Guardians Of The Teeth,Guardians Of The Eyes

This 18th century Chippendale item has puzzled me for many years.I have my doubts about it being a bookplate and am more inclined to think it is a textile label. Any input from you would be appreciated.
Here is a link to an excellent site by Adrian Wilson about fabric labels and the joy of collecting:
http://www.textiletrademarks.com/?p=471

A response to my inquiry from Adrian Wilson

Dear Lew,I think you are right about it not being a book label.The key thing is the space where it has the "No." icon. That would be a space where a fabric pattern number would be, but mostly there would be another space where the fabric length would go.The label certainly has a wealth of cotton references but the references are all of cotton and thread, rather than fabric. There is a small cotton bale or thread packet, plus all the things for spinning cotton into yarn. There is a stylised shuttle but no other reference to weaving.So my guess would be an early yarn merchant label. The number space was probably to reference the colour or type of yarn. A big trade early on in the textile manufacturing sector was the merchant who would buy and sell yarn to spinners and weavers who worked alone in their homes. Maybe this was the label for one of those merchants.

Click on images to Enlarge.The bookplates designed by William Edgar Fisher (1872-1956) were not cookie cutter copies of one another.His style changed with the times. .This Gothic inspired design is one of my favorites. The proof was obtained from his son in the 1970's along with other proofs which I am selling for a fellow collector.The outside dimensions of most of the proofs are 8 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches high and in general they are in the $25.00 to $45.00 price range .I will be listing them on Ebay. Send me an Email if you would like to be notified. Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

Dr. M.C. Ennema lived in the Netherlands and his bookplate was designed by Anton Pieck

Dr. Snyder was a professor of Histology And Embryology at Hahnemann Medical College

From the N.Y. Times Obituary October 12,1983

Dr. Sidney A. Fox, a retired ophthalmologist and a benefactor of the Brown University Medical School, died Saturday of a heart ailment at his home in Manhattan.
He was 85.
He was born in Russia and grew up in Providence, R.I. He graduated from Brown and the St. Louis University Medical School. He practiced medicine in New York for 35 years before retiring 10 years ago. The Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professorship of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences was established at Brown in 1982.

I do not have very many dental bookplates.This one was designed by Bela Petry.If you have any you would like included in this posting please send a scan to Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

Not much more to write about so please visit again next Sunday.

Biblio Mysteries

The Ruth and Andy Mystery
I got this on Ebay from a dealer who called it a bookplate . Before it arrived I thought it was a coaster but the paper is too thin so I am open to the possibility that it might be a bookplate. There are some stains on the reverse side that might have been from glue .The dimensions are 5 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches high. The designer Geovil Nereim completed it in 1943. Both the designer and the owners lived in Illinois and Andy probably was a lawyer who attended The John Marshall Law School.
If you want to enlarge the image click on it. If you have the time and inclination to do further research send it to me Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com and your reward will be some bookplates of my choice.
The Rolland L. Comstock Murder Mystery.

Rolland L Comstock was a successful attorney in Missouri who was an fanatic book collector.He built a two story library addition to his house to display his 50,000 books. This is not some Cliff Janeway murder mystery. In 2007 he was assassinated in his home-Multiple gunshot wounds and no forced entry. The case is still open and unsolved.
This was the bookplate he used.

Here is a link with some updates about the Comstock murder :

http://www.youngprops.com/class1960/comstup.htm

Here is an excellent link from Wheaton College with digitized images of the bookplates by Allen Lewis (1873-1957). He is one of my favorite bookplate designers.

http://www.wheaton.edu/learnres/ARCSC/collects/sc60/exhibit/bookplates.shtml

On January 19th there will be an auction in Israel which includes a major collection of Judaica bookplates ( lots 209 through 213). Here is a link.
http://www.kedem-auctions.com/images/catalog-13/09.pdf

Fellow collector Jim Lewis just advised me that the bookplate collection at The Los Angeles Central Library has been digitized.Here is a link:

http://digital.lapl.org/Browse.aspx?s=6

That's about it for this week.

See you next Sunday.

Collector/Dealer Profile Jacques Laget

Here is a photo of my home and office 70 km south-west from Paris with the people who worked with me till 2003 when I retired.

Now, I work as an expert for auction sales in in Paris.

How I Got Started Collecting Bookplates

As antiquarian bookseller since 1963, I was interested in the history of private libraries.

