"THYS BOKE IS MYNE PRYNCE HENRY"

Two more submissions were received for the bizarre bookplate contest. The hangman by Rockwell Kent was from Leslie Arthur of the William Reese Company and the deity below was given to me by Olli Ylonen ( I just spent ten frustrating minutes trying to insert an Umlaut but finally gave up) who I met at the Bookplate tour in Washington.The plate was designed by Heikki-Pekka Miettinen.
It's not too late to submit your bizarre bookplate.Send a scan to
bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

The cover for a penny chapbook (caudernos) by José Guadalupe Posada shown above was a gift from Selva Hernández Lopez the president of the Asociación Mexicana D Exlibris. Click on the image to enlarge it .

The bookplate label shown below amused me. It was one of the items I got in an exchange with Mrs. Edith A. Rights Click On Images To Enlarge

Last week, The American Society Of Bookplate Collectors and Designers sponsored a two day tour of the major private and institutional bookplate collections in Washington D.C.

Our host James M. Goode arranged and coordinated the whirlwind schedule and the thirteen attendees who came from all over the world , are in his debt.

Here are just a few of the tour highlights:

The Library Of Congress has digitized some of it's collection. If you click on this link and enter bookplate in the search box you should (hopefully) get there.I just spent some time reviewing it myself and found it to be very user friendly and informative

Http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pphome.html

I have always been fascinated by bookplates and inscriptions which shed light on an owner's personality. If you are wondering about the title of this week's posting , it is as I learned from Richard Kuhta , Curator at the Folger Shakespeare Library , a handwritten inscription in one of the the books owned by King Henry Vlll .This is in sharp contrast with the inscription in a book from his fourth wife Anne Of Cleves "When ye loke on this remember me"

See you next week.

This Week In Bookplates

Submissions for the bizarre bookplate contest have slowed down a bit. The contest ends December 1st. Send your scan to Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com The winner will receive a very desirable Jessie M. King bookplate.
The Peter Bridger plate was submitted by Malcolm Enright and Looby The Magician was sent by Michele Behan. Speaking of Magicians' plates, On October 25th Swann Auction Galleries Www.swanngalleries.com will sell a world class collection of 115 plates including Houdini's exlibris. The lot number is 142.

What a curse it is to be a seventy year old procrastinating dyslexic preparing for an exam on Tuesday evening ,enough said.

Wednesday, I leave for a three day Bookplate Society sponsored tour of the finest collections in Washington D.C. By coincidence, fellow collector John Titford and his wife Heather will be in Washington so I will meet them in person for the first time.

Here are some interesting links to keep you entertained for many hours :

www.collectorsweekly.com

This new Internet publication tries to track exceptional collector's blogs and websites.

www.common-place.org

A very scholarly and informative newsletter. The article by fellow bibliophile Steve Beare about the American engraver Samuel Dodd is of particular interest.

See you next week.

Bizarre Bookplate Contest Is Up and Running

Five additional bookplates have now been submitted. The winner will receive a Jessie M. King bookplate. If you want to participate in the contest please send a scan to Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com before Saturday December 1st.The Dennis Barden bookplate is by Austin Spare (1888-1956) .It was submitted by a collector in England.
Click on Images to Enlarge

The Carl Bruschweiler plate is by Gregor Rabinowich (1884-1958).It was submitted by Mr. Michael Kunze.
Cindy Woods ,a very talented artist who designs bookplates for herself and friends submitted one of her own designs. I am over-bookplated for now but if I wanted another bookplate I would contact her. She can be reached at cinwoods@comcast.net

John Titford submitted the armorial plate. "It is printed in reverse, and is clearly the Tudor royal coat of arms (Tudor design on shield,Tudor lion/dragon supporters)with a reference to Elizabeth-presumably Elizabeth I ,Queen of England"

Mr. Ben Ulman submitted a bookplate designed by his grandfather.

Odds And Ends

If you are in the New York City area on October 19th or 20th be sure to visit the West Side Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair at 110 West 19th Street http://www.bookfairs.com/

Here is a link to a bookseller blog which I enjoyed reading. http://ashlandbookcompany.blogspot.com/

I have selected a printer for my dragonfly bookplate http://www.ascensiuspress.com/

Does anyone have a clue as to why the truncated Internet Explorer box started to appear on the top of my blog? It does not appear when using a firefox browser. Thank you Bill Gates

See you next week.

Bizarre Bookplate Contest 2007/Jessie M. King Prize

This original bookplate by Jessie M. King will be sent to the winner of the bizarre bookplate contest. The Definition of Bizarre.

Click On Images To Enlarge

James M. Goode a fellow bookplate collector in Washington D.C. sent me a scan of the Sydney Prentice bookplate shown above and asked me if I had any other bizarre bookplates. The only one I could locate is shown below. By the way, if you know anything about the artists or owners of either plate please let me know.

I have decided to have a Bizarre bookplate contest and the Prentice plate will be entry #1

Here is how the contest will work. Send me a scan of the most bizarre bookplate in your collection . It needs to be received no later than Saturday December 1st, 2007 ( one submission per person). The judges(Mary and Lew Jaffe) will select a winner, who will receive an original bookplate by Jessie M. King . Any plates that offend me may be excluded from the contest.
Each week I will show the most recent submissions. Send your scans to Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

UPDATE Thanks to Mr. Clifford Walker I now have the following information to add:
The Elsener plate was designed by Hans Eggimann (1872-1929)

Michael Kunze sent me the following link with many examples of Eggimann's illustrations

Http://bern-1914.org/alt_1914_2/alt03_hans_eggimann.html

See you next week.

New Bookplate Artist, Daniel Mitsui

Click On Images to Enlarge

Daniel Mitsui is a freelance illustrator living in Chicago.He graduated in 2004 from Dartmouth College, where he studied paper making , drawing ,sculpture, painting and film animation.The graphic novel that he illustrated and published for his thesis was featured in The International Journal Of Comic Art.
Since 2004, he has concentrated on detailed black and white ink drawings. Medieval religious art is his primary interest, but he is also heavily influenced by early comic strips, biological illustration, and various decorative arts.

Several months ago Daniel Mitsui was unknown to me until I spotted his bookplates during a Google search .I certainly do not need another bookplate for my own library but something about his imagery was magnetic. After several discussions I decided to get another bookplate. Some people like bookplates which reflect their profession or their area of expertise.My inclination is to select images that give me pleasure and let the artist do his own thing.The end result is my new Dragonfly bookplate.

Daniel draws on Bristol board with fine-tipped pens, brushes, and India ink.Prices for an original bookplate drawing range from $80.00 to $200.00, depending on the size and complexity. Reproduction, from the original drawing is is left to the buyer.
This is a negative from my standpoint but I was willing to accept it because I wanted to have a bookplate by this young artist.I will be investigating various printing techniques and your input about printing would be most welcome. Send your suggestions to Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

Daniel's website is WWW.Danielmitsui.com

His Email is Danmitsui@hotmail.com

I have published the blog a bit early this week so I can devote the Sunday posting to a special contest . See you on Sunday