Last week's blog about Leonard Baskin is expanding as I had hoped .Readers sent in additional scans and more are coming. This week I have b...

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

Last week's blog about Leonard Baskin is expanding as I had hoped .Readers sent in additional scans and more are coming. This week I have b...

The Rockwell Harmon Potter plate is by Robert Cairns Dobson Punning(sometimes called canting ) bookplates use an image relating to the owner's name.I do not know when these whimsical bookplates began but they seem to be have been increasingly popular at the end of the 19th century. Here is a link to a New York Times article written in the 1890's in which the writer is highly critical of them. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9500EED91230E333A2575AC1A9609C94669ED7CF Mr. Wolfe's inscription is in Gaelic. I believe Mr. Tower was a Chicago resident The Taylor and Smelt plates are from England. The Ryder plate is by John William Evans The Robert O. Foote plate is by Ruth Saunders Charles H. Bell was a Governor of New Hampshire. Click on the images to enlarge. The Bookman plate is illustrated on P.126 in The Art Of The Bookplate by James Keenan along with several other punning bookplates The Beach plate was done by Dr. A. W. Clark I do not know what next week's posting will focus on but I would like to include some additional collector profiles.It does not take too much time to fine tune them. All I need is a paragraph about yourself, your collecting interest, a scan of your favorite bookplate(s) and a picture of yourself, if you are so inclined. UPDATE 1/22/2009 Will Smith of Hangfire Books has a wonderful celebrity/punning bookplate for Gloria Swanson Here is a link: http://hangfirebooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/last-minute-save.html

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

Last week's blog about Leonard Baskin is expanding as I had hoped .Readers sent in additional scans and more are coming. This week I have b...

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

From time to time I list duplicate bookplates on Ebay. My selections are eclectric and hopefully you will be pleased with some of them. ...

I am very pleased to announce a special event from The Bookplate Society. Send Bids or Questions to [email protected] Good luck with your bidding. Lew THE BOOKPLATE SOCIETY'S SUMMER AUCTION The Bookplate Society’s members’ auctions, three each year, offer a wide range of material, mostly British 18th and 19th century exlibris, but there are also Continental European and North American items. These sales are not open to non-members. Members either attend in person or bid in advance by email or post. However, the Society is doing something different this summer by holding an entirely web- and email-based auction, which on this occasion is open to non-members. Given that this is a manual system, lacking the software resources of eBay, the auction is being drawn out over ten weekly cycles of bidding, and participants can only submit one set of bids per week. Bidders are encouraged to bid for as many items as possible on the first occasion, because in subsequent weeks there is a restriction on the number of additional bids that can be placed. There is a further bias helping people who bid early, because in the event of equal bids the earlier bidder wins the day. The deadline for the first round of bids is Sunday, 2 June (6pm BST) and this auction ends on Sunday 4 August 2013 (6pm BST). To view the listings, go to www.bookplatesociety.org/WebAuction1.htm , and if you wish to join in the auction you will need to read the notes and write to the auction address. Non-members of the Society must register their details prior to emailing bids. This is an auction in slow-motion (!), but it will nevertheless be interesting to see how it works out. As the notes point out, this is not a commercial venture, but designed to offer bookplate collectors some summertime fun. Lot84 This bookplate of Morton and Helena Stephenson probably dates from about 1920. It is the work of Henry Justice Ford (1860–1941), portrait and landscape painter, also book illustrator. He has a short write-up in Wikipedia. Recourse to www.freebmd.org.uk soon established that the owners of this bookplate were Morton F G Stephenson (born Kensington, London, 1884) and Marion Helena née Deverell (born in 1885, also in Kensington), and they were married in 1916 in Central London. Lot # 59 Matilda Constance Ismay (1877, New York -1963, England) was the sister-in-law of Bruce Ismay (1862-1939), chairman and managing director of the White Star Line. He attracted severe moral opprobrium and was ostracised after the Titanic disaster. Not only was he in no small part responsible for the lack of provision of lifeboats, but he was among the survivors, notwithstanding the loss of many women and children. Daughters of George Richard Schieffelin and Julia Matilda née Delaplaine, the two Schieffelin sisters, Matilda Constance Schieffelin and Julia Florence Schieffelin, married two Ismay brothers, Charles Bower Ismay (1874 - 1924) and Joseph Bruce Ismay. Matilda married Charles in New York in 1900. She is buried at Haselbech, near Kettering, Northamptonshire Lot 44 Signed PB, the bookplate of Margaret Brudenell Bruce is the work of Pleasance Bruce, depicting St Margaret Virgin & Martyr, whose feast day is July 20. Margaret Renshaw m.1873 Lord Charles Frederick Brudenell-Bruce (1849-1936), brother to the Marquess of Ailesbury. Daughter of James Renshaw of Broughton, Lancashire, she d.1913. Send Bids or Questions to [email protected]

