Collecting Bookplates

This bookplate was originally published in 1905.
I have left a blank space on the ribbon at the bottom
of the design for those of you who would like to
print it out and sign your own name to the
bookplate.

A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner. Simple typographical bookplates are termed "booklabels".

Bookplates typically bear a name, motto, device, coat-of-arms, crest, badge, or any motif that relates to the owner of the book, or is requested by him from the artist or designer. The name of the owner usually follows an inscription such as "from the books of..." or "from the library of...", or in Latin, ex libris.... Bookplates are important evidence for the provenance of books.

Bookplates are very often of high interest (and of a value often far greater than the odd volume in which they are found affixed), either as specimens of bygone decorative fashion or as personal relics of well-known people. However the value attached to book plates, otherwise than as an object of purely personal interest, is comparatively modern.

The study of and the taste for collecting bookplates hardly date farther back than the year 1860. The first real impetus was given by the appearance of A Guide to the Study of Book-Plates (Ex-Libris), by Lord de Tabley (then the Hon. J. Leicester Warren M.A.) in 1880 (published in London by John Pearson of 46 Pall Mall). This work, highly interesting from many points of view, established what is now accepted as the general classification of styles of British ex-libris: early armorial (i.e., previous to Restoration, exemplified by the Nicholas Bacon plate); Jacobean, a somewhat misleading term, but distinctly understood to include the heavy decorative manner of the Restoration, Queen Anne and early Georgian days (the Lansanor plate is Jacobean); Chippendale (the style above described as rococo, tolerably well represented by the French plate of Convers); wreath and ribbon, belonging to the period described as that of the urn, &c. Since then the literature on the subject has grown considerably.

Societies of collectors were founded, first in England in 1891, then in Germany and France, and later in the United States, most of them issuing a journal or archives: The Journal of the Ex-libris Society (London), the Archives de la Société française de collectionneurs d'ex-libris (Paris), both of these monthlies; the Ex-libris Zeitschrift (Berlin), a quarterly.

In 1901–1903, the British Museum published the catalog of the 35,000 bookplates collected by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (1826–97).

Bookplates, of which there are probably far more than a million extant examples worldwide, have become objects of collection. One of the first known English collectors was a Miss Maria Jenkins of Clifton, Bristol, who was active in the field during the second quarter of the 19th century. Her bookplates were later incorporated into the collection of Joseph Jackson Howard.

Some collectors attempt to acquire plates of all kinds (for example, the collection of Irene Dwen Andrews Pace, now at Yale University, comprising 250,000 items). Other collectors prefer to concentrate on bookplates in special fields—for example, coats of arms, pictures of ships, erotic plates, chess pieces, legal symbols, scientific instruments, signed plates, proof-plates, dated plates, plates of celebrities, or designs by certain artists. I've included below an excerpt from "Bookplates for beginners" by Alfred Fowler 1922. Although much about bookplates has been published since this article, I feel it still describes the basics of collecting these little paper beauties for my readers.

Bookplates for Beginners: Collecting Bookplates

Bookplate depicting a lady reading and walking through
a garden with a peacock. Restored by K. Grimm.

Collecting bookplates is closely akin print collecting. The custom has been in vogue for more than a century; as the first collection was supposed to have been brought together by Miss Jenkins of Bath, England, early in the nineteenth century. In 1880, Lord de Tabley, then J. Leicester Warren, published his Guide to the Study of Bookplates, which was the first book in English on the subject and which excited a considerable amount of interest. The custom of collecting bookplates became popular both in England and on the Continent, and soon spread to America. Bookplate societies were formed in every country, collectors and enthusiasts appeared in great numbers, and a large literature on the subject came into being. The Journal of the Ex-libris Society, published by the English Ex-libris Society, is easily the most important of all these publications and is a veritable mine of information. A series of books devoted to English, French, and German bookplates soon appeared, as well as numerous other publications dealing with special phases of the subject, and an enormous catalogue of the collection of over thirty-five thousand bookplates bequeathed to the British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks. About this time Mr. Charles Dexter Allen's American Bookplates appeared in the United States and set the movement in motion over here. Mr. Allen's book was an invaluable addition to bookplate literature, dealing with all phases of the subject in a comprehensive manner. The lists of early American bookplates he published now need to by revised and enlarged in the light of further research, but the book may still be taken as a faithful guide.

Bookplate collecting is invaluable to the development and continued vitality of the art. Large collections, particularly those which are accessible in our public institutions, furnish a field for study and comparison which enables the artist to lay a solid foundation of the traditions of the art under the super-structure of his own ideas. Bookplate owners who have no sympathy for the collector and who employ their bookplates solely for utilitarian purposes, sometimes overlook this very important phase of bookplate collecting.

The vast number of bookplates and the great number of classifications into which they may be divided, lead most collectors to devote their energies to forming special collections. A long list of such possible special collections could be made. The general classifications are such as armorial, pictorial, symbolical, decorative and portrait designs. Then the subject may be divided by nationality, period, or process. Special collections may be devoted to the work of individual artists where the collector takes a check-list of the artist's work and tries to secure a print of every bookplate he ever made. The pursuit is fascinating and usually sets some high hurdles for the huntsman to clear. Since bookplate making has become an art, we find many books devoted entirely to the work of one artist; and these books usually include check-lists of all the bookplates designed by that artist.

Speaking of process, in the last paragraph, brings up a subject which is much discussed: the relative merits of the different processes by which bookplates are printed. This man prefers line-engraving, either on copper or steel. That one prefers etching, whilst another considers the woodblock the ideal medium. Then we find the man who advocates photographic reproduction because it enables the artist to draw without being hampered by any difficult medium, such as the copper-plate or wood-block. On looking over a large collection one is let to the conclusion that each process has its advantages and disadvantages, and that an important part of the secret of a harmonious bookplate's charm lies in the artist's mastery of his medium instead of in the medium itself.

Other interesting specialties are indulged in by collectors. The list is practically inexhaustible and includes angling designs, bookplates depicting ships, bookplates for children, ladies' bookplates, to which a whole book has been devoted, and even erotic designs which flourish almost exclusively in continental Europe. Some years ago the author advocated specializing in artistic bookplates--the Bookplate Beautiful--but the suggestion was not popularly received. Could it have been because such a collection of artistic bookplates, chosen according to the dictates of the collector's own taste, would have been to revealing as an index to his art appreciation? In this respect such a collection would resemble a library, which is always an index to the trend and development of the owner's mind.

Bookplate by E. B. Bird; restored by Kathy Grimm.
Man with a ruffled collar.

Bookplate collections arranged according to family names are valuable aids in genealogical research and have been known to help in the solution of problems in history and philology. A French publisher has recently issued a book devoted to ex-libris de queere, which opens up another interesting specialty for collectors.

During the war, the various societies devoted to the subject of bookplates were quiescent but quickly resumed their activities after the cessation of hostilities. These societies all have fairly large memberships and offer a medium for intercommunication between members which keeps up considerable interest in bookplates in general and bookplate collecting in particular. We have already shown the importance of the latter in keeping the art alive. Another important function of the societies is the publication of books devoted to the subject which could not appear otherwise on account of the limited demand making them impracticable for commercial purposes. Bookplate collecting still flourishes, having safely passed through the stage of being merely a fad, and has settled down to a pace that augurs well for the continued popularity of the use of bookplates as long as men read and own books.