The Art Nouveau style characteristic
of renowned Scottish artist Jessie Marion King (1875-1949) is instantly
recognizable and will be familiar to anyone interested in the illustration of
children's books and the design of jewelry, fabrics and painted pottery in the
first decades of the 20th century. A leading enthusiast for her work is Colin
White, author of The Enchanted World of
Jessie M. King (1989). His later book A Guide to the Printed Work of Jessie M.
King (2007) includes images of her work on an accompanying CD-ROM.
Unlike the majority of ex-libris, King’s bookplates can be classed as fine art,
and they command a corresponding price, especially those printed in color, some
of them using gold to magical effect.
Forming a major part of the
forthcoming Autumn 2012 issue of The
Bookplate Journal is Colin White’s updated and expanded edition of
the descriptive text he wrote for The Bookplate Society in 1995. The 32-page
article comprises an essay on King’s work, followed by a checklist of her
bookplates, both the ones she completed and her unfinished designs. Not only are
all the colored bookplates reproduced here in color, but two or three additions
have come to light in recent years, and there is more information about these
bookplates than appeared in White’s books.
Let me again encourage readers to
join The Bookplate Society and to receive this high quality journal as part of
their good-value subscription. Non-members who wish to obtain just this issue
should act quickly (the deadline is October 14, 2012) to take advantage of a
pre-publication offer.
See www.bookplatesociety.org and follow
the link to fuller details on the News and Events page.
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