Everyone has a favorite cat bookplate so send me a scan of yours and it will be added to this blog. In fact,, if you also want to send me a photo of your own cat I will include it... [email protected] Here are two links with 22 Bookstore Cats http://mentalfloss.com/article/29928/10-excellent-bookstore-cats http://www.bustle.com/articles/20375-12-bookstore-cats-who-prove-life-is-better-on-the-shelf CATS ON BOOKPLATES Benjamin Walker Bours There is a copy of this plate in The University of Delaware collection with a notation that it was designed and engraved by Shreve and Co. David and Hermione Chambers * Woodcut by Pam. G. Rueter (1980) Kitty Downing Drawn by Gordon Craig (Blatchly 61) A kitten provides a punning subject for this bookplate for the wife of the antiquarian bookseller and publisher William Downing (1844-1910),.He ran the Chaucer Head Bookshop in Birmingham . Leo Dries * woodcut by Elisabeth J.M. (Elly) van den Hoeven (1950) Mark A. Glaser Lionel B. Goldschmidt Mr. Goldschmidt was an Africana book collector. Dorothy Grau Mary Duchess of Bedford Engraved in 1899 by W. P. Barrett Mary Jaffe Two universal bookplates hand colored by my wife Mary Louis Katz Punning bookplate dated 1922 , artist's initials EK Louis Lion Punning plate by Margot Lion dated 1907 Hamburg G.M. I'd like to find out who GM, is and who designed the plate. Mystery Bookplate ? I'm not sure if this is a bookplate.The latin phrase says from the claw (we may judge of) the lion : from a part we may judge of the whole Bob and Epsie Morse This bookplate was engraved by Luis Agassiz Fuertes Alice Dyar Russell The owner was an author and the artist's initials are DS Gordon Smith Gordon Smith is a bookplate collector .This bookplate was etched and hand colored by Elly De Koster in 1996 D.H. Souter HI Lew Here's an Australian cat example. More details from my book, Australian Personal Bookplates. Souter used the cat as his motif. Andrew Peake Isidor Straus " Mr.Straus (February 6, 1845 – April 15, 1912) was a German-born American businessman and co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served briefly as a member of the United States House of Representatives.. He died with his wife, Ida, in the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Titanic " Ernest Alan Van Vleck This bookplate was designed by Charles Livingston Bull (May, 1874 - 1932) ..He was an American illustrator.. Bull studied taxidermy in Rochester, New York and is known for his illustration of wildlife. . Elisa Vidal This bookplate was engraved by Fernandez Saez Greet Verduin * etched in 3 colours by Ank Spronk-Veenstra (1983) Bradley L. Wallace Designed by Frances Revett Wallace Jouke Zwiers * copper etching by Anneke G. Kuyper (1984) * These items were sent by fellow collector Jos Swiers 6/22/2015 Rebecca Eichliman submitted the following information: There were a number of cat-themed universal bookplates Antioch Bookplate produced, including one that started out as a custom design and was adopted as a universal design and was a bestselling design as long as the company lasted (M-750). From different eras at Antioch Bookplate 57 Stenzel was from the 1940s when Antioch Bookplate acquired the Stenzel Company bookplate line W-41 from the 1970s, possibly by staff artist Tom Till B-157 from the early 1980s, likely by staff artist Joan Corbitt 6/22/2015 Karen Gardner just submitted the following additional information : Hi Lew, I hope you're doing well. I've been staying fairly busy. I saw your cat post and wanted to send some for you to add. The cat on top of a stack of books (design B212) is Antioch Bookplate's quintessential cat design. I put somewhat of a watermark on it because I've seen it copied (sometimes with variations) online quite a bit. It was introduced by Antioch in the 1960s, after having been created as a personal design for LaDonna Ruth Brooks. It is one of my most popular designs. The second one, A108, is a homey setting with a cat by the fireplace. It was created in the 1950s by David Sarvis, who was at the time an Antioch College student. He created many designs for the Antioch Bookplate Company. All the best, Karen Bookplate Ink www.bookplateink.com [email protected] 937-319-0067 866-483-3830 P.O. Box 558 Yellow Springs, OH 45387

