history and examples of ex libris,
Bookplates are prints, dwgs, or watercolors inserted into the front of books to display ownership,
st produced in last quarter ofth century,
Inspiration for them derives from medieval practice of including portraits or other means of ID at the front of illuminated Books of Hours prayer books to indicate their ownership.
Gutenberg invented movable type, nevertheless early books were very precious and prestigious items, after Gutenberg's death inbook owners began to commission artists to design and make woodcuts with images of personal significance to announce their ownership.
Images almost always the owners' coats of arms,
to, contd to be heraldic or armorial, . .th c Rococo movement began including images of books, . . bookpile plates and some suggestion of landscape, .
th c. . extended to middle class, who might not have coats of arms
It could have been so much more.
An informative introduction and a now dated bibliography that leads the reader to other things are the bread of a sandwich filled with examples of bookplates.
Lack of an index is a serious shortcoming,
The author declines to enter the fray when it comes to the very first use of a bookplate.
This is a controversy that other authors seem to revel in, The quality of the illustrations and the captions that accompany each one is excellent, I expected to see more cats and owls but, instead, there is a preponderance of nudes, mostly women.
There were, in fact, artists who specialized in erotic bookplates but I would argue that the example by Von Bayros shown on pagehas several competitors for the most erotic bookplate in the book.
I would recommend sitelinkThe Art of the Bookplate by James P, Keenan, along side or instead of this one, Keenan's book has more illustrations isn't that what we're here for, after all and an index,
I was led to seek out some books about bookplates because someone we'll call him Mr.
T made a disparaging remark about a bookplate that someone had used in her books, It made me curious to learn a little more about bookplates, It also awoke in me a contrariness that made me want to put bookplates in my books.
Not wanting to steal her design, I plan to adopt my own, But I will make sure that it's something that Mr, T would find equally unacceptable, Bookplates, they're great! Some are puns relating to their owner, Others feature important symbols or mythology, Most are black and white, but there are some color ones too, In fact, there's so many I can't pick a favorite artist much less a bookplate, Excellent to peruse on a lazy afternoon, Fantastic. I can't wait to learn more about bookplates! I think I want to try making some of my own too.
. Art books are generally rather subjective in terms of qualityeither you appreciate the art or you don't, and moreover they're somewhat niche books by definitionbut I found sitelinkMartin Hopkinson's sitelinkEx Libris: The Art of Bookplates a thoroughly charming little volume.
Containingas advertisedseveral dozen vintage artistic bookplates by prominent printmakers and engravers sitelinkAlbrecht Dürer included!, often for famous book collectors and authors themselves, Ex Libris was delightfully quirky, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover a subculture within the world of book and art collectors, of a significant market in vintage bookplates.
In my last review, I said I'm currently in graduate school for library and information science, and the existence of this subculture was wonderful and interesting to me.
You can discern a better art book by the quality of the accompanying essays and commentary, and both of these from Hopkinson more than adequately fit the bill Hopkinson's introduction laying out the full history of bookplates and their artwork was a perfect accompaniment to the illustrative examples in Ex Libris, along with Hopkinson's individual commentaries on individual bookplates.
That Ex Libris contains a diverse variety of the subcategories of artistic bookplates that Hopkinson describes in the introduction, as well as examples from throughout the history of their printing Dürer's inclusion is illustrative, and Ex Libris goes all the way to thes, is a nice touch as well.
I don't know that even as a librarianintraining, I'd necessarily be interested in becoming a collector of vintage and/or artistic bookplates myselfagain, to some extent that particular avenue of enthusiasm is sufficiently niche for me to be reluctant to "formally" pursue it myselfbut it was still interesting and nice to see the many designs for bookplates that have come along over the years.
In my youth I had some nice bookplates backed with stamp glue, I believe, and massproduced as well, something Hopkinson notes as an example of the semidecline of ex libris as a "formal" art, and it was wonderful to see that I wasn't alone in deciding to personalize my books with a bit of flair.
All in all, a cute little volume,
Just OK. Not much to read in this book, but plenty of lovely pictures of bookplates, I think the Lail library might have to acquire an official bookplate now! A short introduction on the history of bookplates, with aroundillustrations.
A nice read, but not adequate the literature in this genre is hard to find, Delightful. I'm always very interested in history but who knew there was so much information regarding the history of bookplates I was quite interested in how people valued books so much they added bookplates in to show ownership and pride over their books.
Lots of beautiful images of old bookplates reside in this book : By no means an authoritative source, but a great glimpse on the beautiful, rich history of bookplates.
I would never dream of doing this to my books but it was interesting to learn the potted history of book plates.
A good sourcebook for my current artsy obssession, A nice little book of bookplates, mostly old, with short biographies of both the artist and the owner of the plate.
Many include references to the owner's profession, interests, etc, which the author points out, Now I want to carve a linoleum block and make my own, This was a little gem, These days I really only use the dedicated bookplates for Bookcrossing purposes, but as a child I had some wonderful Puffin Club bookplates.
Plenty of visual jokes and some beautiful, skilled work, There's a stag's head which seems to come off the page with every bit as much life as something which would normally needD spex and a rat which the book owner had explicitly asked not to have but which the maker said 'crept in when I wasn't looking' It's quite inspirational for having a go myself.
The bookplates are very well reproduced, but what gives this book an extra star is the outstanding commentary that accompanies the plates.
Information mainly on the artists, but also sometimes on those who commissioned the plates, Anyone who
loves books and bookhistory will likely appreciate this one, I loved reading this small book and looking at all of the bookplates, Hopkinson does a nice job of explaining the history of bookplates, including the punning and symbology that shows up in many of the plates.
Definitely recommend to anyone interested in the subject Endlessly diverse and appealing, bookplates also called ex libris, Latin for "from the books of" are small decorative labels to be pasted inside a Ex Libris's cover to express personal ownership.
Originating in their modern printed form inthcentury Germany, where books were highly valuable and treasured, bookplates became an art form practiced by artists across Europe and beyond.
This book traces the fascinating evolution of bookplate design over time and across national boundaries, showcasingkey examples of ex libris art.
In the earlys, Albrecht Dürer and other German engravers and printmakers began to create highly decorative bookplates, often featuring armorial devices and coats of arms for wealthy individuals and institutions.
As the fashion for ornamental bookplates spread, distinctive national styles evolved, Nearly every conceivable design elementfrom cupids to scientific instruments, portraits, and landscapesserved to decorate personal bookplates, This volume explores the various sources of ex libris inspiration, including designs by C, R. Ashbee, Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Eric Gill, and Rudyard Kipling, as seen in the books of Frederic Leighton, Calvin Coolidge, and many others.
Book lovers and art enthusiasts alike will delight in this treasury of bookplate art and lore, .