Forget your textbooks, these books are art. Gallery 181 in the Design Center will be featuring one-of-a-kind and limited edition books by nationally known artists.

“These books are made as art, they are all visual. Some have text, some don’t,” Barbara Bruene, director of Gallery 181 and also one of the curators for the exhibition said.

The exhibit, “From Cover to Cover: Transformation of the Book” will be held from Nov. 4 to Dec. 3. The books will be shown 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“There will be about 150 of these nontraditional books displayed from about 47 artists all over the country,” Bruene said. “There will be labels next to each of the exhibits to list the media, and also a note from the artist about the piece.”

Susan King, artist and writer, will also give a lecture dealing with this subject called, “This Other (south)Land: Artist’s Books from Paradise Press.” The lecture will be held Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1:30 p.m. in 238 Coover Hall. The lecture will be followed by a reception in Gallery 181 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“King will be talking about her life and aspects of how her art has developed,” Bruene said. “She will also give her insight on how artists think about books as an art form.”

“The books will be of interest to people because the designs are freeform and experimental,” said Gretchen Weber, another curator of the exhibit.

Weber said, “many of the materials are untraditional, a lot of the materials speak to your fingertips, which isn’t the case with traditional style books.”

“Some materials used for these books are wooden, metal, and fabric,” Bruene said. “The process is really involved when considering all of the different colors, materials, shapes and textures,” said Bruene.

“The main purpose of these books is to communicate an idea just by looking at it, it is obvious that these artists really care about the ideas,” said Bruene.

“These books aren’t like normal textbooks,” Bruene said. “The artists have modified the books in various ways such as foldout sheets and pop outs.”

The lecture should be very “interesting and entertaining,” Weber said. “She’s an excellent teacher.”