There has been a steady increase in the cost of bookplates sold on Ebay.This is partially fueled by spirited bidding from Chinese , English and American collectors. It's good for sellers and not so good for collectors. I wear both hats but I am primarily a collector so I would like to make some suggestions and encourage your participation by sending additional thoughts and comments to [email protected] . Find A Hand Bookbinder Bookbinders are hard wired pac rats. They often save old boards and keep bookplates when the customer does not want them.You should be able to find one or two . If you need help ask your local antiquarian bookseller for a name. .My experience has been that bookbinders generally are very helpful. Antiquarian and Used Booksellers. Make yourself known to your local bookseller(s) and ask them to keep you in mind if they get a book (within your price range) which has an impressive bookplate.While you are at it ask if they have a box with detached boards or ephemera.From time to time I have purchased some exceptional bookplates that way. Bookplate Societies Join The American and or The English Bookplate Societies..There are links to both organizations in the column on the left side of the blog. Local Book Sales and Book Shows This one is a no brainer.You need to get on their mailing list http://www.booksalefinder.com/ Tomorrow if all goes according to schedule I'll be in New York City for the Herring Festival. If you plan to be in New York City this month and you like Herring here is a link. http://www.aquavit.org/restaurant/newyork/index.asp One Last Thing- Here is a Herring Bookplate:

