Some Interesting Bookplate Stories

 George Brent ( 1904 –  1979) was an Irish-born American stage, film, and television actor .He was also a book collector .His unique  exlibris is the largest leather bookplate I have ever seen.The outside dimensions are 3 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches high.

George Brent

John Held Jr.

Clare Dwiggins

Clare Dwiggins(1874- 1959) , a.k.a Dwig was a well known cartoonist. He was the creator of the first half page Sunday feature known as SchoolDays

Shown below is the bookplate he and his wife Bess used in their library.

This bookplate amuses me. How often do you see a Judaica angling plate?
Does anyone out there know anything about the owner ?
Send your responses to    Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

Solving an E.D. French bookplate mystery with the assistance of fellow collector Richard Schimmelpfeng

Lucy Coleman Carnegie  This one is easy to identify (Brainerd #91)*

Margaret C. Perkins         The puzzle begins here.

This plate is identical to #91 in every way except it is printed in green

and the owner’s name has been changed. It is not listed in Brainerd*

F.Curtis Perkins Jr.  As above, but again with a different name.

From this link I deduced that these were all relatives who used the original copper after the Brainerd book* was published.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=76097401

I also sent the link to Richard and he responded as follows:

”Hey thanks for the link. I did a little research myself, and Lucy Coleman Carnegie married the brother of Andrew, had nine children, one of whom married Frederick Perkins. All the ones you bought are altered names from the original ED French copper engraving; yes, they are genuine, and they wouldn't have turned up in the literature because of being too late.  The Carnegies and Rockefellers intermarried, and they owned several islands. Fascinating people."  

 * REF. Edwin Davis French A Memorial by Mary Brainerd French

A Tribute to The Late Larry Conklin By Tom Boss

 I'm really going to miss Larry Conklin. We had innumerable interesting conversations over the thirty-five years I knew him. He was always a provocative thinker with a great vocabulary and command of the English language. Larry loved to discuss, dissect and yes, even argue.

        He was an important mineral dealer and had many stories about collectors and collecting. His personal collection was also enviable. Larry had a passion for early American furniture and decoration and displayed wonderful pieces in his home. They always seemed well-integrated into his style of living.

         I knew Larry chiefly as a book collector first, then as an avid early American bookplate enthusiast. He formed an extensive collection of the works of William Loring Andrews the American bibliophile. I found most of the books in his collection for him. I hope his work on Andrews will result in a book on this important figure.

         Larry also became vulnerable to the charms of bookplates and decided to collect the works of Paul Revere and Nathaniel Hurd and other important engravers and prominent American figures of the 18th century. He liked to keep his bookplates in specially made boxes with the individual prints matted. He was a fastidious collector whose knowledge and passion were in ample evidence whenever I encountered him.

          I hope that other collectors now and in the future will be influenced by Larry in their activities but I'm afraid that with his passing we are left with a permanent void.

Note from Lew -Here is a link to Larry Conklin's website:

http://www.lhconklin.com/bookplates.htm

       

This Week in Bookplates 2/28/2016

A good many bookplate collections are currently up for sale or have recently been sold so the current supply of choice items is  overwhelming.
Anthony Tufts purchased the  Robert Lloyd Henderson Collection.  Mr. Henderson was the son of James D. Henderson, the famous collector of miniature books. Robert was a collector in his own right with Charles Dickens being a particular interest. Most of the collection is being sold on Ebay.
You can see his current listings by searching Ebay using the seller name  Exeter-Rare-Books

From the Henderson Collection I purchased a group of leather bookplates used by Jerome Kern

" Jerome David Kern(January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and "Who?". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg." In addition he was an notable American book collector.

I currently have a duplicate of his bookplate for possible exchange.If you wish to contact me my Email is Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

Tom Boss recently purchased two significant bookplate collections and is currently sorting though and pricing them.He can be reached at this Email address:
TGBoss@gmail.com

I was sent a fine collection from a collector who wishes to remain anonymous
Here is one of my favorites from that collection.

Within that collection I also obtained this bookplate for Blaine Cordner.
He was an actor and his bookplate is a woodcut by Drusilla Albert (Mrs. George Kidd) I already have a copy so this one is also available for possible exchange.