I began to collect French bookplates in the 60’s and bought several collections. Before long, I had a good many duplicates, and also quite a few foreign bookplates.

My Collection

I own around 25000 French bookplates from the XVIIth to XXth century . I also kept a few XVIth & XVIIth foreign plates (one engraved by Dürer).

How I Started Selling Duplicates
As the number of my duplicates was always increasing, I began 3 years ago to sell each week around 20 or 30 French bookplates on Ebay. Last year I tried to exchange around 8000 foreign against a large French collection but without success, so I decided to build a website where I could sell them.

Here is a link to my website :

http://www.ex-libris-jacques-laget.fr/

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Note -I posted this earlier than I had planned because ,this week Mr Laget has listed about 100 American bookplates on his website in the "new" section .

I hope some of you will find some treasures.

I have purchased bookplates from Mr. Laget frequently and he is a most professional dealer who responds quickly.

See you next week.

New Years Day 2011

It pleases me to share this letter with you. It has nothing to do with bookplates but reflects a time gone by when we were inspired by our leaders .Click on the image to enlarge.

It's a quiet day here in Philadelphia. No street traffic noise and a good time to think about the coming year. I find it hard to believe but this is the beginning of my fifth year as a blogger. My little weekend activity is for lack of a better word therapeutic. It also has enabled me to meet many new collectors. Here's wishing you all a very happy and healthy new year.

I have put together a group of new years cards for your enjoyment.

The card below was designed by the American architect Grenville Rickard (1889-1956)

The woodcut below was done by Josie Eresch (1894-1967) of Beloit Kansas

Frederick Starr (1858-1933) the American anthropologist had one of his bookplates engraved by J.W. Spenceley. For many years he sent new years cards to the noted American ephemera collector Bella Landauer

Here are a few links that may interest you. Dr. Wolfgang Rieger is a bookplate dealer in Germany who offers a number of bookplates each month. Here is his latest listing.

He is an excellent resource .

www.antiquariat-rieger.de/neueexlibris.htm

Like most of you I do not have the time to read all the book and ephemera blogs on a regular basis. The Americana Exchange is one that I do read religiously each month. The articles are well written and very informative.

http://www.americanaexchange.com/AE/general/default.aspx

Next week I plan to publish a collector profile from France. See you then.

The Romulans are Coming

News Flash-Fellow collector Gabe Konrad has started a website devoted to bookseller labels.
http://www.booksellerlabels.com/
It is a dirty little secret , not widely known but 50% of all antiquarian booksellers are closet collectors of these little bugers which lay dormant in desk drawers and cigar boxes scattered around the country.. It is my personal belief that they are the seed pods for Romulan Shape Shifters and all these new devices with weird names like Nook and Kindle have been programmed to activate the pods in 2012. We need to organize now in order to protect our planet before this happens.
12/27/2010 The following note was sent by MG this morning:
"I understand your concern about the Romulans and other terrestrial beings. Some time ago, I learned from a secret source that the neon colored painting frequently seen on our sidewalks and streets and which I thought was placed by utility workers actually represents inter-galactic communications and landing instructions associated with the coming invasion. I usually try to augment these paint markings whenever I can in an effort to keep my part of the world safe for democracy and now for bookplate collecting. I am now sharing this information with you so that you too may protect you City and your bookplate collection. May the force be with you!"
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After a while bookplates tend to get lumped together in unexpected groupings. Here are three which have one thing in common. Each of the owner's was a U.S. ambassador to Turkey.

Here is a list of U.S. Ambassadors to Turkey along with some biographical information.

http://www.nndb.com/gov/430/000120070/

Henry Morgenthau 's plate was designed by Percival DeLuce
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I recently bid on some Antioch bookplates which I suspect came from an employee.They were an odd assortment . Some were sales samples and some were made for well known people in the mid 20th century. I did not get this one for Charles Knight. It turns out he was a Dinosaur illustrator of considerable fame.

http://www.charlesrknight.com/

Israel Amter (1881-1954) was a Marxist politician and founding member of the Communist Party in America. The plate was modified by Lewis T. Silverman from a design for another plate done by E. M. Lillien

John L. Lewis was a labor leader and headed the United Mine Workers of America

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Lewis

These stickers were used like bookplates, for people who lent their 78 RPM records to friends.

I have no idea if they were ever actually sold. Many of the samples I have were for artists and executives at Antioch.

That's about all for today.Merry Christmas. See you next year.

