Bookplate News August 10th,2008

Earlier in the week I was looking at Ebay listings and came upon this bookplate label for Henry H. Crapo. Mary came into the room to see why I was laughing and I asked her if she would have married me if this was my last name. It turns out that Henry Howland Crapo was the 14th Governor of Michigan and many members of his family were and are distinguished public servants. The"revisionist" pronunciation for the family name is "cray-poe "

Speaking of Ebay this bookmobile tin toy recently sold for $709.00.The information came to me from The Exile Bibliophile http://exilebibliophile.blogspot.com/

My July 28th, 2006 posting was about bookplates and light bulbs . This recently purchased magazine appealed to me because of the cover. Incandescent bulbs, (soon to become obsolescent ) were cutting edge technology in early 20th century and were depicted with appropriate Victorian respect.

Bookplate withdrawal is not yet listed in DMS IV.The symptoms are hard to describe but there is a genuine sense of loss accompanied by irritability. I have not unearthed any bookplate treasures for several weeks and hopefully this dry spell will end soon. Papermania in Hartford, Connecticut is coming up soon and that is usually fairly productive.

http://www.papermaniaplus.com/

From Der Neue Readinger Calender 1843 published byJohann Ritter and Co.

I purchased this quarto stitched pamphlet because of the woodcut cover illustration by W. Schoner. I have found no information about him and your input would be appreciated.You can click on the image to enlarge.

This article below appeared in the November 1947 issue of House and Gardens .

Click on Image to enlarge. Correct spelling of Artist's name is Bramanti. I would like to add this plate to my collection .Let me know if you have one for sale or trade.

Here are the most interesting links I found this week:

Bookplate Sale Catalog from Claus Wittal.

http://www.exlibrisart.com/

Bookplate Sale catalog from Lorsons Books and Prints

http://www.lorsonbooksandprints.com/

Website about all sorts of collections

http://www.collectibles-museums.com/

The links should keep you busy until I return next week.

This Week In Bookplates 5/25/2008

On Friday I went to The Archive in Lansdale , Pa. http://www.thearchivebooksandpaper.com/
If you collect ephemera and plan to be near Philadelphia it is well worth a visit. I found among other things , a bookplate from the library of Ellen Doubleday. She ran the company after Nelson Doubleday's death. Click on the image to enlarge and see books by many of Doubleday's authors.The artist's name is difficult to read but it looks like B. Feltt or Peltt.

In the early twentieth century light bulbs were cutting edge technology and worthy of recognition in bookplates. If you can't live without seeing more examples here is a link to a 2006 posting about them. http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com/2006/07/rats-gnats-and-light-bulbs.html

Henry Ottridge Reik, M.D.(1868-1938) was an author and Ophthalmologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital

Charles Cox is a professional bookseller in the United Kingdom with whom I have had most favorable transactions. He has cataloged and is offering books from John Fowles library with his bookplate. His email is Rarebooks@coxnbox.co.uk

There is some confusion about who designed John Fowles bookplate. It is attributed by some as having been done by Reynolds Stone but I question this because it is not on any Stone checklists I know of, it does not look like Stone's style and the initials CN or possibly CW can be see on the plate. Here is a link to a very well written article by James Fergusson in the Times Literary Supplement about the John Fowles, Charles Cox, Brian North Lee and the joy of collecting.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article3006095.ece

Mr.Fergusson also mentions another John Fowles bookplate which Mr. Cox did not find in any of the books he cataloged.

See you next week.