Ex-Libris: a short history

So I was just reading something that led me to search for the book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, since I've never read it.   When I found it on Google Books, I noticed that the book had been scanned with the page that included the bookplate of the original owner.

As we can see, this edition of the book was published in 1916, in New York.  I guess little Emma Ward Woolfolk could have acquired this book at any time - when it was published, or at a thrift store last week - but according to Google Books, they scan volumes that have been sitting around in libraries for awhile, so I'm assuming she got it around the time when it was published, since personalized bookplates are much less common then they were back then.

*sidenote - I google Emma Ward Woolfolk, and found a reference to a 1936 marriage of a person with that name to Dr. John Alexander, the 17th president of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery (whatever that is).   I have no idea if it was the same person, but how cool would it be if it were?

Anyway, back to the bookplates.  Ex-libris or 'bookplates' are small prints or labels designed to be pasted into books to indicate their owner. ("ex-libris" literally means "from books", and is taken to mean "from the library of" when on a bookplate).

I'm sort of a bibliophile myself, and I actually had many books when I was younger that I pasted my own bookplates into.  I still have some, but others are long gone - maybe in a library somewhere, or a goodwill, or someone's attic - and I thought it was pretty cool that years later, someone might see those bookplates and wonder who I was. 

Unfortunately, my bookplates weren't custom made, so they wouldn't really tell anyone that much about me, beyond the rough timeframe of when I owned the book, and that I was a child, from my handwriting. 

Originally, bookplates were custom made for the library owner, depicting crests, mottos, and other clues that might tell you a little bit about who the person was.    Wikipedia told me that the first marks of book ownership go as far back as Egypt in the 1300's, and bookplates as we know them now (with images and names) originated in Germany sometime in the 1500's. 

(This ex-libris was made by Albrecht Dürer before 1503. The text ‘sibi et amicis’ means ‘belonging to him and his friends’, a reminder of the pleasure of sharing one’s treasures with friends, and also of the rarity and value of books at that time.)

Ex-libris became more common in France in the 1700's, replacing the more expensive practice of gold-stamping the book's binding with a personalized mark or crest.  (though that sounds pretty awesome).   For a long time, family crests were commonly depicted on these bookplates, since even people who couldn't read would recognize them - and since most people who would have a personal library would also have a family crest.  

*source: an excellent history of ex-libris can be found here.

Around the late 1800's, people started to get into collecting ex-libris, which in turn sparked a renewed interest in using bookplates for personal libraries (which explains little Emma's bookplate).   A lot of new books were being pulped to make new paper at this time, which made it easier for people to remove and form large ex-libris collections. 

There are loads of ex-libris collectors societies  and a few cool blogs about them.  Here are a few of my favorite bookplates that I've seen online:  

Now I'm kind of thinking about getting some custom bookplates made up, and documenting my personal library now - which will hopefully one day have a room of it's own.

oh, and PS: here's an awesome map of Kensington Gardens that was also in the Peter Pan book. 

and me at the Round Pond, making friends with some swans.

Comments

[jinal Shah]

Think about it this way though - if someone does come across your bookplate, they will most definitely google you and lo behold! - they will find the real you!
:D

[Lew Jaffe]

Thank you for mentioning my blog.
Lew Jaffe
Http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com

[Johanna]

This was so nice; I've been wanting a bookplate rubber stamp that I could fill my name into (custom sounds even better though!)... the specific one I wanted isn't around anymore, but here are some others I was looking at. My original intent was a little dorky though – putting it in all my marketing books so I could get them out of my apartment & leave them at Naked for the time being :B

(I love that you call her Little Emma.)

[Noah Brier]

This is awesome :)

[amber finlay]

thanks for the comments guys!

@jinal - i'm so dumb! i never thought of that...now i'll be waiting for that to happen ;)

@lew - no problem, it's really great!

@johanna - thanks! i want to make one now too...Will and I are making a stamp of his drawing for our wedding invitation, so maybe we can make bookplates at the same time! I saw these neat crests that people had custom made for themselves (they were for weddings, but whatever), I'll send it to you.

@noah - thanks! and happy almost birthday! :)

[Rick Liebling]

Great piece Amber. The more digital our life becomes, the more interesting and special things like bookplates become.

[MHB]

On the library tip, I was walking down the street yesterday and came upon 3 huuge cardboard boxes of books. Lots of art monographs and wonderful old dust jackets. I looked around and saw nobody, sugar plum visions danced through my head...and alas then the bookowner popped out of her moving van and scooped them up:)

[amber finlay]

thanks rick!

and michael, I feel like that ALWAYS happens to me. i see something awesome on the street, and it turns out people are just moving. blerg.

[amber finlay]

thanks rick!

and michael, I feel like that ALWAYS happens to me. i see something awesome on the street, and it turns out people are just moving. blerg.

[Johanna]

Look what Fred Flare just started selling; some of them are pretty!