Kindles And Shakers

Richard Schimmelpfeng is trying to find out who designed this mystery bookplate.The artist's initials seem to be HMD. His colleagues at Stanford were unable to locate the information and I found nothing in my reference books.Does anyone out there recognize the cipher ?

In case you are wondering what  could possibly connect Kindles and Shakers apart from the fact that I like catchy headlines, the connection is that the Shakers were destined to fail because they could not create a new batch of followers while  Kindles , Nooks and IPads can.. My blog is now accessible on Kindle.
If you wish to receive it on your Kindle follow this link below
 ( there is a 14 day free trial and a .99cents per month charge after the trial period.)

http://tiny.cc/0hacbw
This is an experiment and  feedback would be appreciated.
Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

On to the Shakers- David Serette was a man with  multiple interests and talents.The bookplate he designed for one of his many collections was memorable.

The first time I read about him was in the April 1979 issue of  Bookplates In The News by Audrey Arellanes.He was a retired television director,  who   became the printer in residence  at The United Society of Shakers in Sabbathday Lake Maine.. .
"A frustrated sculptor ,Serette began collecting old stone collectors tools and equipment .This led to slate carving , which led to early gravestone art which somehow led to a series of illustrated talks that kept leaning toward the macabre and resulted in yet another collection of early embalming tools and books on the subject."
Among his other hobbies were bookplates, booksellers labels,long haired Dachshunds and microscope slides. He also founded the Yellow Kid Press.The bookplates and note cards shown below were printed by him at the Shaker Press while he was an active member .

I have in my own collection correspondence from David Serette to Audrey Arellanes
.It is spiced with charming tidbits like this.
 " Dear Audrey,
     What a surprise hear from you.Saturday. If I sounded distracted it was because Sister Francis and the library secretary were bouncing around trying to tell me about the arrival of a baby lamb.They thought Arnold needed help..I'm trying to resign thr sheep midwife position,but-."


While doing some research for this posting I found the following comment about David Serette at this site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/d2gallery/4885222549/

"I had the pleasure of living with the Shakers at Sabbathday Lake for two summers in the mid 70's. Brother Ted Johnson was living at the time, as was acting eldress Mildred Barker, and sisters Minnie, Elsie, and Elizabeth. I have memories of taking care of sheep under the barn, and of seeing Sister Elizabeth tending irises beside the dwelling house kitchen.

Once, Brother David Serette played a joke on a woman who lived with the community, but who wasn't a Shaker. She had a small, yapping dog that she kept tied up outside. David found the skeletal remains of a lamb that had become lost, and he substituted them for the dog! The woman came out to get her dog and saw this little skeleton with the dog's collar on it, and she almost did a somersault! I half expected her to chase Brother David around the property, but she didn't, and later laughed about it.

The village is beautiful. Too bad the state ran a highway through it. The Shakers offered the state land so that the highway wouldn't be where it is, but to no avail. Cars now wiz between the dwelling house and the 18th century meeting house. To my knowledge, the community still takes guests, who pitch in with the work and worship with the Shakers. They're a remarkable people."

That's about all for now.See you next Sunday.

This Week in Bookplates 3/12/2012

The University of British Columbia has digitized their bookplate collection. I selected the FCV Lane bookplate from their site. Here is a link:
http://digitalcollections.library.ubc.ca/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/bookplate

The bookplate shown below was sent to me by Maureen E. Mulvihill .
For a handy list of her recent credits, and for a feature on the Mulvihill Collection, see:

http://mysentimentallibrary.blogspot.com/2011/03/maureen-e-mulvihill-list-of-online-work.html

http://www.floridabibliophilesociety.org/mulvihill.html

If you use a bookplate  please send a scan to Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com so that it can included in a future  blog posting.

This link is overwhelming and probably should be bookmarked .The Online Archive of California lists
239 different bookplate references including a number of  unusual bookplate collections.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/search?query=bookplate&x=10&y=9

Matt Mundell is experimenting with a holographic bookplate for his E Books.
http://mundellbookbeautiful.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/bookplates-and-book-collecting/


Lee Kirk  sent me this link about a Michael Fingesten exhibit.

http://tinyurl.com/83aqu7e


Since one good turn deserves another here is a link to Lee Kirk's site:
http://www.printsandthepaper.com

I will back on Sunday. See you then.