I want to thank fellow collector Richard Schimmelpfeng who did most of the research for this article . About thirty five years ago a bookseller offered the Urling Sibley bookplate to me. I was immediately drawn to it and added it to my collection.The artist's name Frances W. Delehanty was on the plate but I was unable to find any significant published material about her. As it turns out she was still alive at the time and living in Connecticut. Two weeks ago Richard Schimmelfeng asked me what I knew about her and we decided to collaborate . Here is what has been discovered thus far from our joint research. If you know of any bookplates by Frances W. Delehanty which are not listed below please contact me. Lew Jaffe [email protected] Bookplates By Frances Washington Delehanty 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 Image of Daniel Delehanty bookplate from Special Collections Department University of Delaware Library Jean Adams Gair Louisa Wells Post (Proof) Maud Powell- An Image is needed [email protected] “Bookplate for Robert Means Thompson, ” Digital Collections - Lake Forest College, , http://collections.lakeforest.edu/items/show/6720. Two Unsigned bookplates below might have been done by Frances Delehanty but the jury is still out. Carol Ann Brown, Director of the Old Bethlehem Historical Society sent this image of Lauren Ford and Frances Delehanty http://www.ci.bethlehem.ct.us/obhsi.htm Lauren Ford on left, Frances Delehanty on right Frances W. (Fanny) Delehanty, American artist, illustrator, 1879-1977. Born in San Francisco, lived in New York City area, possibly Washington D.C. area also. Listed in New York City Social Register. She descended from both the Washington and Madison families. She studied at Pratt Institute and had one woman shows in New York City. In later years, circa 1940s, she lived in Bethlehem Connecticut with Lauren Ford (1891-1973), another artist, at “Sheepfold” on Crane Hollow Road. She spent some years in France, served as a nurse in World War I, and after World War II she and Miss Ford brought nuns from Solesmes to Bethlehem where they started the present Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis. She was an author and illustrator of several children’s books for young Catholics. Check List of Known Bookplates As an illustrator she used the name of F.W. Delehanty, or Frances W. Delehanty, and used a monogram of FD. Apparently in later years she used the name of Fanny, rather than Frances. Adelrich Benziger (monogram ’01) Theodore E. Blake (monogram ’20) Edgar Howard Boles (F.W. Delehanty 1921) Cyris Townsend Brady (monogram ’07) Victor E. Brenner (monogram) Daniel Delehanty, U.S. Navy Thornton Delehanty Blanca Duncan (Frances W. Delehanty) Thomas Butler Eastland (monogram) Louisine Waldron Ferrier (monogram) Francisca Club (F.S. Delehanty 04) Alva B. Gimbel (F.W. Delehanty) Herbert Ten Broeck Jacquelin (monogram) Raphaelle Johnson Clarence H. Mackay (monogram ’07) Katherine Mackay (Frances W. Delehanty ’07) Ethel Louise McLean F.W. Delehanty ’09) Caroline Newhall (F.W. Delehanty) Sarah Thompson Pell (F.W. Delehanty ’05) Pratt Art Club (monogram ’06) Constance Helen Pulitzer (F.W. Delehanty) Almira Rockefeller (monograpm ’20) Urline Sibley (F.W. Delehanty ’10) Kate Cameron Simmons Nora E. Snow (monogram) Robert Means Thompson, , (monogram) Alice Kip van Vleck (monogram) James H. Weeks Memorial Collection (monogram) Checklist of books written or illustrated by Frances W. Delehanty Canticle of the Three Children in the Fiery Furnace. New York : Sheed & Ward, 1936. The Works of Jesus, by Edna S. Little. San Francisco : Paul Elder Co., 1909. Cover by Frances W. Delehanty. Love in a Dutch Garden, by Nerth Boyce, illustrated by Frances W. Delehanty. Harper’s Weekly, Jan. 10, 1914. A Group of Recent Portraits by Frances W. Delehanty. New York : Ferargil Galleries. 1927. Sunday Mass Set to Single Gregorian Formulae, by Justine Ward. New ed. Desclee. 1943. Heralds of the King : the story of the Nativity, by Gertrude Crownfield ; pictures by Frances W. Delehanty. New York : Dutton, 1931. Reference Material NEW YORK SOCIAL BLUE BOOK--1930 Delehanty, Mrs. Daniel 439 E. 51 Miss Bertha R. Delehanty Miss Frances W. Delehanty Mr. Thornton W. Delehanty Journal of the Ex Libris Society, v. 15 (1904) p. 117. Rights, Edith. Women Bookplate Artists .(privately printed) Obituary, Hartford Courant, Jan. 14, 1977. Miscellaneous Background Information Family Tombstone in Hawthorne New York

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

"Roy has lived most of his life in the West Country, starting an apprenticeship in engraving at the age of sixteen. He eventually left the British Admiralty's Hydrographic Office (the department responsible for producing charts for navigation) four years ago, after a career in engraving and cartographic duties, and as training officer responsible for teaching draftsmanship to naval and HO staff. He now concentrates on producing a wide range of pictorial subjects and botanical studies as limited editions, by the ancient and now relatively rare medium of line engraving. With a growing reputation for engraving based on heraldic designs, commissions for armorial bookplates are awarded in increasing numbers. Other work varies considerably, and includes the restoration of historic engravings and etchings, re-strike printing of earlier engravings, giving demonstrations and delivering lectures and participating in the activities and organization of the Hilliard Society, the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen and the Bookplate Society. He was asked by the British Broadcasting Corporation for advice on how James McNeill Whistler would have produced his hydrographic scenes while employed by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, and was then invited to recreate the process for the camera as "Whistler's Hands" - engraving and printing - in a program about Whistler's life in the BBC "Omnibus" series. Participation in international bookplate and small graphics exhibitions and art exhibitions has been rewarded by a number of awards and commissions. Roy exhibits in Holland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Ukraine, where prints of bookplates and limited editions are also held in art galleries, museums, universities, libraries and private collections. He is producing limited editions of pictorial line engravings which are sold through exhibitions and galleries throughout the UK and parts of Europe and the USA." Source http://www.art-in-miniature.org/gall01.htm In 1995 I visited the late Brian North Lee and he gave me the newest of his many personal bookplates.It was engraved by Roy Cooney. At the time I was searching for someone to design my first bookplate and I contacted Mr. Cooney. The theme I choose was a waterwheel that had been engraved by Henry Dawkins. I like all my bookplates but this is still my favorite. Here are a few of the Roy Cooney bookplates and engravings from my own collection: Roy sent the following note along with the wasp engraving shown below: "One of my limited editions for your retention!This Queen Wasp died on my window-sill.I drew the image straight on the copper and then engraved it" Follow this link for many more images and a checklist of Roy Coooney's bookplates. www.bookplatesociety.org/images/CooneyFramedBookplates.pdf See you again nexr week.

