About
About the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is the foremost center for the study and preservation of comics and cartoon art, proudly stewarding the largest collection of related materials in the world. Its galleries and reading room are free and open to all.
Mission Statement
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum inspires the study and appreciation of cartoon and comics art. As a cultural heritage center, we collect, preserve and make accessible materials that represent a diversity of voices for research, teaching, exhibitions, and educational programming.
Collection Holdings
- 300,000 Original Cartoons
- 107,000 Comic Books, Magazines, and Journals
- 63,000 Books and Graphic Novels
- 6,300 Boxes of Archival Materials
- 2.5M Newspaper Comic Strip Pages and Clippings
History
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum was established in 1977 by the School of Journalism with the founding gift of artwork and papers of cartoonist and Ohio State alumnus Milton Caniff. Its extensive collections of original art and archival material have been built primarily through donations by many generous donors.
The library has had several former names: Milton Caniff Reading Room, 1977; Library for Communication and Graphic Arts; Cartoon, Graphic, and Photographic Arts Research Library; Cartoon Research Library, 1989; Cartoon Library and Museum, July 2009; and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, September 2009.
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is now the largest and most comprehensive academic research facility documenting printed cartoon art. It functions as an archive, a research library, and a museum. Administratively, it is part of The Ohio State University Libraries’ Special Collections and Area Studies division
In this video, Curator Jenny Robb gives a brief overview of the museum.
Collection Highlights
Expansive and diverse collections showcasing the legacy of celebrated artists such as Bill Watterson, Will Eisner, Winsor McCay, Edwina Dumm, Walt Kelly, Ted Shearer, Dan DeCarlo, Jay Lynch, Ho Che Anderson, Trina Robbins, and Jeff Smith, among hundreds of others.
Thanks to the 1998 acquisition of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection from director Bill Blackbeard, the library now holds the largest collection of newspaper comic strip tear sheets and clippings in the world.
Explore the The San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection.
Spanning from the 1700s to the present, the collection includes work by pioneers such as William Hogarth and Thomas Nast, as well as 20th and 21st century cartoonists like Nick Anderson, Signe Wilkinson, Ollie Harrington, David Horsey, Joel Pett, and Jim Borgman. The holdings represent political commentary from the U.S., Great Britain, France, and beyond.
The Jay Kennedy Collection of more than 9,500 underground comic books is the most extensive in the world, complemented by the collections of Jay Lynch, Erwin and Alfred Bergdoll, Lee Binswanger, Skip Williamson, BN Duncan, Nancy Burton, and more.
Work by prominent magazine cartoonists including Lee Lorenz, Barbara Shermund, Eldon Dedini, Jack Ziegler, Chon Day, and Charles Rodriguez whose work appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, Playboy, and other major publications
Including strong holdings of works by LGBTQ+ creators and the Annie Koyama Collection of original artwork from contemporary American cartoonists working in independent and small press comics.
Organizational records of key industry groups including the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, National Cartoonists Society, Newspaper Features Council, and Cartoonists Guild.
Containing information on more than 5,000 cartoonists as well as subject files organized by cartoon-related themes and topics.
Small press and self-published works containing more than 6,000 mini-comics and zines showcasing DIY comics communities.
Holdings, including publications and clippings, that amount to the largest holdings of this material outside of Japan. Visit the Ohio State University Libraries manga blog to learn more.
Programs
Our library promotes the study and appreciation of cartoon art by sponsoring a variety of educational programs and publications including exhibitions, catalogs, lectures, seminars, panel discussions, workshops and conferences. Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) held annually is a multi-day event that celebrates and promotes the craft of cartooning and attracts participants from around the world.
Access
Because this is an archival facility, items from our collections are available only on site. None may be borrowed for personal use outside the reading room and the library’s stacks are closed to browsers. Researchers should contact cartoons@osu.edu to schedule an appointment and are strongly encouraged to supply a list of materials in advance.
Search the Ohio State University Libraries on-line catalog of printed materials (books, journals, comic books, biographical clipping files, etc.) and collection-level records of manuscript and original art material. Use Advanced Search to limit results to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum holdings.
Search the Art Database for portions of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s collection of original art.
Inventories for Selected Collections, also known as Finding Aids, are available to browse processed archival and manuscript collections
Images of some of the collections are available for viewing in Digital Collections.
Educational resources relating to the history of printed cartoons and digital albums of the library’s treasures are accessible on our website under Resources.
In this video, Curator Jenny Robb discusses using the collection.