Song Broadsides

Yesterday my daughter(Moira) ,  my son in law (Steven) and grandson #2 (Jack) came to visit us. .
 We all  went to a local flea market where Jack (almost 2 years old) made his first flea market purchase (a lunch box).There were no bookplates for sale ;however, I did  find a  song broadside.

Song broadsides were a common and inexpensive medium through which popular songs were commercially disseminated in the late 19th century.They are also called song sheets or slip ballads..Typically they were  single 6 inch by 9 inch single sheets with a song's lyrics printed within a decorative border.I now have five of them in my small collection and none are in pristine condition.

"Babylon Is Fallen!" (1863)
Words and Music by Henry Clay Work

1.
Don't you see de black clouds
Risin' ober yonder,
Whar de Massa's old plantation am?
Neber you be frightened,
Dem is only darkies,
Come to jine an' fight for Uncle Sam,

Chorus
Look out dar, now!
We's agwine to shoot!
Look out dar, don't you understand?
(Oh, don't you know dat)
Babylon is fallen!
Babylon is fallen!
An' we's agwine to occupy the land.

2.
Don't you see the lightnin'
Flashin' in de canebrake,
Like as if we's gwine to hab a storm?
No! You is mistaken,
'Tis darkies' bay'nets,
An' de buttons on dar uniform. (Chorus)

3.
Way up in the cornfield,
Whar you hear de tunder,
Dat is our ole forty-pounder gun;
When the shells are missin',
Den we load wid punkins,
All de same to make the cowards run. (Chorus)

4.
Mass was de Kernel
In de Rebel army,
Eber sence he went an' run away;
But his lubly darkies,
Dey has been a-watchin',
An' dey take him pris'ner tudder day. (Chorus)

5.
We will be be the Massa,
He will be the sarvant,
Try him how he like it for a spell;
So we crack de Butt'nuts,
So we take the Kernel,
So the cannon carry back de shell. (Chorus)

Here is a searchable and informative database about Song Broadsides.
The Kenneth S. Goldstein collection at Middle Tennesee State University
http://popmusic.mtsu.edu/dbtw-wpd/textbase/broad/broadside_ex.htm

This is what I call a lazy day.I plan to continue
reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.put some recently purchased bookplates in albums and visit another flea maket.. Tomorrow, I will get back on track and write about bookplates.

Collector Profile Wally Jansen

    I collect woodcuts by Pam Rueter. He made over 1064 bookplates of which I have just under 1000. He also illustrated over 20 books and over 750 ephemeral items. His works were made with great skill and precision. Although readily recognizable sometimes they do not have that flair of a true artist. I collect his (inexpensive) works because my parents and even grandparents were great friends with his father Georg, uncle, Theo, and sister Maria, who were an artist, an architect, and a watercolor artist respectively. Maria's husband Willem Hofker was a highly respected artist known in the Netherlands for his portraiture, topographic drawings , pastels drawings and paintings of the people and landscape of Bali. He designed a few beautiful bookplates prints  which I have never seen even though I do have his preparatory drawings. . Georg Rueter designed around 100 bookplates, all woodcuts, but is better known for his design of book covers, stained glass windows, many arts and crafts era decorative items and even the cradle for princess Juliana.

     By the way, Pam Rueter also wrote about and helped publicize bookplates and was good friends with M.C. Escher who also produced some bookplates, one of which I have. They are all stunningly beautiful and consequently also very expensive.

    Other artists whose bookplates I collect are Dirk van Gelder, Theo van Hoytema and W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp. Van Gelder was the most prolific of the three but probably produced less than 150 bookplates. I think the other two, less than 20 each. One more artist whom I expect you are aware of is Anton Pieck. I have a few of his works but am selective about the ones I buy. He produced many without names for the mass market and a smaller number on commission for individuals. I collect the latter.

 What I would be interested in in addition to those specific artists are bookplates made for my direct ancestors. A significant number of those both wrote and collected books and I would love to find any bookplates they might have used. The most likely ones to have had bookplates were the van Hall, the Bierens de Haan, and the de Witt families. The first two from the 19th and 20th century and the latter from the 17th century. I know 17th century bookplates are rare but Johan de Witt ran the country back then and was known for having a fine library. Another ancestor, George Clifford (1685-1760) also had a fabulous library in the 18th century. He too is likely to have had one or more bookplates - probably botanically illustrated because Carl Linnaeus was his gardener. 


