Arthur Szyk Bookplates & Ephemera by Robert Weinberg

Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) emigrated from his birthplace in Poland ,to art school in France, and then to the United States of America. He was one of the most memorable political caricaturists during the Second World War. He was also a master book illustrator , designing such books as The Book of Ruth, Tales of Chaucer and The Haggadah. He was noted for his American postcards of George Washington and the Revolutionary War and produced many stamps for many nations.
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With his art he fought against the National Socialist (Nazi) regime and its axis partners.Hitler had placed a $1,000,000 reward on his head.The first lady Eleanor Roosevelt referred to him as "a one man army" Though his political art was acerbic and barbed his illustrative works were the antithesis of his politics.
Although bookplates were not his major forte, he did design about twelve.His early bookplates presented the views of his patrons , while his later ones portrayed his viewpoints on life and religion.

Here , he chose to portray his reverence for life, learning and religious beliefs. Note from Lew Jaffe- For more information about the signed plate shown above go to:

http://www.szyk.com/shop-szyk/product.php?id=130

If you have Szyk bookplates or ephemera for sale or trade I would like to hear from you.

Bookplatebob@aol.com

I want to thank Bob Weinberg for submitting this article.

If you would like to write an article for the blog please contact me Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

See you next Sunday.