Our relationship with the Library goes back many years. We have had the honour to reproduce a number of works held in their collection, including antique and contemporary bindings and unique Art Deco plates.

Some of our bestselling designs, including Poetry in Bloom, come from NYPL’s archives, as do new and returning favourites like Shape Shift and Daphnis & Chloe. In the past we have also looked to their collection of Art Deco and Art Nouveau plates and bindings, reproducing works by Maurice Pillard (Emergence) and Marius Michel (Autumn Symphony).

Our Treasures of The New York Public Library collection is a front-row pass to the permanent Polonsky Exhibition, which showcases a revolving selection of some of the Library’s most coveted, unique and culturally significant artifacts.

With these designs and the stories they tell, you can go behind the scenes at this most venerable institution, taking home a piece of history that can inspire your own creativity and expression.

Discover new worlds with the Hunt-Lenox Globe and De Sideribus Tractatus, explore the creative mind of Virginia Woolf and – in a North American exclusive – honour American history with the Declaration of Independence.

We are honoured to have been chosen to work with NYPL on this inspiring and varied collection. Each piece is truly a fragment of history in your hands.

During a visit to NYPL in early 2019 we learned of this monumental exhibition that the Library was putting together. It felt like a natural opportunity to collaborate on some truly special stationery products honouring those featured documents and artifacts.

When our friends at The New York Public Library asked us to partner with them on branded journals for their new exhibition, we immediately delved into their archives together to select which heritage pieces to highlight. It is our great honour to be the stationery brand for the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures.

As soon as we returned to our home office in Vancouver, Canada, our marketing and design teams got to work. We were connected with many of the curators working on the exhibition so we could learn firsthand the cultural and historical details behind the pieces – important information that could only be shared by someone who has devoted their life’s work to researching it. Their passion was contagious, and our talented graphic artists dove headfirst into interpreting the art as Paperblanks cover designs.

Over the next year, we shared brainstorm sessions, concepts and mockups with the NYPL team. We sought to capture the most important details through our uniquely textured covers and rich, colourful palettes. Working with curatorial staff of the Library to do justice to their historic collection as well as treat these significant artifacts with due care and respect, we sought to create beautiful, unique, high-quality products.

And with the Polonsky Exhibition now a permanent installment, we are delighted to continue this very special Paperblanks + NYPL collaboration!

In Fall 2021, we were honoured to work with the Schomburg Center to create a special Embellished Manuscript journal reproducing a letter handwritten by civil rights leader Frederick Douglass. In Spring 2022 we again worked together to bring a draft of Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to our collection. Both manuscripts are part of the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures and are included in our co-branded collection with NYPL.

The Polonsky Exhibition officially opened on September 24, 2021. As people from around the world have the chance to browse NYPL’s treasures in person, we continue to work on new products to complement the exhibit and celebrate the library’s collections.

Coming up in Fall 2024, we will be re-releasing a favourite design from the collection of the Library’s antique bindings. Daphnis, a beautiful binding crafted in 1910 by Émile-Philippe Mercier, was first released as a hardcover journal as part of our Daphnis & Chloe series and will soon be available as a softcover Flexi notebook.

We can’t wait to see where this collaborative relationship will lead to next!