Last week's blog about Leonard Baskin is expanding as I had hoped .Readers sent in additional scans and more are coming. This week I have b...

Title page to exciting new book by Tom Boss . See notice at the bottom of this posting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashley Benham not only designs charming bookplates , she also has a nice way with words. In the paragraph quoted below she expresses something I have also felt about the bookplates in previously owned books but was never able to articulate so skillfully. Here is a link to the complete message on her blog. http://www.ashleybenham.com/blog/2010/09/07/ex-libris/ "To celebrate my parents’ birthdays this month I made them both personalized ex libris plates. I’ve always liked the idea of the ex libris, and whenever I happen upon one in an old book I feel a deep and immediate connection to the previous owner, like it’s a taste of their personality. Each of these bookplates is reflective of their interests, though like most bookplates perhaps the images speak more clearly if you know my parents, and I’m happy with it that way. I hope you enjoy them, and that you have many good books in your future!" Fellow collector James M. Goode has two new bookplates both of which are magnificent. The giant anteater is a wood engraving by Richard Wagener . http://www.richardwagener.com/ The design is based on a bronze statue at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. by Edwin Springweiler. The equestrian bookplate with Andrew Jackson was drawn by Richard E.Stamm. It is fashioned after the statue in Lafayette Park (Washington D.C.).In a cover note to me James mentioned that this was the first bronze sculpture cast in the United States (1853) New Bookplate Book To be published October 20th, 2010......Bookplates of The Club of Odd Volumes......A small number of this privately-issued book will be available to the general public. There are photographs of the plates of 168 past and present members(1887-2010), one bookplate per page with descriptions , those employing color printed in color. Includes the full text of Charles Dexter Allen's "A Talk on Book-Plates" given before the Club in 1901 and heretofore only available in the very rare Club edition.Bound in full blue cloth, 6 x 9 inches, 212 pp. and issued in a very limited edition. $50 plus $5 postage. Massachusetts residents must add 6.25% sales tax. Order from Thomas G. Boss Fine Books. mailto:[email protected], 617 308 5062. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I still have difficulty( after 35+ years) identifying many printing techniques once I get past engraving, etching and woodcuts so I thought this identification link might interest you. http://www.polymetaal.nl/beguin/alfabet.htm See you next Sunday.

