This Week in Bookplates 2/19/2017

Fellow collector/ dealer Richard Thorner purchased the Holy Grail of presidential bookplates.

The Clinton bookplate is inscribed to Worthington White, a White House usher who worked there from 1980 to 2012.  He and Clinton shared a love for golf.
Richard 

I received the following message from Mr. Don Dimock and I  asked him to send some biographical information.

I don’t know if you want home made bookplates or not.  I have always made my own.  I am sending you about all that I have left.  I drew these in the early 1980’s and printed them with a copy machine.  The one I used most by far is the one with the descending  dove.  I have a shelf of books on swimming so I made the swimming bookplate,  I usually colored it by hand.  I used the one of the book when I didn’t want a figure.  I almost never used the rest of them.  You have my permission to do anything you wish with them or just throw them away.  It is up to you.  I enjoy what you post VERY much.  

Dear Lew,

I don’t know what to say about myself.  I have had an adventurous life.  I changed careers a few times.   

Presently I am 86 years old.  I was born in a remote part of rural Hawaii in March of 1930.  I left Hawaii for the last time in 1952.  After attending college in Colorado I spent the rest of my life here in Oregon. 

I have always had an interest in books.  My present residence is full of books on a wide variety of subjects.  I also have always had an interest in art.  I used to do oils.  I changed to acrylics when they became available.  And I have always had a profound interest in photography.  In recent years I have been doing wildlife photography.  And I write.  I used to do free-lance photojournalism.  That is no longer practical.  I began writing books for a hobby years ago.  I self-published some of them.  Before computers I used to illustrate my books with line drawings.  That is what prompted me to do my bookplates that way   I still come out with a hobby book every year or two – or three.  My recent ones have all been illustrated with photography.  Digital photography makes that practical.  For the last twenty years or so all of my books have been poetry.  Yes, I write poetry.  None of my books are available now.

I used to be very active in masters’ sports such as running and swimming.  I have a lot of books on running and a shelf full of swimming books.  That is why I made the swimming bookplate.

I have not made any bookplates since the 1980’s.  I am still using the one with the descending dove that I sent to you.  If I were to make bookplates today they would almost certainly be a mix of photography and drawing.  The logo I put on the copyright page of my books began as a line drawing.  The same drawing is now in color and there are parts of it that are photographs.

I have done lots of wildlife photography in recent years.  If I were to make any bookplates today they would probably contain photos of birds and/or flowers.

Thank you for your interest.  I hope I haven’t bored you.  I wish you all the best.

Don Dimock

Notes From Lew- If you have any home made bookplates and you want them added to this blog posting send a scan to 

Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

I have been sorting through a large collection built between 1930-1950 .It has many duplicates from England , France Germany,Italy  Spain , Russia Australia and California.I would be interested in trading or selling the duplicates.
Here are a few examples.