Yesterday's Mail and Serendipity

Several weeks ago fellow collector David Lowden mentioned a new book about the bookplates of CFA Voysey. I was going to order it eventually. A big package arrived from The Bookplate Society yesterday and much to my surprise it contained the Voysey Book along with a copy of The Bookplate Journal. The book is very informative and I am delighted to own it. It was the annual book selection for members. For those of you who do not belong to The Bookplate Society www.bookplatesociety.org I can only tell you that it is an organization which every serious collector should join.

Yesterday morning I was examining this plate for Arnold A. Greig ,signed by George Bailey and wondering who Mr. Bailey was. When I started reading my copy of The Bookplate Journal I did a double take when I saw a well researched article about George Bailey written by John Blatchly.

This bookplate by J.W.Spenceley also arrived yesterday.It was purchased on Ebay. .It turns out that this plate was nearly completed in 1908 when Spenceley died;However, the owner had it printed so I guess you could say this was his last bookplate.

That's about all for this week . Merry Christmas !

See you next Sunday.

Collector Profile Brian Whitley

My Background:

I’m a Southerner, born and bred, through and through. I was born in Newnan, GA in 1973 but have lived in Macon, GA the last 8 years. Trish is my very patient and indulgent wife. We have 2 wonderful little boys. Sam is 6 years old and Brice is 3 1/2 years old. I attended the University of Georgia and obtained a degree in International Business. My wife and I own and operate Rainbow International Restoration & Cleaning (http://www.rainbowmidga.com/) which is a disaster restoration company as well as carpet/upholstery cleaning. Being small business owners affords me the opportunity to pursue my hobbies which include all outdoor activities (camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, sports) and art collecting. Something most people don't know about me is that we own a dirt track race car and I have a lot of fun racing it on Saturday nights!

How I Started Collecting Bookplates:

I have way too many things that I like to collect! But when I step back and boil it all down the common denominator is art. I started collecting comic books when I was 13 years old and that eventually led me to buying original comic book art. I have a fairly large collection with several important pieces. In my young adult years I became fascinated with Japanese art, particularly woodblock cuts. In late October of this year I had an itch for some new art so I started searching for Japanese woodblock prints on eBay. Well, one thing led to another and I found myself looking instead at some wood engravings by a Czech artist named Jan Konupek (he is now one of my favorite graphic artists). Literally 8 hours later, I felt like I half-way understood what an Ex Libris bookplate was and I haven't been the same since. A month and half into collecting bookplates I find myself richer in the knowledge of bookplates and poorer in the wallet.

What I Collect:

My collecting interests are fairly scattered ,which will continue to pose a problem to my wallet. I am mostly interested in pictorial plates in all manners of production. However, the more I see and learn the more I find myself drawn to woodcuts, wood engravings and etchings. Like many others, I am sure, I really enjoy plates by the "American Masters" such as E.D. French, J.W. Spenceley, A.N. Macdonald, W.F. Hopson, & S.L. Smith. Other notable artists that I really enjoy are J.J. Lankes, Asa Cheffetz, Paul Landacre, Claude Bragdon, Dan Burne Jones, Carl Junge, & Allen Lewis to name a few. European artists that I enjoy are Jan Konupek, F. Kobliha, J. Hodek, Bruno Bramanti, Adolfo de Carolis, & Emil Doepler. I am on the verge of heading down the path of collecting Presidential bookplates. My heart says "GO!" but my wallet says "Listen to The Ventures and Walk, Don't Run!"

Themes or topics that I like are: pictorials of outdoors activities (particularly fishing and hunting), Greek/Roman mythology, World War II, science fiction, political themes, bookplates that have ties to the State of Georgia, and Gothic imagery to name a few

For now my collection is arranged in binders by country, then artists, then owner. I have separate binders for American Masters and for my favorite European artists. I do have plans to mat and frame some of my favorites.

I am also doing my best to amass a reference library. In some instances , this is a more difficult challenge than finding bookplates!

My Contact information is Bookplatehunter@gmail.com

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Ian Schoenherr has written about E.D. French and Howard Pyle on his blog (12/11/2010)

Here is a link:

http://howardpyle.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-engraver-in-world-is-mr-french.html

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Fellow Collector Gabe Konrad is offering custom designed boxes with assortments of small bookplates . Here is a link:

http://shop.ebay.com/bayleafbooks/m.html

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One final note- I would be delighted to receive collector profiles from collectors outside the U.S.

