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Art History: Books

Rape of Polyxena sculpture by Pio Fedi in Florence, Italy

There are over 20,000 books relating to Art History available from the University of Manchester Library.

E-book Spotlight

Front cover of In the Black Fantastic

In the Black Fantastic

In the Black Fantastic' assembles art and imagery from across the African diaspora that embraces ideas of the mythic and the speculative. It brings to life the forces that shape Afrofuturism - the cultural movement that conjures otherworldly visions out of the everyday of Black experience - and beyond, looking at how speculative fictions in Black art and culture are boldly reimagining perspectives on race, gender, identity and the body in the 21st century.0Standing apart from Western narratives of progress and modernity - based as they are on the historical subjugation of people of colour - the book explores how Black artists are drawing inspiration from African-originated myth, knowledge systems and spiritual practices to confound the Western dichotomy between the real and unreal, the natural and the supernatural. With 250 illustrations spanning the spheres of photography, painting, sculpture, cinema, literature and architecture, this book reaches across time, space and art form, drawing together everything from works by leading visual artists such as Kara Walker, Chris Ofili and Lina Iris Viktor to groundbreaking films like Black Panther and Get Out and the radical politics of pan-Africanism (Provided by Publisher).

This title was acquired through the Library's Order a Book service.

Locating and borrowing books

You can use Library Search to search for both print and eBooks as well as a range of other resources including articles, journals, and databases.

Guide to printed collections

The Library uses the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme (Dewey for short) to arrange books and other resources on the shelves so you can locate them easily.

Books relating to the Arts and Art History can be found in the Main Library in the Blue Area - Floor 4 and in the Art and Archaeology Library.

The Art and Archaeology Library includes Art and Archaeology books that supplement the stock of the Main Library and contain copies of recommended reading and core texts. There are also undergraduate and postgraduate theses/dissertations and Art History journals.

 

Subject Area Classmark(s) Location
The arts 700 to 709 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 4
Sculpture and related arts 730 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 4
Design and related arts 740 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 4
Painting and paintings 750 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 4
Printmaking and prints 760 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 4
Photography, computer art, cinematography 770 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 4
Museology 069 Main Library - Blue Area - Floor 1

More information: Locating books on shelves

For help with finding your way around the Main Library, please use our new Interactive Map.

Course reading lists

You can access your course reading lists in Blackboard: 

Access your Reading Lists

Reading Lists

E-book collections

The Library provides access to numerous e-book collections that host many titles relating to Art History and related subjects. Follow this link to browse different collections you can explore to find e-books relating to your studies. 

E-book collections

E-book collections

Order a Book

If the Library doesn't already hold a copy of the book you need, fill in the Order a Book form and we will get it for you.

University staff should use the Order a Book (Staff) form.

Order a Book

Theses and dissertations

Theses can be a valuable source of information for your research and are very useful points of reference for when you come to write your own thesis.

For detailed information on how to access theses from the University of Manchester, and from other universities in the UK and internationally, please visit our Theses Library Guide

 

Theses

 

 

Doctoral/Research Theses

  • Electronic versions of many open-access University of Manchester research theses, submitted from the 2010 session onwards, are available on Research Explorer, the University of Manchester’s research database.

 

Theses from other UK/International Institutions

  • ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (PQDT Global)

    A searchable and browsable database of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day. It also offers full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text. Designated as an official offsite repository for the U.S. Library of Congress, PQDT Global offers comprehensive historic and ongoing coverage for North American works and significant and growing international coverage from a multiyear program of expanding partnerships with international universities and national associations.

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