Best Matplotlib Books

The most visually impressive matplotlib book ever written — Rougier created it entirely in matplotlib and freely released the PDF and source code. Covers everything from the foundational artist model to animated figures and publication-ready layouts, with stunning examples throughout. Essential reading for anyone who needs to produce research-quality visualisations.

BeginnerFree★ Top Pick

Python Data Science Handbook

Jake VanderPlas · O'Reilly (free online) · 548 pages · ~14 hrs to read

VanderPlas devotes a full section to matplotlib with clear, practical coverage of the object-oriented API and the most common chart types data scientists actually need. The entire book is free online with interactive notebooks. The matplotlib chapters are the best entry-level treatment that covers both pyplot and the OO interface side by side.

BeginnerFree★ Top Pick

Python Data Science Handbook

Jake VanderPlas · O'Reilly (free online) · 548 pages · ~14 hrs to read

VanderPlas devotes a full section to matplotlib with clear, practical coverage of the object-oriented API and the most common chart types data scientists actually need. The entire book is free online with interactive notebooks. The matplotlib chapters are the best entry-level treatment that covers both pyplot and the OO interface side by side.

The most visually impressive matplotlib book ever written — Rougier created it entirely in matplotlib and freely released the PDF and source code. Covers everything from the foundational artist model to animated figures and publication-ready layouts, with stunning examples throughout. Essential reading for anyone who needs to produce research-quality visualisations.

IntermediatePaid

Data Visualization with Python

Mario Döbler & Tim Großmann · Packt · 480 pages · ~12 hrs to read

A broader survey that covers matplotlib alongside seaborn, plotly, and bokeh, making it useful for engineers who want to understand the full visualisation landscape rather than go deep on one library. Best read after VanderPlas's free material as a practical reference for choosing the right tool.

AdvancedPaid

Mastering matplotlib

Duncan M. McGreggor · Packt · 292 pages · ~7 hrs to read

Assumes working matplotlib knowledge and pushes into large-dataset rendering, custom backends, and interactive figures — genuinely advanced material that most introductory books skip. Dated in places on styling conventions, but still one of the few books focused on pushing the library past its defaults.

IntermediatePaid

Interactive Data Visualization with Python

Abha Belorkar, Sharath Chandra Guntuku et al. · Packt · 362 pages · ~9 hrs to read

Starts from matplotlib and seaborn's static plots before showing where they hit a wall and Bokeh or Plotly take over — useful for understanding matplotlib's place in the broader visualisation stack rather than treating it as the only tool. Best read once you're comfortable with matplotlib basics and want to know when to reach for something else.