Bookplates

 Anne here. Last time I blogged about my fascination with the inscriptions found inside the covers of books, today I'm talking about bookplates, and by extension, personal libraries.

I've always loved the idea of bookplates. I have several small packets of bookplates that I've never used, probably because they're not enough to label even a shelf full of my books. For me the appeal is mainly the look of them, and to label the books as mine, but I do love the notion of a private library -- traditionally bookplates bear these words "Ex Libris ..."  Latin for "from the library of..." In fact some people refer to bookplates as "ex-librises"  

As a child I developed my notion of the ideal private library from novels by people like  Georgette Heyer and Agatha Christie — private libraries in great houses, with hidden nooks and window seats in which you could curl up with a book, or great leather-covered wing armchairs and huge desks, and there was always a fireplace before which you and your dog could sprawl and read. And hundreds, thousands of books, all with an identical bookplate inside the front cover —with your name in it.

 History of bookplates

    The central purpose behind a bookplate is to clearly label ownership of the book. The idea has been around for centuries — archaeologists found small ceramic plates attached to papyrus scrolls, saying that they belonged to the library of Pharaoh Amenophis III. But most bookplates are printed.

     The oldest known printed bookplate is German, made around 1450, when books were rare and very expensive. It's called "the hedgehog bookplate"  because it had a features a hand- colored, woodcut illustration of a hedgehog and a banner in German that reads, "Hans Igler--that a hedgehog may kiss you." In other words steal Hans's book and you'll get prickled. 

Bookplates are a reflection of their owner

Some bookplates are beautiful, elegant works of art commissioned from artists, some are simple and basic, even stern, but all reflect, in some way, the personality of the owner.  

Here are some of my favorites:  

 Jack London was most famous for his book, The Call of the Wild, about a dog who ends up leader of a wolf pack.

 Noel Coward's needs no explanation. 

Nor does the bookplate designed by Ruth Saunders for Robert O. Foote.   

 

Willard S. Morse has much the same problem as I do, with overflowing piles of books.

Bookplates today

Bookplates fell out of fashion as books became more common, less expensive and easier to replace. Artists still design bookplates today. Some are a kind of limited edition print rather than an actual bookplate, but real ex-libris for use in books are still commissioned, collected and studied widely. 

Books walk...

I personally think there's still a place for bookplates. I don't know about you, but when I've read a book I love I have this dreadful habit of pressing it on someone and urging them to read it. I can't seem to help it — I want to share the joy. But so often I never see the book again.  Books walk! (And sometimes they're kidnapped, she mutters darkly.) And somehow, people can easily overlook a mere written name inside. But a bookplate, now that's  serious...

If a book is a keeper — and let's face it, I generally don't recommend books I haven't loved — I want it back. I reread favorite books. But dozens of my beloved books have "walked" and I really hate it. So now I stick small bookplates inside the covers of any books I lend and want returned . Nothing too fancy -- it's  just a clear label with a picture of my dog and "Anne's book, please return."

Making your own bookplates

It might not be as fancy as a specially printed design, but it's very easy to make your own bookplates on computer. I first made some in response to a request from a bookstore owner who wanted signed bookplates she could stick inside the covers of my books. I make a different design for each book using clear printable labels. 

There's a source here of free bookplates for children

And here's another site for make your own bookplates

So what about you — do you like bookplates?  Use them?  What would your own personal bookplate look like?

And have you had a problem with books that walk? What did you do about it?

Comments

[Joanna Waugh]

I too love bookplates, Anne! My personal ones are of a black and white engraving from Alice in Wonderland. I also provide bookplates to readers for my own book, BLIND FORTUNE. I make them in Microsoft Word. I use a washed out image of my book cover.

[theo]

I love the Willard S. Morse bookplate! It looks just like my den. How did he know? ;o)

I'm very much like you in the fact that if I love a book, I want everyone else to read it and enjoy it as much as I did. And I also re-read my favorites. Since my books also walk, I've taken to keeping one of my favorites and a copy to lend. At least that way, if I have an urge to read it, I don't have to remind whoever I lent it to the need to return it.

I do write my name in them though I've not found a bookplate yet that I like for my own. That Morse one with a Jane Austin type sitting at the desk would be nice though...

[Laura Resnick]

I stopped buying bookplates many years ago after realizing (as you mention, Anne) that I never used them, because a $2.95 packet wouldn't even have enough bookplates for one shelf of my books--and I have many, many shelves of the books! But I do love the look of them. And I have a fantasy of someday having enough fun money and free time to buy a truckload of bookplates and put them in all my books.

Thanks for this interesting post about them!

LauraR

[anne gracie]

Joanna, I love those old illustrations from Alice In Wonderland. I can imagine they'd make a very fine bookplate.

For my own "author signed" bookplates that I send to some bookshops, I've used a variety of images, from old prints of a regency ladies or a girl reading, to images from my covers, though not the whole cover, and in recent times I've just used the pink feather that's on my website.

[Anne Gracie]

Theo, LOL, you, me, Willard S. Morse and a thousand others -- those tell-tale teetering piles of books.
I love the idea of a JaneAusteny female Willard bookplate — I so wish I could draw. Maybe one day I'll commission one from my friend Moira, who does the cartoons for the beginner adult literacy books I write.
http://pageturners.prace.vic.edu.au/
But then I'd probably change my mind. Maybe I should do what I do for my author bookplates -- make a new design each year...