Here are a few examples of Pam Rueter bookplates.


If you have any bookplates for exchange or sale my contact information is :
Wallyj@ixnetcom.com

The image shown below is a high resolution scan of the 1946 proof of membership in the Dutch Bookplate Club.  I think you'll enjoy the image showing the various stages of a bookplate's life, Commission, Inspiration, Engraving, Printing and finally Collection.  (Nothing about use as a bookplate!)  It is a remarkably fine copper engraving by Engelien Reitsma-Valença.  For being only four by four inches the detail is astonishing.

.

IBM EXECUTIVE

Note from Lew Jaffe- I am always delighted to receive collector profiles and hope more readers will send them to me.
See you next Sunday

Thursday Evening Bookplate Links

On Sunday I will be posting a new collector profile.
Here are a two interesting bookplate links:

Julia Ritson writes about the Australian bookplate artist Eric Thake
http://juliaritson.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/bookish-eric-thake/

John Coulthart writes about Amy Sackler
http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2012/02/28/amy-sacker-book-designer/

See you on Sunday.

This Week In Bookplates 2/26/2012

Peter Harling , a collector of modern armorial plates has begun a new website devoted to his specialty.


http://armorialbookplatesmodern.weebly.com/

Here is another website  about heraldry which has several bookplate postings
http://heraldryonline.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/bookplate-theodore-radford-thomson/

 William Griffitts bookplate is  extremely rare and not is listed by Charles Dexter Allen in American Bookplates

"Fig.920 is another example and copies from a very artistic copperplate etching used by the Griffitts family of Philadelphia,who are of Welsh descent. Its continued use suggests its genealogical value.Thomas Griffitts emigrated to Jamaica ,West Indies,1714 and in the year following to Philadelphia engaging in trade with the first Isaac Norris,whose daughter Mary he married in 1717.He was Keeper of the Great Seal of Pennsylvania from 1732 to 1734, Provincial Councillor,1733.Mayor of Philadelphia 1729-1733-1737,Judge of the Supreme Court from 1739 to 1743.He died in Philadelphia 1746.

   William Griffitts, born 1724 was one of the founders and earliest contributors to the Pennsylvania Hospital.He married ,April 16,1752,Abigall, daughter of Samuel Powel and died at Philadelphia August 25, 1762"

  The  bookplate was used successively by Thomas , William, and Dr. Samuel Powel Griffitts from 1714 to 1826.

 Ref. P 324-326 Heraldry In America  by Eugene Zieber  

I defer to my English collector friends on all things related to heraldry.There is some question about whether the Griffitts family is of Welsh descent.

Those of you who live near Brooklyn , New York  may want to visit the Brooklyn Historical Society to see the 

Emma Toedteberg  bookplate collection. I plan to see the collection in late March.

http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/2012/02/17/emma-toedteberg-bookplate-collection-1701-1982-2012-004/

On Friday Evening March 2nd I will be visiting the Washington Antiquarian Book Fair.

http://www.wabf.com/

Nothing else to report.  See you next Sunday .

Arnold A Robert , Boston Engraver

Here  is a link that may interest you:
http://www.missourireview.com/tmr-blog/2012/02/book-plate-maven/
I had a nice bit of free publicity on the Missouri Review Blog.One of the questions asked was about my philosophy in writing this blog . I was at a loss to give a coherent answer at the time but the question did trigger some afterthoughts.
In the coming weeks I plan to feature   talented  bookplate engravers about whom very little is known  .The first will be Arnold A. Robert (AAR) He was active in the early twentieth century.
I hope to use the  posting as a clearing house so that as information is found.it can be added .

