Important Announcement- The Bookplate Society Auction, over 2,500 items

LOT # J021 (Page 11)

Lot # J026 (Page 11)

As wintry weather causes most of us to stay warm at home, here is news of an amazing event to keep you well occupied. 
Over 2,500 bookplates – British, American and European – are being offered for sale by online auction through The Bookplate Society. These largely come from the collection formed by Brian Schofield (1930-2014) and his wife Stephanie (née Kelvin, 1946-2001). This considerable gathering can be viewed at 

http://www.bookplatesociety.org/WebAuction2.html

  This is five times the size of the Society’s previous web auction held eighteen months ago, and far richer in terms of the quality of the material. 

This auction is open to all exlibris enthusiasts and is not limited to members of The Bookplate Society, but ALL participants must first register by email. 
members@bookplatesociety.org

The start date for the auction will be sent to participants in February. In the meantime you can  begin looking at what’s being  offered. 
Following registration, participants will receive a bidding list showing all the lot numbers, for use in recording and sending in bids.

Contact

The auction secretary is Anthony Pincott.

 Send bids, or questions, to him at:

members@bookplatesociety.org

Write to him also if you discover any errors in the web presentation

What is for Sale

 Bookplates from a collection formed by the late Brian and Stephanie Schofield. They were particularly interested in the bookplates of ladies, both British and American, and of notable people.  There is an especially large number of works by the WPB engravers (Harrison, Osmond, Bird, Syson, & Vize), 
Gordon Craig* , Sherborn, Eve, Anning Bell, plus the American engravers Spenceley, French, Macdonald, Fisher and many others.

 Look  for royal bookplates and one by Jessie M King.

Also on offer are many Continental European exlibris. There is a batch of fine works by Alfred Cossmann and his school of Austrian engravers, plus an assortment by other artists of bookplates dating mainly from the period 1880-1960. We have not attempted to indicate the artist in all cases, so look out carefully for material by important designers.

The Schofields built up a library of books about bookplates, and this is a good opportunity to acquire volumes that you may be lacking.

Also added to this auction are some widely ranging bookplates from other sources.

*Edward Gordon Craig’s bookplates are highly sought after, but in 1924 Chatto & Windus published Nothing or the Bookplate with 50 bookplates tipped in.  John Blatchly’s 1997 book The Bookplates of Edward Gordon Craig explains that these tipped-in plates were not printed from the original blocks but are in fact reproductions produced by a block maker for the 1924 book. Blatchly notes (page 10) that “the block maker’s efforts to reproduce the plates did not satisfy Craig at all. He felt that every line had been slightly thickened”. Nevertheless, Craig had not been willing to undertake the task of himself printing original bookplates. In 1925 there was an edition of the book with 25 tipped-in plates, reissued in 1931 by JM Dent with the same 25 illustrations.

Brian Schofield’s “bookplates” by Craig seem mostly to come from the 1925 or 1931 books. Craig items in Schofield series have the signs (verso at top edge) of having been tipped in. The match between the numbering of plates in the 1931 book and the auction lots is given below.

1.	C123	5.	T030	10	C122	15.	S079	20.	-
2.	R057	6.	L062	11.	J036	16.	J025	21. 22.	-
3.	C121	7.	K027	12.	J099	17.	F029	23.	F074
4.	T027	8.	T038	13.	P101	18.	J049	24.	-
4A.	T029	9.	K002	14.	J098	19.	D055	25.	J045

Bidders must decide whether or not these Craig items have value in their own right.  Other Craig material in this auction – K003, P086, R047, T068, T031 and D027 –  may or may not be reproductions. 

Note from Lew- I am overwhelmed by this auction . There is something here for everyone. 

Examples of some  items in the auction:
Lot# B051 (Page 1)

Lot # B079 (Page1)

Lot # C094 (Page 2)

Lot # C108 (Page 2)

LOT# E082 (Page 9)

"It's by Stanislav Kulhanek, done in 1926, it is listed in Gutenberg Katalog, and I suspect it depicts the duel scene from Eugen Onegin. My books on Pushkin are in Russian and none of them mentions Kulhanek." Information extracted from an email sent by Richard Schimmelpfeng

1/18/2015
"Hi Lew,
  The attribution for this bookplate is correct - it is the duel scene from Oneigen. The snippet of music at the bottom of the plate is from the aria that Lensky sings in Tchiakovsky's  opera right before the duel."   sent by fellow collector   Jim Lewis

                                                             Lot # 130 (page 9)

"Well now, this is interesting.  Otakar Hradecny (1905-1983) was an avid collector and had many plates designed for him.  A Czech, he was primarily an engineer (that's what the Ing. is).  He also liked naked women on his bookplates.  The device the woman is using is a medical one, I've seen it before but can't remember what it is, perhaps some kind of electric shock thingy.  I have a number of Hradecny plates in my collection but not this one.  Hopes this helps somewhat."

 Information extracted from an email sent by Richard Schimmelpfeng