Some books have a lot on their plates
Sometimes, there's more to books than what comes out of the publishing houses. Since the 1400s, book owners have attached small, decorative, ownership labels to their books -- usually on the inside front cover. Today, we commonly refer to those labels as bookplates, though they are also known as ex libris.
Some bibliophiles shortsightedly regard bookplates as a blemish on a book. Others find them helpful in determining a book's provenance: The bookplate shown above was that of a Colonial Dutch psychologist who had some unconventional views on eugenics. Some collectors collect bookplates instead of books, and some bookplates are far more valuable than the books they adorn. The 1940 M.C. Escher bookplate above is valued at $4,000.
One avenue of bookplate collecting is to collect the bookplates of famous persons. Collector James M. Goode accumulated 2,000 bookplates, including those from the libraries of George Washington (whose bookplate contained the motto "The result justifies the deed"), Theodore Roosevelt and Greta Garbo. His bookplates will be auctioned November 4-5 in New York City. By the way, the largest known collection of bookplates is at the Yale University Library, which has close to one million of them.
Bookplates also appeal to art collectors. Many important artists and engravers tried their hand at bookplate design, including Albrecht Durer, William Hogarth, Paul Revere, Kate Greenaway, Aubrey Beardsley, Marc Chagall, Maxfield Parrish and Rockwell Kent.
Bookplate styles have evolved as all arts have. Toward the end of the 17th century, "armorial" or heraldic bookplates were all the rage and remained in fashion for hundreds of years. Armorial bookplates reflected the owner's coat of arms. According to Heritage Auctions, which is auctioning off the Goode collection, the study and collection of bookplates became popular in the late 19th century with the publication of four serious historical studies of ownership labels. Beginning in the 1890s, collectors were focusing on bookplates of famouis people, universities, and well-known bookplate designers. Others collected bookplates with images such as sailing ships, knights, monks, library interiors, or silhouettes.
It's also common to see bookplates reflecting the vocation of the owner. Lawyers have often favored bookplates featuring the scales of justice; doctors the caduceus. And -- forgive us -- but overachievers like full plates, and geologists like the tectonic ones.
