Designers & Books Blog

chronological

The Library of Philip B. Meggs & Libby Phillips Meggs

Subheading:

16 books from the library of the pioneering graphic design historian

Show Article on Author Page:

Check this box to show this article on the author's profile page

Deck:

The first written and illustrated manuscripts ever produced were the Egyptian Books of the Dead, written in hieroglyphics on papyrus scrolls, beginning around 1580 BCE, which detailed stories of what would happen to a deceased person in the afterlife. The impulse to invent an afterlife has often been the catalyst for the creation of many of history's most revered written and illustrated works. Books represent a tangible and knowable true afterlife—the afterlife that remains for future generations to understand the thoughts, records, and very souls of past generations of humans.

Philip B. Meggs in his office at Virginia Commonwealth University, August, 1996 (photo: Dennis McWaters)

It is with this thought in mind that I felt I paid my late father, pioneering graphic design historian Philip B. Meggs, a sort of visit when I recently perused the library he shared with my mother, art director and author/illustrator Libby Phillips Meggs.

Their library remains her current working library, and its volumes were jointly collected, discussed, and treasured from the time they met at ages 17 and 19. My mother graciously allowed me full access to her library, and for that I am grateful. I took a look at books that helped my parents evolve their values and attitudes, paving the way for their own writing and creative work.

Libby Phillips Meggs and Philip B. Meggs, May 9, 2001.

Elizabeth Meggs and Philip B. Meggs in 1984.

Featured Image :

Show Numbers:

Hide Competition Rules and Sign Up Form:

Show

comments powered by Disqus

Announcements

Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister

Now is Better

By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023

Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.

Order the book.

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

Design Emergency: Building a Better Future

By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022

Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.

Order the book.

Love Letter to a Garden by Debbie Millman

Love Letter to a Garden

By Debbie Millman
Contributions by Roxane Gay
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: April 15, 2025

From the award-winning artist, designer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman, this book tells the visual story of falling in love with gardening—and the philosophies that work conjures. Spread throughout are simple recipes using the garden’s ingredients from Millman’s wife, best-selling author Roxane Gay.

Order the book.

Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber

Milton Glaser: POP

By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023

This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

Order the book.

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange

Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall

By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022

Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”

Order the book.

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller

Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)

By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023

This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.

Order the book.