This review of art historians and their use of illustrated texts is part of a broad inquiry being undertaken by the Commission on Preservation and Access to foster, develop, and support systematic and purposeful collaboration among all libraries and allied organizations to insure the preservation of the human record in all formats and to provide enhanced access to scholarly information. In preparation for planning collaborative activities, the commission is examining the use of scholarly resources by discipline. This article attempts to deal with this issue in the field of art and architectural history, with particular emphasis on material in which text and image are inextricably bound on a conceptual level.