Last but not least, fellow collector Luigi Bergomi purchased the Richard Schimmelpfeng collection. In several weeks he will be writing a blog article about the collection .This is one of the finest private collections assembled in the last fifty years. It contains well over 50,000 American and European bookplates .
If you want to contact Luigi his email address is

 Lbergomi@gmail.com

Here are a few Mystery Bookplates

 I believe both bookplates were done by the same artist..Dr.Eric Stone was affiliated with Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in the early twentieth century
and he lived in Brookline Mass.Does anyone out there know who designed these bookplates?
Bookplatemaven@hot mail.com

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Yes, this one is grotesque . Perhaps that is why I like it. In any event do you recognize the Artist's cipher ?
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This one measures 2 1/4 inches wide by 3 1/4 inches high ,circa 1920
At first I thought it might be a book ticket but most book tickets are tiny and it was pasted in the center on the inside front cover of a book about world war one.
 Mr. Schliepmann sold books  from apartment 13 A at 440 west 40th Street. I have not located any information about this bookseller and any input would be appreciated.

See you again Next Week.

A Little Help From My Friends

Rebecca Eschliman  has written several  articles about the Antioch Bookplate Company and has been very generous in sharing information

More information  can be seen by following this link

Http://www.yshistory.org

David Sallume Vice President Antioch Bookplate Co.

February 16, 1965

Yolanda Bergamini

Dear Miss Bergamini:

Thank you for your recent order for 100 special bookplates. If you are not sitting down as you read this letter, I suggest that you either do so or take a solid grip on some stationary object. My reason for giving you this advice is that I have to tell you that bookplates manufactured to your specifications would price in the neighborhood of $250.00 for the first 100.

Now that you have come up for air I will tell you that I have not taken time to pinpoint the costs precisely, though I will do so if you wish. Perhaps you might like to consider the alternative of having our art department prepare one color drawing based upon your own. Working on this basis we could supply 100 bookplates for a single order for $44.00

Cordially,

David W. Sallume, Vice-President

Dear Mr. Sallume:

Thank you for your February 16 letter and for your sense of humor.

Let's try the alternative to my first idea.

I'm confident that your artists will prepare a satisfactory one color drawing based on my Mother's. The $44.00 cost for 100 bookplates sounds good.

I hope that your artists will feel at liberty to re-arrange the placement of the words I requested for this bookplate, i.e. the quotation placed at the top may look better under the flowers. Thank you.

Gratefully yours,

Yolanda Bergamini

February 25, 1965

Dear Miss Bergamini:

Thank you for your letter of February 22nd with further reference to the presentation bookplate.

The thought is appalling one, but nearly 40 years of business operation have taught us that  when we do custom work for private persons, prudence dictates that we ask for cash with order. We will be delighted to put this bookplate into work upon receipt of your check for $44.00

Cordially,

David W. Sallume, Vice-President

Dear Mr. Sallume:

Again thank you for a prompt reply to my request on February 22.

This order may be appalling, but my Mother's friends think of her as a remarkable woman. And the family agrees.

I have enclosed my check for $44. Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Yolanda Bergamini

March 8, 1965

Dear Miss Bergamini:

Thank you for your letter of March 2nd and your check in the amount of $44.00 Our acknowledgment on the special bookplate will go out very shortly.

I was humiliated to find that you had apparently misunderstood my letter of February 25th. What I jokingly referred to as “appalling” was not by any means the order, but the necessity of asking for cash in advance. I think if you will look again at my letter this meaning will come through clearly.

Cordially

David W. Sallume, Vice-Pres.
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From The Antioch Archive

What I can share with you today are a selection of private bookplates based on professions/interests (how I wish someone had written down the story of the rutabaga one!). 

