Bookplate News 2/11/2012

Every morning I  look for new bookplate postings  on the Google Blog Search Engine .. Ninety five percent of the results are for authors giving away signed bookplates as a promotional gimmick or from aspiring artists selling their  bookplates.
I follow  this ritual because every so often I find an interesting link. Here is one  from John Birchall about bookplates used by famous  people

John Birchall

Retired physicist turned bookseller and lifetime collector of books. Passionate supporter of bookshops and bookfairs, where I have spent many happy hours and found most of my treasures.

http://booksinwernicke.blogspot.com/2011/04/bookplates-and-dispersed-library.html

Fellow collector James M.Goode told me about a bookplate exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.

Once the introduction of movable type allowed the printing of exact copies, book owners needed a way to identify the works in their possession. Stamps, handwritten notes, and special bindings with embossed coats of arms were all used, but it was the bookplate, introduced around the time of Gutenberg's press, that became the most popular means of marking ownership. Early styles of bookplates, or Ex Libris (From the Library) emblems, ranged from simple initials to ornamented heraldic plates; from designs reflecting an owner's personal interests to warnings against theft or damage; and from pastoral scenes to stacks of books. This selection from the National Gallery of Art Library's rare book collection showcases how collectors over the centuries marked their books, with an emphasis on highly artistic examples of bookplates from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Schedule: National Gallery of Art, January 9–April 27, 2012

Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.

The exhibition is on view in the East Building, Ground Floor, Study Center, open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/ownershipinfo.shtm

Fellow Collector and bookplate artist Huang Wuchang sent me this Chinese New Years card.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/huangwuchang

Huang Wuchang's  blog is written in Chinese.There is a translate button on the site. 

I am using a Google Chrome browser and do not know if the translate button appears with other browsers..

At Letterology  I found seven postings about bookplates. The blog writer is an instructor in graphic arts.
http://letterology.blogspot.com/search/label/Bookplates

                                                       MYSTERY BOOKPLATE

                              Does anyone out there recognize the bookplate shown above ?
                               Bookplatemaven@hotmail.com


2/12/2012- A lead to follow-up from fellow collector Richard Cady
The final bookplate you show ... the 'mystery' plate ...  seems to me to be in the style of Jean Emil Laboureur.  I think I may have a plate or two he designed in one of my albums
2/12/2012- Another lead to follow up- From Jane Peach

I don’t have an identification, though the artwork teases at me as being very familiar.  My first thought is that it is very much in the style of William Steig.   Here is an example from a 1953 book he did.

http://www.steig.pagebooks.net/steig_dreams_of_glory.jpg 

                            
Next Week look for a guest article by Denetia Arellanes