinished upon Strauss' death , and Abaris Books became an imprint of OPAL Publishing Corporation. OPAL has furthered the progress of Abaris and The Illustrated Bartsch.
OPAL chose to focus on The Illustrated Bartsch as the premier title of Abaris Books, however Abaris receives worldwide recognition for their publications of the catalogues raisonnés of Albrecht Dürer
and Rembrandt. Abaris currently publishes 13 volumes concentrating on catalogues raisonnés of Albrecht Dürer, including two volumes of The Illustrated Bartsh, one a picture atlas, and the other a commentary.
Abaris also publishes considerable titles such as The Complete Drawings of Albrecht Dürer, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, and The Royal Horse and Rider: Painting, Sculpture, and Horsemanship 1500-1800, winner of the 1989 C.I.N.O.A. Prize .
A warehouse fire in 2005 destroyed the entire Abaris Books inventory, over 35,000 volumes. This included the entire collection of The Illustrated Bartsch. Since then, the small staff of Abaris Books has reprinted the entire collection of 104 volumes, and currently works toward producing future volumes, as organized under the General Plan
. Other titles are planned for restocking and all titles remain in print.
is Abaris Books' most notable and renowned title. First aimed to illustrate Adam von Bartsch's list of European master printmakers, present scholarship has proven omissions and incorrect attributions in Bartsch's list. The first 48 volumes of The Illustrated Bartsch cohere directly to the artists found on Bartsch's list; however there are presently over 100 volumes in print, many of them Commentary and Supplementary editions. These additional volumes define the scholarship of European master prints and reflect the world of art scholasticism.
.
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
, which produces authoritative art reference books. Abaris is renowned for its definitive collections of titles in art history and other subjects, and for its cataloguing of renowned artists such as Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, Rembrandt van Rijn, Marcantonio Raimondi
Marcantonio Raimondi
Marcantonio Raimondi, also simply Marcantonio, was an Italian engraver, known for being the first important printmaker whose body of work consists mainly of prints copying paintings. He is therefore a key figure in the rise of the reproductive print...
, Jean Duvet
Jean Duvet
Jean Duvet was a French Renaissance goldsmith and engraver, now best known for his engravings. He was the first significant French printmaker. He had a highly personal style, often compared to that of William Blake, with very crowded plates, a certain naive quality, and intense religious feeling...
, Wenceslaus Hollar, Antonio Tempesta
Antonio Tempesta
Antonio Tempesta was an Italian painter and engraver, a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp. He was born and trained in Florence and painted in a variety of styles, influenced to some degree by "Contra-Maniera" or Counter-Mannerism...
, The Carraccis
Accademia degli Incamminati
The Accademia degli Incamminati was one of the first art academies in Italy. It was originally created around 1580 in Bologna as the Accademia dei Desiderosi and was sometimes known as the Accademia dei Carracci after its founders the Carracci cousins , with Annibale heading the institution thanks...
, and Caravaggio. The pictorial encyclopaedia, The Illustrated Bartsch, is pre-eminent in their collection. Founded by Walter L. Strauss, Abaris is named for Abaris the Hyperborean
Abaris the Hyperborean
Italic text:Abaris redirects here. For the Baroque opera see Les BoréadesAbaris the Hyperborean , son of Seuthes, was a legendary sage, healer, and priest of Apollo known to the Ancient Greeks. He was supposed to have learned his skills in his homeland of Hyperborea, near the Caucasus, which he...
. According to legend, Strauss named his company to appear in alphabetical listings before the other two leading art reference publishing companies, Abbeville Press and Abrams Books
ABRAMS Books
Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. , is an American publisher of high-quality art and illustrated books, and the enterprise is presently a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe...
.
History
Abaris Books was founded in 1970 in New York by Walter L. Strauss. Abaris publishes a multitude of titles which contribute to the vast fields of art history and art reference. Strauss edited and published many notable titles, however his largest and most significant project was to begin illustrating Count Adam von BartschAdam Bartsch
Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch was an Austrian scholar and artist. His catalogue of Old master prints is the foundation of the Art History of printmaking, and he was himself a printmaker in engraving and etching....