Brady -- printed in black on ungummed vellum. 10.2 x 7.6 cm

Diaz-Pifferer --  [Manuel Diaz-Piferrer was a recognized authority on Caribbean undersea botany] Designed by Lucy Piferrer, printed in rose and black on ungummed white stock. 10.0 x 15.2 cm 

Dunn -- Designed by Algira Pierce, printed in black on gummed vellum. 7.3 x 10.1 cm

Feitelberg -- [1905-1967, physicist noted for his work on the application of theory from physical science] printed in sepia on ungummed vellum. 7.9 x 6.2 cm

Freidberg -- printed in black on  ivory stock. 7.5 x 10.4 cm

Goddard -- [12th governor of Arizona] printed in sepia (border and name imprint printed in blue) on ungummed vellum. 7.6 x 10.4 cm

Klaila -- printed in black on ungummed vellum. 7.5 x 10.2 cm

Fellow Collector Al Gury visited the print room at The Argosy Bookshop in New York City and found this treasure.

Very fine woodcut on laid paper.

Arts and Crafts period.

"8X"6

 Jacques Laget identified the artist and the owner.

"René BIOT, born 1889 in Macon, near Lyon. Son of Félix-Camille. Chef Laboratoire Clinique Médecine,  Faculty of  Médecine of  Lyon, Doctor. méd 1914, installé Lyon 1917. Secrétaire Général "Groupe lyonnais d'études médicales, philosophiques et biologiques " qu'il a fondé 1924. Importante bibliothèque surtout musique ancienne.

Bookplate by Claude Dalbanne around 1920"

My son Steven sent this link about the Pratt Bookplate collection.

It is very easy to navigate .

https://www.flickr.com/photos/34900073@N07/sets/72157613160345964/

Fellow Collector Anthony Pincott   sent this useful information about Theodore Roosevelt's Bookplate

I don’t know if you have covered the bookplate of the 26^th President in your blog, or whether it is written up elsewhere, but if not then there’s a fair bit at
 

www.niceoldbooks.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=41944

See you next Week

.

Bookplates As Art Parts Two and Three

Bookplates as Art   Parts Two and Three

By Mark Witteveen

Walter Helfenbein (German) for Erich Dorschfeldt (1922).

A prolific bookplate artist, Helfenbein did a series of mementos mori for Erich Dorschfeldt; several, like these two (above and below) seem to be possibly inspired by the desert exploits of T.E. Lawrence. aka Lawrence of Arabia. WWI again. Attacking trains, and Death as companion, riding by your side. “Some of the evil of my tale may have been inherent in our circumstances,” Lawrence writes in his bio-tale of the war, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Arthur Henne for R. Osswald (ca 1930)

Great books threatening destruction, annihilation. This Henne scene, like Melville’s White Whale, is ripe for an analysis of its symbols. The imagery is specific, yet generalized too, so the scene is able to withstand numerous interpretations. Take your pick: the rule of law, the oppressive rule of law, or enlightenment (like the Gilsi bookplate earlier), to name a few. I don’t know if Henne had specific books in mind, but I appreciate that he used two. It keeps the scene secular, and avoids the apocalyptic. (Okay sure, it’s apocalyptic for them.)

Bruno Heroux (German) for Hans Harrassowitz (ca 1929).

Amazingly, the Harrassowitz firm, booksellers, is still in existence today. They specialize in supplying American universities (Harvard, U. of Chicago) with scholarly and antiquarian books from Europe. Heroux illustrates this trade nicely in the plate: the naked messenger, with Wisdom (the Owl) at his feet, and arm outstretched, book in hand reaching across the sea to deliver it to America (the Statue of Liberty).

Georg Oskar Erler (German) for Dr. Willy Tropp, (1920).

Like other graphic artists of the time, Georg Erler was a worker, executing thousands of pay-for-hire graphic jobs: birthday cards, New Year greetings, etc. He also did a series of bookplates with a nude woman in scenes with satyrs/devils, Death, and men. This is one from the series: startling, immediate, alive with tension. What is on the satyr’s face? Frustration? Defeat? Resignation? Lust? What’s the woman’s attitude? Impossible to know - it’s hidden behind the hat, and in the mind of the viewer. Erler gets high marks for setting his scene in media res.

Sepp Frank

Sepp Frank (German) for Dr. S.B. Guggenheim (ca 1920). The early 1900s were a fertile garden for the occult and various esoteric philosophies and practices. Ideas and symbols from these found their way into bookplates; the designs can be appealing, even when the meaning is lost, or frustratingly obscure.

