Bookplates From The Hollywood Compost Pile,Chapter2

Geraldine Farrar was a well known opera singer who started a second career in silent films.Her bookplate was commissioned by Brentano's Paris and engraved by G.M.McCall in 1911

Douglas Fairbanks Sr.(1883-1939) and Mary Pickford (1892-1979) used a bookplate reflecting their Hollywood roles.

I wrote to Douglas Fairbanks Jr.(1909-2000) when he was still alive and he sent me an autographed bookplate.The plate was engraved by A.W. Turpin

Clark Gable (1901-1960) is certainly well known and will not be soon forgotten. I have included him in the compost pile because he was an interesting case study. He was an avid reader and read a book a day. The subject matter was quite eclectic , from fishing to Thoreau. He married six times and changed bookplates at least once. Kathleen was his fifth wife.

Click On Images to Enlarge The firm of J.E. Caldwell & Co. in Philadelphia contacted Rockwell Kent to design a bookplate for Nelson Eddy(1901-1967) but Mr. Eddy balked at the price of $250.00 so they hired a Rockwell Kent wannabee to design his plate. As I mentioned last week , film clips of the celebrities you never heard of can be seen on http://www.youtube.com/

Bookplate News Of the Week: Andy English has self- published a remarkable hand- made book about 25 of his bookplates. It includes many tip-ins and the limited edition will be sold out quickly.

Http://www.andyenglish.com/store/item/2bvjl/Books/25_Bookplates.html

See you next week with chapter three of Tales from the Hollywood compost pile.

Did Nelson Eddy Really Get A Bargain?

Click On Image To Enlarge

You will not find Nelson Eddy listed in the index of Don Robert's book , Rockwell Kent The Art Of The Bookplate, but at the bottom of page 91 is the following paragraph :

" There were other bookplates to be completed in time for Christmas. A Philadelphia art dealer had inquired about one as a gift for Nelson Eddy. Rose Marie , the actor's second picture with Jeanette MacDonald,was that years sensation-but the client had balked at Kent's fee of two hundred fifty dollars."

The client went instead to the prestigious firm of J.E. Caldwell & Co. and ordered a second rate knock-off in the Kent style. Let us assume $100.00 was saved by doing this.

At the time of Nelson Eddy's death in 1967 the pencil signed proof that Kent would have supplied would have fetched about $1,000.00 . In today's market it would be worth upward of $4,000.00