Don't be shy . Send a paragraph or two about your bookplate collection to

Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

See you next Sunday

Support Your Local Artist

Daniel Mitsui recently completed a bookplate for the library on The Arcania, a luxury yacht built seventy eight years ago.
Here is a link about the history of the Arcania.
http://acania.net/history.html

Dear Daniel,

In Japan ,they have designated national living treasures. Artists, whose accomplishments are recognized by the government. I know it sounds hokey but I have always felt you are an American national living treasure. There are very few competent artists in America who are producing bookplates.The only other one besides you that I can think of is Richard Wagoner and he is so well established in the print world that he rarely devotes time to bookplates. With your permission I will run something about your Acania bookplate this weekend . Just yesterday I had lunch with an Israeli collector who in passing mentioned your name and the fact that he would like to contact you about a bookplate. Perhaps this gentle nudge will be a catalyst for my readers who keep meaning to get a bookplate but never seem to follow through .

Here is Daniel's email address and his website:

Danmitsui@hotmail.com

www.danielmitsui.com

Stanislaw Radziwill , A Turkey & The Lone Ranger

On Thanksgiving weekend I wanted to put a turkey bookplate on my blog but was unable to find one. Yesterday in a bookplate exchange I got one, so here it is . The designer Franklin Bittner had a studio in Nutley , New Jersey. There was an important Anglo -American banker named Edgar Speyer who lived in New York in his later years and this might have been done for him
( I have my doubts). Here is some biographical information about Sir Edgar Speyer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Speyer

Click On Image To Enlarge I was drawn to this Arts and Crafts bookplate for Henrietta Cowenhoven Brown.

My first thought was that it was done by Jessie M King. It is not; however, on the checklist by Colin White in the March 1995 issue of The Bookplate Journal. If you know who designed the plate please let me know.

Stanislaw Radziwill (1914-1976 ) Married Jackie Kennedy's Sister Lee Bouvier. I am sure he accomplished more than that in his lifetime but that is how most people remember him.

Fellow bookplate enthusiast Olli Ylonen has sent the following additional information:

Your point on Stanislaw Radziwill gave me some thought about the Radziwill family.Part of their history is in Helsinki, Finland vecause of many quirky historical factsIn the collections of National Library of Finland is part of the Radziwill family library:

Http://www.Kansalliskirjasto.fi/extra/bulletin/brief2.html

http://www.kansalliskirjasto.fi/extra/bulletin/brief2.html

If you were a child in the U.S. in the 1940's or the early fifties or just an old time radio buff the name Fran Striker may be dimly familiar. Here is some biographical information to refresh your memory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran_Striker

Bookplate Addiction Made Easy

I have listed 11 bookplates on Ebay . My goal is to offer a representative sampling of some of the best of the American bookplate designers. Here is a link to all of them.
http://shop.ebay.com/Bookplatemaven/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1


James Webb Above
Sidney L. Smith Below

Edmund Garrett Above

Jay Chambers Below

John William Evans Above

Sara Eugenia Blake Below

WARNING- bookplates are highly addictive and can result in the stunted growth of your pocketbook .

By the way, if you need a fix and can't wait until my Ebay items auction ends I would suggest you find a local hand bookbinder. They are genetically programmed to save every scrap of paper and leather . Often, they are receptive to the request of an enthusiastic bookplate collector who wants to purchase some of their stash.

See you on Sunday

Mystery Bookplates and a Few Links

Here is a mystery bookplate , the designer's name is Fox and I assume it is either English or American.

The second mystery bookplate for Wilfrid M. Langdon was designed by A.W. in 1908.I may be steering you in the wrong direction but it originally came with a group of bookplates from Cleveland ,Ohio

Several weeks ago I purchased this bookplate in Boston and posted it on the blog asking for some information about the owner and the artist. With help from the Google Detective Agency and dumb luck the mystery has been solved. The artist Maurice Sullivan was a physician in Baltimore, who prior to marrying Beatrice Adams designed a bookplate for her. At the time she was a social worker so Dr.Sullivan depicted a woman helping a man in distress.

Brian Whitley is an enthusiastic new collector who recently started a blog about bookplates.