Sepp Frank was a successful representative of this trend, I think. His highly dramatic bookplates are always worth a look. There is much to admire in them, even when the meaning is not easily decipherable. Here, a sun-blazing Omega projects the long shadow of Death for an elegant human standing center stage in Life’s arena. (another memento mori)

Georg Gelbke (German) for Walter and Margarite Vogel (1923).

A Vogel, in German, ein Vogel, is a bird. Die Nacht Vogel weckt herzlich zu Kaffee und Skandal. The night bird wakes cordially to coffee and scandal. Gelbke plays with the couple’s surname, and off they go flying in the air. The size of the script ‘Vogel’ reinforces the playful design.

Walter Rehn (German) for Hanns Heeren (1923). This Rehn bookplate has the lessons of Van Gogh. Recall Night Cafe. In one of his letters to his brother Theo, Vincent writes, “I am trying to exaggerate the essential but leave the obvious things vague.”

In Rehn’s bookplate, a mere candle sets the room ablaze with light, contrasted with the lack of detail elsewhere. The man holding the candle, for instance -- any child of five could draw his legs with a stubby pencil. Rehn sets the scene: the man has been startled awake in his bed by strange noises. Hesitant with fear, he dons a robe, lights a candle and dread in his heart, sets out to investigate. What could be more comforting to a homeowner, or more delightful to a lover of books, than to discover three giant ghosts enjoying the treasures of your own library?

Mark Witteveen, 2015

mwitteveen@earthlink.net

Interested in early 20th century bookplates/ex libris

For purchase or exchange of duplicates

Bookplates As Art

Bookplates as Art   Part One of Three

by Mark Witteveen

I collect bookplates as art. European pieces primarily, from the early 20th century prior to the rise of the National Socialists. Many of these bookplates are cultural artifacts. Charged with emotion, full of meaning, they come to us with complex legacies through the murderous upheavals and triumphs of the last century. By turns, on their own or through the sharpening lens of hindsight, they can entertain, enthrall, and disturb all the while vibrating with a strong pulse, like good theater. Or they can explode like a firecracker.

Representational imagery in bookplates really flourishes after 1900. I’m strolling along a dark corridor with a flashlight scanning the walls, and I discover I’m not in a corridor at all but a vast museum of connecting rooms where thousands of small pictures hang upon the walls.

Also from this time, with great appeal, narrative appears. We see bookplates with commentary on the human condition, personal stories and insights, hobbies, sports, the Arts, humor, playfulness, frivolity, reactions to world events, and more. Made by incredibly talented artists. And I remind myself that most bookplates were commissions. So not only did artist and occasion have to meet, he or she had to wrangle with a client. No doubt that negotiation varied, but what was a typical arrangement? Imagining one scenario, I picture Walter Helfenbein with one of his risqué bookplates wrought fresh for a client, who upon seeing it, retreats a quick step and says, “Ahhh yeah, no thanks pal.”

Fritz Gilsi (Swiss) for Alfred Kaufmann, (ca 1923) shows progress/enlightenment, in the form of a naked woman wielding a torch, and arriving in an open book, scattering the masses.

The design is richly associative; provocative without being confrontational, and completely lacking in sentiment. Note the pilgrim hat and the woman fleeing, her hands over her face. I recall Dostoevsky’s comment in one of his notebooks: “The European enlightenment is more important than people.” Gilsi’s bookplate seems as relevant to America today as it did in Europe, circa 1923.

Mileva Roller (Austrian) for Helen Anderle (1912). At a glance, many people could pinpoint the origins of this image: Wiener Werkstatte, early 1900s. Sure, it’s of the era.

What of the artist, Mileva Roller? In doing a little research, one finds more references to her beauty than to her artistic efforts. There doesn’t seem to be much of her stuff around. Was she not very productive? Merely derivative? Not encouraged? So many questions. To what extent did she achieve recognition, outside of her obvious association with famous male artists of the era -- her husband Alfred Roller, Solomon Moser, Gustav Klimt. What’s her story?

Fritz Schwimbeck for Dr. Arthur Ludwig (1912).

Look at those etched lines. That’s a steady hand. A setting sun, and the light still reaches out to touch every boulder, to invade every nook, as if to lay claim. Then the approaching night and tailgating gloom; you can almost feel its fur against your face.