I have asked several bookplate artists to send me scans and general information about the bookplates they designed in 2012..The first to respond was Daniel Mitsui. www.Danielmitsui.com In 2012, I received six commissions for bookplate designs. The original drawings for these were done with black technical pens on white Bristol board. The drawings were scanned at a high resolution, and transferred via a photo chemical process to copper plates for letterpress printing. Exlibris Corey B. French: The central subject in this bookplate is St. Jerome in his study, after the painting by Jan van Eyck. The saint wears a cardinal's garb, and is seated at his desk, which is covered in writing tools, a bookstand, an hourglass and various bottles and jars. More books and scrolls, an astrolabe and a paternoster can be seen in the background. St. Jerome's tame lion is sitting next to the desk. My patron requested that I include images of the Virgin & Child, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Thomas More. I placed these in the corners, and framed the central image in a pointed quatrefoil fitting snugly between them. The small triangular spaces filling out the square have fanciful creatures in them; clockwise, these are a unicorn, a heraldic dolphin, a pig, a monopod, a blemya, a mermaid, a barometz and a green man. The Latin quote at the bottom is from St. Augustine: "Too late have I loved thee, O beauty ever ancient and ever new!" Exlibris Barbara Teresa Shaw: The man who commissioned this commissioned the very first bookplate I ever designed. Over the past several years, he has had me create bookplates for the various members of his family as well as for his godchildren; each of them have featured the recipent's patron saint. Past designs have shown St. Lucy, St. Francis, St. Columba, St. Dorothy and St. Agnes. This one depicts St. Barbara, a 4th century martyr who was imprisoned in a tower and later beheaded. The bookplate shows her with her familiar attributes: she wears a martyr's crown, and holds a sword and a chalice with a host elevated above it. Her tower is drawn in the background Exlibris Afsheen Majid: My patron commissioned this bookpalte for his baby daughter. Because the name Afsheen means "shine like a star", I drew a nocturnal lanscape lit by starlight. The Hand of Fatima symbol refers to the midle name Zahra, one of the titles of Mohammed's daughter Fatima. I was asked to include several things that the girl especially likes: trees, ducks and animals with tails. The artwork was inspired by 16th century Perisan illuminated manuscripts, as well as by European millefleur tapestries. Exlibris Kevin G. Rooney: In this one, the central image shows the Saced Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The coats of arms in the corners represent the Rooney family, the Priestly Fraterity of St. Peter, the Crowley family, and the Carmelite Order. Exlibris James A. Vogel III: I liked the composition that I invented for the Corey B. French bookplate so much that I used it again for my next two commissions. This one has a central image of St. James the Greater, one of the 12 Apostles. It was based on an anonymous 15th century panel painting. The bones of St. James were discovered in the 9th century by a miraculous starlight near the northwest coast of Spain. The shrine built to house these relics became one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Europe. Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela collected scallop shells from the nearby coast as souvenirs. The pilgrim hat and cloak that the Saint wears in this depiction; the staff and shell that he carries; and the stars, ocean waves and path in the background all refer to this tradition. The square images in the corners depict the Virgin & Child in the style of a Russian icon; the coat of arms and motto of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre; a portrait of the French-English poet, essayist and economist Hilaire Belloc; and the coat of arms of the Order of Preachers with a torch-bearing dog, a symbol of St. Dominic. Exlibris Andrew Lohrum: This bookplate depicts an incident from the life of St. Francis of Assisi, in which one of his novices asked to possess his own psalter: Blessed Francis told him: After you have a psalter, you will desire and want to have a breviary; after you have a breviary, you will sit in a fancy chair, like a great prelate telling your brother: Bring me the breviary! And speaking in this way with great intensity of spirit, he took some ashes in his hand, put them on his head rubbing them around his head as though he were washing it, saying, I, a breviary! I, a breviary! I thought that this was a particularly clever choice of subject, as it shows a man being rebuked for his pride about the prospect of owning a book. I used millelfleur decorative patterns in many of my drawings last year. This is an ornamental fill composed of tiny plants and animals, inspired by 15th century tapestries. Frogs, rabbits, snails, rats, a snake and a genet can be seen in the border of this bookplate. It is formatted like a page in an illuminated manuscript, with wide borders on one side and on the bottom. The bas-de-page shows the famous story of St. Francis meeting the Wolf of Gubbio. Note from Lew Jaffe- If you wish to contact Daniel Mitsui his email address is Danmitsui (at) hotmail.com See you next Sunday- The clock is ticking. If you want to enter the Humorous bookplate contest stop procrastinating. Only a few weeks left until the contest ends on February 13th Please submit one bookplate from your own collection. I am not expecting many entries because humorous bookplates are atypical. That works in your favor if you have something to submit.. Send a scan of your entry to [email protected] At the end of the contest the judges ( Mary & Lew Jaffe) will select the winner. . The winner will receive an inscribed hardbound copy of all blog postings for 2012 1/28/2013 Entry # 6 for humorous bookplate contest , sent by Evan Sullivan Hello Lewis, I'm not sure if the attached fits into the humour category, but considering humour is pretty subjective . I will submit it for your delectation. This ex libris was made for me by an artist / collector in Israel. His name is Leonid Kuris. He knows I am from Australia. It's humorous, to me, because of the age old myth that kangaroos bound down Sydney streets (ie near the Opera House). Also hilarious/ironic is the fact that a kangaroo has a 'pocket' and in that pocket is a book. My pocket book is often empty because of ex libris collecting. One more bit of humour is the fact that I'm Australian, but living in Saudi Arabia and this ex libris was designed by an Israeli. Regards, Evan 1/29/2015 Entry # 7 received from Anthony Pincott Dear Lew Here is a small contribution if you would like it. Rgds, A. The design pictured here may not be the most beauteous exlibris ever conceived, but it was created both in tribute and pleasure, and deserves to rank high in the present selection of amusing bookplates. Its owner, Brian North Lee (1936-2007), gave a description in his booklet entitled “My Personal Bookplates” (2001) as follows: “A bookplate just for fun was drawn for me in 1983 by Benoit Junod, showing a diminutive BNL, with pipe in mouth – customary in those days – hand in hand with a rather Amazon Minerva, a big, busty and smiling lass who is opening the door to lead me into “BOOKPLATE PARADISE”. I drag behind me an enormous Chippendale wagon, which is almost as much of an extravaganza as the Duke of Wellington’s funeral carriage, and soon the door’s height will surely deny it entry, but no matter. The Bookplate abounds in personal references, including the titles of my first books; I find it engaging; it needed a shape as exuberant with the strange creatures accompanying; and I fear that Minerva is going to take me on her knee and mother me as soon as we’re on the other side of the door” with admission reserved to only serious collectors. It’s now six years since Brian, sadly missed, passed through that door, but his extensive contributions to bookplate literature live on. A few copies of this bookplate remain available and can be obtained, priced at £7.50 (UK addresses) or £8.50 (elsewhere), by sending payment to PayPal account “[email protected]”. 1/29/2013 Entry #8 submitted by fellow bookplate enthusiast Leigh Rutledge

