Bookplates AKA Ex Libris

Bookplate graphic property of E.

February 23, 2009.

If anyone has visited Avid Reader's Blog today, several comments centered on bookplates and whether anyone still uses them.

As you can see from the small feline offering here, which I unfortunately could not enlarge, I am in the minority of those who like and use bookplates. I also gift them to bibliophiles and others who enjoy varied graphics and artistic endeavors.

After spotting an entertaining example on Avid Reader's Blog, one commenter suggested a bookplate day for interested Bloggers and as is often my wont, I wondered about the history of the bookplate and how it came about.

From the website for the American Society of Bookplate Designers and Collectors found at http://www.bookplate.org/, I discovered that bookplates have long been a collectible art form quite apart from their practical use in identifying a book's owner.

Also known as Ex Libris, according to the information from this site, bookplates have existed since the fifteenth century, and spawned bookplate societies throughout the world, including an international federation. Further, both the creators and users of bookplates are a distinguished lot. Artists and engravers as varied as Marc Chagall and Paul Revere fashioned beautiful bookplates, while owners such as England's Queen Victoria and our own Harpo Marx, along with political figures including France's Charles DeGaulle, and novelist Jack London, had distinctive examples, which are featured on the site.

In addition to a number of interesting links and more history, notes on methods used for creating bookplates are available on this website as well. The extremely interested will also find a section on articles pertaining to bookplates and information on the Ex Libris Chronicle.

Until Next Time...