Heinrich Seufferheld (German) for Dr. Med. A W. Pietzcker (1915).

Skeletal Death is a frequent actor in medical bookplates. Vengeful, predatory. Lurking close. In this Seufferheld bookplate, however, its treatment is unique. Maybe I’ve made up a storyline, but I’m going with it. Death is the one in trouble here. The struggle is past and the patient has proved the stronger. She has won this battle. In her tender care for the actor Death, we see its grim touch in her embrace, the taste is in her mouth, its stench fills her nostrils. This closeness, this ‘brush with death’, has given her foresight, so she takes pity. No one claims victory over Death. Time will take its toll; she won’t always be strong; someday, as certainly as night follows dusk follows day, their positions will be reversed. She is pleading mercy for her own gentle end.

Arthur Paunzen (Austrian) for Th. Alexander (1917). The still-raging horrors of WWI are in this Paunzen bookplate. Small details are telling: a simple home, beside it a lone figure tries to work peacefully at a table; and the curve of the ground, suggesting not that Death is tramping across an isolated farmer’s field, but stalking the globe.

A further note on the artist: as noted on docsanddocs.com, in 1938, “Paunzen fled Nazi Austria for England with 504 drawings and graphics and one violin.”  He died two years later on the Isle of Man, interned in a prison camp there by the British. I mention these facts and the website for those wanting to learn more about the artist, and to encourage collectors with Paunzen art to consider contacting the research team on the website, led by Gregory Hahn, Pd.D., who are compiling a Catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work. 

Richard Lux (Austrian) for Martha Winter (1934).

A shimmery emotive quality to this scene by Richard Lux. Sometimes I look at bookplate scene and wonder, “How does this relate to its owner?” (Martha Winter, in this example below.) Did she visit the artist’s studio and choose from his existing works, ‘Yeah, make me that one please.’ Or was Lux given free reign and he found inspiration in her personal history.

        To Be Continued

Mark Witteveen

mwitteveen@earthlink.net

Interested in early 20th century bookplates/ex libris

For purchase or exchange of duplicates

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My Tenth Year of Blogging Has Begun

I never fully realized how  addictive my computer had become until it went through a mid life crisis earlier this week at the same time  that the neighborhood  computer  guru left for a ten day trip to California..
In any event I am  getting back on track now and playing catch up.

Here are some odds and ends that  have piled up.

Fellow collector/dealer Gabe Konrad bought a large number of bookplate reference books and is in the process of printing a catalog.

Cover of Catalog

If you'd like to receive a copy of this print catalog, please email him at bayleafbooks@sbcglobal.net or call (231) 652-2665.

Bay Leaf Used & Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB/IOBA
Gabe and Melanie Konrád
79 State Rd. (M-37)
Newaygo, MI 49337

Mystery Leather Bookplate

This is one of the nicest leather bookplates I have ever had.

I no nothing about the owner nor the country he lived in.

Any input would be appreciated.

Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com

The Wonders of The Internet

One of my favorite bookplate artists is Frances Delehanty.Several years ago Richard Schimmelpfeng and I collaborated on a check list of her bookplates .

http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com/2013/11/frances-w-delehanty.html

This email arrived recently :

Hello Lew,

My name is David Hildt, and Frances W. Delehanty was my great aunt. I came across your blog after googling FWD, and I was amazed to see your collection of bookplates which she created. I am sending you a copy of the only one in my possession. It is one she made for her younger brother, Thornton Augustin Washington Delehanty, who was also the brother of my grandfather, John Bradley Delehanty.

 Our family history hasn't been kept up very well in that last few decades, so your collection has enriched our heritage.

Thank you!

David Hildt

A collector who has 80,000 magazines.

This has nothing to do with bookplates but extreme collectors fascinate me.

http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/features/magazine-35128336/35128336?ns_mchannel=email&ns_source=inxmail_newsletter&ns_campaign=

Mineralogy Related Bookplates 

Fellow Collector Larry Conklin has published his excellent article about mineralogy and bookplates.Here is a link:

http://www.lhconklin.com/bookplates.htm