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Scan of Belfast Free Library Sent by Richard Schimmelpfeng

Submitted by Richard Schimmelpfeng

If you have any information about Arnold A. Robert or bookplates by him not shown above a scan would be appreciated.
Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

2/24/2012  Instead of restating all the information in a new posting I will use this page as my central clearinghouse for new information.. My reference books have virtually no information about this engraver..In searching Google books I came up with an obituary notice in The Jewelers Circular  Vol.83 issue 2 page 81  "Boston Mass Dec10(1921) -Arnold A. Robert one of Boston's old time jewelers died at his home in Roslindale yesterday after a brief illness of heart disease .
 He was born in Switzerland and for many years was engaged in the manufacture of gold watch cases."
http://books.google.com/books?id=xwIcAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA6-PA81&dq=arnold+a+robert+school+st+boston&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gr5HT8rPNurf0QHZnd2LDg&ved=0CEwQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=arnold%20a%20robert%20school%20st%20boston&f=false

This may be the man about whom so little is written in the bookplate literature. Bookplates were a sideline that he may have engraved for friends and customers.For the moment this is the best lead I have and I will try to follow-up on it.

Thank You Audrey By Denetia Arellanes

Audrey Arellanes

Denetia Arellanes

                                               Thank You Audrey by Denetia Arellanes

                                                --------------------------------------------------------

In looking back, I now know there were hundreds of questions I should have asked my mother Audrey Arellanes while she was alive. As always, hindsight is 20/20.

I knew Audrey was active in the American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers and that she edited and published the Yearbook along with  her own quarterly newsletter, Bookplates In The News. She was also active in The Miniature Book Society, The Manuscript Society, Westerners (off and on) and the Zamarano Club. Early on I remember her spending nearly ten years of Tuesdays and Saturdays between 1960 and 1970 in the stacks at the Huntington Library researching her book,

Bookplates: A Selected Annotated Bibliography of the Periodical Literature, 

published by Gale Research in 1971.

She attended ex libris and miniature book conferences in Europe and Japan, frequently had telephone conversations with well known authorities in the bookplate and printing fields including Brian North Lee in England, Richard Schimmelpfeng in Connecticut, Lew Jaffe in Philadelphia to name just a few.

The truth, however, is that I did not share Audrey’s literary passions. I had my own interest which was collecting movie and television memorabilia. Please don’t think, however, that we shared nothing in common. We both liked to go ‘hunting’ for antiques and drove cross country twice—each time a different route to ferret out the treasures the mid-West had to offer. There were several different antique swap meets in the Southern California area each month and we always managed to get to at least one or two. Every year we took a three or four day vacation to Catalina Island and managed to get to Las Vegas or Laughlin a couple of times a year for a little gambling. 

Audrey passed away in October 2005 while I was attending a media convention in Chicago. It was probably the worst weekend of my life only helped by the fact I was traveling with friends . Everyone at the convention  knew Audrey so I had a lot of emotional support. After returning and taking care of immediate matters I was just unprepared for the seeming tons of accumulated paper I had to learn about and dispose of.

Throughout the house and garage were boxes and boxes (maybe 200 or more) of books, bookplates and newsletters plus three decades of correspondence. The first thing I learned was that Audrey was a paper hoarder—she never threw away a bank or credit card statement or a paycheck stub. If she saw a striking image in a magazine she’d clip it out in case she could use it to decorate a box or pencil tin. She had a large box of theater ticket stubs, some going back to the 1940s and two shoe boxes full of old, expired credit cards. There were also several boxes of family history which her sister, Beverly, and Beverly’s son, Clark have lovingly taken over and continued.

The first two years I played ostrich—if I didn’t go into her bedroom or the garage the boxes didn’t exist.  Eventually I began going through boxes and files and drawers trying to figure out what was gold and what was lead. I was lucky in the fact that I was in contact with many of Audrey’s acquaintances who were knowledgeable about these things and were very helpful putting me in touch with other collectors and reputable dealers.

There were many terrific finds—signed plates and proofs by E. D. French, Adrian Feint, Mark Severin and Paul Landacre and original ex libris by Rockwell Kent. There were bookplates for John Barrymore, L. Frank Baum, Louis Rhead , Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge, plus too many to mention or remember. There was also a notebook of letters to her from such noted people as Aldous Huxley (all hand written), Dorothy Parker, Somerset Maugham, James Thurber, Charles Schulz, Sinclair Lewis and Rockwell Kent.

Along the way I’ve gotten quite a crash course on the subject of bookplates and their artists, different styles of printing, themes and collectors. I suspect I will be dealing with her collection for years to come—something to do in my retirement!

Note From Lew Jaffe- Audrey was indeed a remarkable woman.Well into her eighties she had the energy and enthusiasm of a twenty year old along with  wisdom and grace very few possess.
Thank you Denetia for sharing this with us.