[Anne Gracie]

Laura, great to see you here in wenchland. I suspect if I did get that truckload of money, I'd want a minion to take down all the books and stick the bookplates in, as well. Such a big job. If I did it, I know what would happen -- the same thing that happens when I decide to make a cull of the shelves. I start one shelf at a time and spend the day happily reading and occasionally wiping dust off a book or three, and reading some more, and then the day draws to a close and there I am with a pile of books, none of which I can bear to get rid of, so I just put them all back. Nothing achieved except a happy day of reading.

[Sherrie Holmes]

From Sherrie: I love bookplates that have character. One of my favorite bookplates isn't a bookplate per se. It's a handheld clamp type thing that embosses my name and address into the flyleaf of a book. It's very classy looking.

I don't loan out my books anymore because of the many times they've never come back. I do make an exception for my sister and my best friend. My critique group exchanges books all the time, but these folks are responsible and always return the books.

I used to remove the dust jacket of books I loaned out, and put a sticky on the dust jacket with the name of the person I loaned the book to. I would do this in front of them. That usually put the fear of God in them. For paperbacks, I had a notebook where I kept track of loaned books (again, making the entry in front of them). Eventually none of these tricks worked anymore so I stopped loaning books. Instead, I send e-mails to friends telling them of a great book and leave it up to them to purchase the book or get it from the library.

[Anne Gracie]

You're a better woman than I am, Gunga Sherrie. I always resolve to hang onto my books and not lend them, but when the person is there and I'm raving, I can't help but put it in their hands.

I love the sound of your embossing tool. Embossing looks very cool and subtle I think.

[Patricia Barraclough]

Thanks for the examples of bookplates. It is frustrating to loan a book to someone and not get it back. If someone is inconsiderate enough not to return your book, having a bookplate in it won't help. Having said that, it might be a gentle reminder, plus people do forget who they borrowed a book from.
Designing your own is an art.

[Anne Gracie]

Patricia, I'm not sure my own bookplates are artistic -- practical is more the word. I'd love to have something like some of the artist-designed ones I saw from the 30's and 40's.

And yes, I hope the bookplate will be a gentle reminder. My trouble is that I don't write down who I've lent a book to, so can't always chase them up.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, Anne, great post! Bookmarks are a wonderful artform, and as everyone can see from your examples, the relationship to the person who had them made is fascinating. I've been told that somewhere deep in the archives of the main Yale library, they have the world's most extensive collection of bookplates, and they've never been catalogued. I'm going to try to get in to see them sometime soon.

I have a copy of my grandfather's wonderfully ornate one, which features a formal coat of arms and the announcement "Aus der Bucherei von Ernst P. Munch" (From the Library of . . .) I think I may borrow it, with a few little changes in photoshop. It would be big enough, and imposing enough to serve as an in-your-face reminder to return my books!

I'm like you, I love my keepers, and I get very snitty when I don't get them returned. I lost two hardcover books (one a hard-to-fin edition)a while back, and while I decided not to be petty and chew out the people (they are friends I don't see that often) I decided not to lend books anymore. Now, I smile sweetly when I suggest a book, and mention it's available at the library.

[Linda Banche]

Joanna, I have a copy of "Blind Fortune". Please send me a book plate!

As for bookplates in general, I like them, but I don't think they go too well with paperbacks, which is most of what I have.

[Sherrie Holmes]

"You're a better woman than I am, Gunga Sherrie."

Anne, your comment had me laughing out loud and slapping my thighs. Totally cracked me up!

"What would your own personal bookplate look like?"

I'd probably have something artsy. Maybe an Art Deco design in black and white, or perhaps I'd do a drawing of a grazing horse with a girl sprawled on her belly across his back, facing his tail, her lower legs raised and crossed at the ankles, her chin nested on the back of her wrist as she read a book resting on the horse's butt.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Sherrie, glad to be of service :)

I love the sound of your bookplate. Two passions combined, and I'm sure it would look fabulous.
You could get a photo done and then "sketchify" it into a B&W print with a computer program. (For those who don't know, Sherrie is a stunning photographer and card artist.)

[Anne Gracie]

Cara/Andrea, You mentioned your grandfather's bookplate last time and now I've seen it, it's gorgeous. And yes, it'd be quite easy to adapt it to show your name instead. A fab idea and what lovely historical family continuity. And if you changed the names for siblings, and others, it would also make a great gift.

I didn;t know about the Yale collection. I think while you're running your regency romance course at Yale you should encourage people to ask about the bookplate collection -- what a fantastic thing it would be to have them catalogued properly and a display put up in the library.

[Laura Resnick]

Anne, oh, yes! Trying to make room on the shelves by culling books always turns into a day of re-reading bits of the books piled everywhere here. Especially because, as a writer, one is always grabbing some oddball book from a clearnance bin and saying, "I might need this for research someday!" Which perfectly justifiesd acquiring, owning, and keeping a huge quantity of books that one invariably winds up sitting on the floor leafing through when supposedly trying to cull books and make space...

[robyn]

I would need a basketload of them, which is why making your own is such a lovely idea - why didn't i think of that? Love the idea of your dog being on the inside cover - is the cuteness to keep people honest?

[Lewis Jaffe]

I think you might also enjoy seeing all the bookplates at my bookplate blog
Http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com
Lew Jaffe

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks Robyn, I doubt if the cuteness keeps them honest -- it's that fierce guard dog look of hers. LOL

Lewis, thanks for sharing that link. You certainly have some fascinating bookmarks on your blog