Here is a link: http://pocketsizeprints.blogspot.com/

Dr. Wolfgang Rieger is a bookplate dealer in Germany who from time to time sends out a catalog:

www.antiquariat-rieger.de/neueexlibris.htm

This one has nothing to do with bookplates but if you are amused by the covers on pulp fiction magazines follow this link:

http://library.otago.ac.nz/exhibitions/pulp_fiction/index.html

There is an upcoming book and ephemera show in Hanover New Jersey on December 3rd & 4th

Here is a link: www.newjerseybookfair.com

Next week I hope to do some big time trading with a collector flying in from The Promised Land

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

This Week in Bookplates 11/20/2010

Bookplate by the late Daniel De Bruin
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" The bookplate of John Brooks Henderson (1826-1913). Henderson was a senator from Missouri. He also studied mollusks and even published papers on them. Politicians like him are nonexistent these days." This bookplate and a different one were on a blog about snails, slugs and related sea creatures.

http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2010/11/they-dont-make-bookplates-like-these.html

The Bookplate Of Lionell Copley, Royal Governor of Maryland ?

A few weeks ago a Lionell Copley bookplate was sold on Ebay for $15.18

This was the description:

"Jacobean Armorial bookplate inscribed Lionell Copley Esqr. Not in the Franks Collection.

According to Thomas R Young's "Yorkshire Bookplates", the arms are of Copley quartering Bosville, Hardwick and Copley with Black? on an escutcheon, and impaling Black? We are further informed that on the death in 1709 of Sir Godfrey Copley Bart (the celebrated FRS after whom the Royal Society's Copley Medal is named) his Sprotborough, Yorkshire estates devolved on Lionel Copley of Wadworth (d.1720), a distant cousin, who was probably the bookplate-owner.

Entries in the IGI record Lionel (1677-1720) as being born and dying at Sprotborough, that his parents were Lionel Copley and Ann Boteler and that he m.1699 Mary dau of John Wilson (he was b.c.1643) of Burrell, Bedale, York. So it seems that the arms both in pretence and impaled are those of Wilson, not Black, but there is no explanation for the peculiar treatment of the wife's arms appearing both impaled and on an escutcheon.

Dimensions of paper: 100x80mm

Condition: Good"

This week a second (identical) Lionell Copley bookplate was sold on Ebay with this description :

"ANTIQUE BOOKPLATE OF SIR LIONEL COPLEY, ESQUIRE: EITHER THE FIRST ROYAL GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND, OR A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF THE FIRST ROYAL GOVERNOW. SEE ILLUSTRATION. AFFIXED TO CARD STOCK. GOOD CONDITION. "

I am the first one to admit to my lack of knowledge about heraldry. It is possible that both descriptions are correct or that the second description may be incorrect. In any event, two bidders got into a pissing contest and the plate sold for $73.00

Anthony Pincott, who is the expert on such matters was kind enough to send me this additional information after I sent him my outline for this posting:

Thanks for your note. It is all too easy for a bookplate to be attributed to a famous man rather than to a less famous namesake. We see this, for example, with bookplates for Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Ernest Shackleton, John Rogers (recently on eBay) and now this Copley one.

1. The Maryland governor died on 27 Sept 1693, about 20 years before the bookplate could have been engraved.
2. The Maryland governor married 20 June 1676 Ann Boteler of Walton, Woodhall, Hertfordshire.
3. The wife’s arms on the bookplate are evidently those of Wilson (certainly not Boteler, and not Black).
4. Given that Sir Godfrey Copley dates were c.1653-1709 he could not have left his Sprotborough estate to the Lionel who was governor of Maryland.

The correct owner of the bookplate (which is Not in Franks but is V.950 in the Viner Collection) is Lionel b.16 July 1677, d.25 Dec 1720, who m. Mary Wilson. He was the eldest of the three children of Lionel (governor for a very short time) and Ann Boteler.

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It saddens me to report that Daniel DeBruin died on October 19th. We exchanged bookplates from time to time and he was an exceptionally talented heraldic bookplate designer . His good friend Robert Wooten, the executive director of The American College of Heraldry has uploaded a memorial website in which he has has posted all known exlibris by Daniel De Bruin. Here is a link: Please take the time to click on to it . Mr. DeBruin's body of work was remarkable.

http://www.heraldicermine.com./
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I have noticed an uptick in the number of new collectors bidding on Ebay. This is music to my ears as we are on the endangered species list put out by the U.S. Department of Obscure Hobbies.
If you are a new collector and would like to have a "collector profile" on my blog send an email to me with a paragraph or two about yourself and your collection. My Email is Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

See You next Week.