's famous 24 volume list, le peintre-graveur
Peintre-graveur
Peintre-graveur is a term probably invented and certainly popularized by the great scholar of the old master print, Adam Bartsch...
, as The Illustrated Bartsch
The Illustrated Bartsch
The Illustrated Bartsch is an extensive compendium of European master prints and commentary, published by the Abaris Books imprint of OPAL Publishing Corporation...
. This massive project was left unfinished upon Strauss' death , and Abaris Books became an imprint of OPAL Publishing Corporation. OPAL has furthered the progress of Abaris and The Illustrated Bartsch.
OPAL chose to focus on The Illustrated Bartsch as the premier title of Abaris Books, however Abaris receives worldwide recognition for their publications of the catalogues raisonnés of Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
and Rembrandt. Abaris currently publishes 13 volumes concentrating on catalogues raisonnés of Albrecht Dürer, including two volumes of The Illustrated Bartsh, one a picture atlas, and the other a commentary.
Abaris also publishes considerable titles such as The Complete Drawings of Albrecht Dürer, Drawings of the Rembrandt School, and The Royal Horse and Rider: Painting, Sculpture, and Horsemanship 1500-1800, winner of the 1989 C.I.N.O.A. Prize .
A warehouse fire in 2005 destroyed the entire Abaris Books inventory, over 35,000 volumes. This included the entire collection of The Illustrated Bartsch. Since then, the small staff of Abaris Books has reprinted the entire collection of 104 volumes, and currently works toward producing future volumes, as organized under the General Plan
General plan
A general plan is the policy of acceptable land uses in each jurisdiction. Each city and county adopts and updates their General Plan to guide the growth and land development of their community, for both the current period and the long term...
. Other titles are planned for restocking and all titles remain in print.
Titles
Other titles include Colin Eisler's The Master of the Unicorn: The Life and Work of Jean Duvet, Udo Kultermann's The History of Art History, the definitive English translation by Winslow Ames of Joseph Meder's classic, The Mastery of Drawing, François Bucher's Architector: The Lodge Books and Sketchbooks of Medieval Architects, Vladimír Denkstein's Hollar Drawings, and Walter Strauss' own Chiaroscuro: The Clair-Obscure Woodcuts by the German and Netherlandish Masters of the XVIth and XVIIth Centuries.The Illustrated Bartsch
Often shortened to “TIB” as a reference, or simply called the Bartsch, The Illustrated BartschThe Illustrated Bartsch
The Illustrated Bartsch is an extensive compendium of European master prints and commentary, published by the Abaris Books imprint of OPAL Publishing Corporation...
is Abaris Books' most notable and renowned title. First aimed to illustrate Adam von Bartsch's list of European master printmakers, present scholarship has proven omissions and incorrect attributions in Bartsch's list. The first 48 volumes of The Illustrated Bartsch cohere directly to the artists found on Bartsch's list; however there are presently over 100 volumes in print, many of them Commentary and Supplementary editions. These additional volumes define the scholarship of European master prints and reflect the world of art scholasticism.
ARTstor
In 2003, Abaris Books granted a non-exclusive license to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York to convert portions of their photographic archive into electronic format. The licensed illustrations can be viewed on the website of the not-for-profit educational organization, ARTstorARTstor
ARTstor is a non-profit organization that builds and distributes the Digital Library, an online resource of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences. The ARTstor Digital Library also includes a set of software tools to view, present, and manage images for...
.
Co-publication
Abaris has co-published titles with several major institutions, including:- Hood Museum of ArtHood Museum of ArtThe Hood Museum of Art is a museum in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Dating back to 1772, the museum is owned and operated by Dartmouth College and is connected to the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The current building, designed by Charles Willard Moore and Chad Flloyd, opened in the fall of 1985. It...
(Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) - Toth Publishers (Amsterdam)
- Art Services International (Virginia)