Bookplate News 2/11/2012

Every morning I  look for new bookplate postings  on the Google Blog Search Engine .. Ninety five percent of the results are for authors giving away signed bookplates as a promotional gimmick or from aspiring artists selling their  bookplates.
I follow  this ritual because every so often I find an interesting link. Here is one  from John Birchall about bookplates used by famous  people

John Birchall

Retired physicist turned bookseller and lifetime collector of books. Passionate supporter of bookshops and bookfairs, where I have spent many happy hours and found most of my treasures.

http://booksinwernicke.blogspot.com/2011/04/bookplates-and-dispersed-library.html

Fellow collector James M.Goode told me about a bookplate exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.

Once the introduction of movable type allowed the printing of exact copies, book owners needed a way to identify the works in their possession. Stamps, handwritten notes, and special bindings with embossed coats of arms were all used, but it was the bookplate, introduced around the time of Gutenberg's press, that became the most popular means of marking ownership. Early styles of bookplates, or Ex Libris (From the Library) emblems, ranged from simple initials to ornamented heraldic plates; from designs reflecting an owner's personal interests to warnings against theft or damage; and from pastoral scenes to stacks of books. This selection from the National Gallery of Art Library's rare book collection showcases how collectors over the centuries marked their books, with an emphasis on highly artistic examples of bookplates from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Schedule: National Gallery of Art, January 9–April 27, 2012

Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.

The exhibition is on view in the East Building, Ground Floor, Study Center, open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/ownershipinfo.shtm

Fellow Collector and bookplate artist Huang Wuchang sent me this Chinese New Years card.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/huangwuchang

Huang Wuchang's  blog is written in Chinese.There is a translate button on the site. 

I am using a Google Chrome browser and do not know if the translate button appears with other browsers..

At Letterology  I found seven postings about bookplates. The blog writer is an instructor in graphic arts.
http://letterology.blogspot.com/search/label/Bookplates

                                                       MYSTERY BOOKPLATE

                              Does anyone out there recognize the bookplate shown above ?
                               Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com


2/12/2012- A lead to follow-up from fellow collector Richard Cady
The final bookplate you show ... the 'mystery' plate ...  seems to me to be in the style of Jean Emil Laboureur.  I think I may have a plate or two he designed in one of my albums
2/12/2012- Another lead to follow up- From Jane Peach

I don’t have an identification, though the artwork teases at me as being very familiar.  My first thought is that it is very much in the style of William Steig.   Here is an example from a 1953 book he did.

http://www.steig.pagebooks.net/steig_dreams_of_glory.jpg 

                            
Next Week look for a guest article by Denetia Arellanes

This week in bookplates 2/5/2012

The designer of this attractive physician's bookplate was identified by fellow collector Richard Schimmelpfeng .  .Thank you Richard.

"Alice Greinwald-Clarus was born in Leipzig Germany in 1887. From the name I think she was born a Greinwald and married a Mr Clarus, I don't know her death date. She was also known more frequently as Alice Clarus.  From what I could see I think the bookplate is a three block woodcut, each color being a separate block. "

I searched for other bookplates by Alice Clarus and found none but I did find a poster stamp she designed.


Rebecca Molton , a volunteer at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History was kind enough to scan some bookplates from the library of John Lewis Childs.  I wrote about John Lewis Child's unique bookplates in 2010. 
Here is a link to that posting:
http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com/2010/02/bookplates-of-john-lewis-childs.html


Thank you Rebecca

2/7/2012      From Justin Green

"Lew,
My strong hunch is that there must be duplicates of all of these
wonderful bird plates. At close inspection, there are little bleeding
edges and juxtapositions over the border design. The brush work is
deft, but the colors are somewhat formulaic. It's a kind of tole
painting that allows for quick pattern making in a multiple edition.
possibly with the aid of a light box. It would be interesting to see
the slight difference of color application between dupes--that would
tell the whole story."

The Washington(D.C.) Antiquarian Book fair will be opening on Friday March 2nd
http://www.wabf.com/
I will be attending and am also tentatively scheduled to visit Richmond Virginia. If you are in the Washington , Richmond Va. area and have bookplates for sale or exchange please contact me.


Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com


See you next Sunday.