Restrictions on Access
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation
Biography
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Separated Material
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Title: Judith Hoffberg artists and mail art files
Collection number: 1763
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
122.2 linear ft.
(138 boxes, 8 map folders, and 8 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1970-1995
Abstract: Judith Hoffberg was an art librarian and curator who was a major influence in the emergence of books as an artist's medium.
The collection consists of ephemera related to artists and mail art including gallery exhibition announcements, lists of art
works, press releases, clippings, photographs, resumes and biographies, a small amount of correspondence, and posters. Also
included is a small amount of original works, mainly of mail artist Guglielmo Achille Cavellini and publicity releases for
the New York Gallery Franklin Furnace,
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Creator:
Hoffberg, Judith A.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of and purchases from Judith A. Hoffberg, 1995 through mid-2000s.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Judith Hoffberg Artists and Mail Art Files (Collection 1763). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Biography
Judith Ann Hoffberg was born May 19, 1934, in Hartford, Connecticut. She earned a BA in political science (1956), an MA in
Italian language and literature (1960), and an MLS (1964) from the University of California, Los Angeles. Hoffberg worked
as an Art Librarian at Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center in Italy, the Library of Congress, the University of Pennsylvania,
UC San Diego, the Brand Library in Glendale and the Smithsonian Institution. In 1973, she co-founded the Art Libraries Society
of North America and served as its first chairwoman. In 1978, Hoffberg began publishing Umbrella, a journal dedicated to artists'
books; she was also was an authority on mail art. During her career Hoffberg curated a number of exhibitions, including
Women of the Book and
Freedom: The International Mail Art Exhibition. Over the years she amassed an artist book collection. In 1999 she developed the idea for the International Edible Book Festival,
which is held each year on April 1 (April Fools Day). Judith Hoffberg died January 16, 2009.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of material related to the career of art librarian and curator, Judith Hoffberg. The bulk of the collection
is ephemera related to artists and mail art collected by Hoffberg. Included are gallery exhibition announcements, lists of
art works, press releases, clippings, photographs, resumes and biographies, a small amount of correspondence, and posters.
Also included is a small amount of original works, mainly of mail artist Guglielmo Achille Cavellini and publicity releases
for the New York Gallery Franklin Furnace.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Artist File
- Mail Art
Separated Material
Eiko by Eiko by Eiko Ishioka (Chronicle Books, 1990) has been removed to be catalogued separately. The November 2001 issue of
Interview Magazine with poetry and photographs by Patti Smith and Bruce Weber regarding 9/11 has been relocated to 9/11 file of the United States
Ephemera Collection (Collection 609).
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hoffberg, Judith A.
Art librarians--United States
Art, Modern--20th century.
Mail art--Archives.