The Books Collection of the RIBA British Architectural Library contains more than 135,000 books, pamphlets, technical reports, conference proceedings, exhibition catalogues, standards and other items published from 1478 to the present. Material is collected from all over the world in all languages, with an emphasis on the architecture of the United Kingdom. Related subjects such as building, civil engineering, and structural engineering, landscape architecture, interior design, town and country planning and construction law are well-covered.
The quick reference section provides easy access to a wide range of dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias, bibliographies, indexes and abstracts.
Special Collections
The Early Imprints Collection| contains 4,000 books published up to 1840, including several incunabula.
The Handley-Read Collection was the working library of the late Charles Handley-Read and consists of some 1,500 volumes that provide outstanding coverage of Victorian and Edwardian decorative arts, particularly British domestic design.
The Modern Movement Collection includes the key works of the International Modern Movement encompassing the Bauhaus (Gropius, Mies van der Rohe etc) and Russian Constructivism. It consists of about 600 books which document developments in architecture of the 1920s and 1930s. It contains many rare items, particularly from eastern Europe.
The collection of pamphlets amounts to about 20,000 items and reflects the more ephemeral aspects of architectural publishing. The pamphlets date back to the early years of the 19th century and include tracts, manifestos, trade literature and guidebooks.