I recently obtained this bookplate on Ebay. It complimented the two Lewis Carroll Room plates I already had In an effort to obtain more information I discovered that the Cleveland Public Library had digitized their bookplates and many of them were done by students. Here is the link. http://cdm16014.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p4014coll13/searchterm/bookplates/field/subjec/mode/all/conn/and The artist(s) who did the three plates from the Lewis Carroll Reference room were not indicated so I dug deeper and found this site relating to WPA artists http://library.case.edu/ksl/collections/special/wpa/artists/kucharyson_etal.html It put me in the right direction but more research is needed because the artist's for the three bookplates are listed as a group. WPA Artists: Paul Kucharyson, Edward C. Haill and Kalman Kubinyi PHOTO BOOKPLATES In the 1930's and 40's there was some faddish use of photographic bookplates.The style did not last very long but I have unearthed a few.I know nothing about the owners. If you have any similar plates send me a scan and they will be added to this posting. [email protected] I've scanned my paper version of George Eastman's bookplate. Many years ago I had the older photographic version of this plate but I must have traded it for something else. Here is some additional information about Mr. Eastman's bookplate :"When the cocktail hour came into vogue in the 1920's, Eastman changed his formal reception room into a ''little library.'' Intimately scaled and elegant with Wedgwood green walls and columned white marble fireplace, the room has a comfortable wing chair near the fireplace just as it was when Eastman posed (with back to camera) for his bookplate. He catalogued his books, identifying each by section and shelf. Alongside classics by Shakespeare, Longfellow, Kipling and Dickens, volumes that have Eastman's original bookplate include ''Darwinism'' and ''Reveries of a Bachelor.'' REF- http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/18/travel/splendor-restored-at-eastman-house.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's another new addition to my theatrical bookplate collection .Celebrity bookplates are always on my want list and I've never seen this one before. See you again next week.

Last week's blog about Leonard Baskin is expanding as I had hoped .Readers sent in additional scans and more are coming. This week I have b...

One of the best things about having an extensive personal library is the ability to lend books to my loved ones. Of course, “lend” is a stretch—they very rarely come back, probably beca…

I confess to being a junkie when it comes to street art especially the colorful murals with inspiration

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

I confess to being a junkie when it comes to street art especially the colorful murals with inspiration

Random thoughts from a passionate bookplate collector.

Last week's blog about Leonard Baskin is expanding as I had hoped .Readers sent in additional scans and more are coming. This week I have b...

He didn’t stick the needle in my arm or the place the knife in my hand, but he put the idea in my head.

Carrie Mae Weems

Sometimes it is difficult to determine if you have a bookplate used by a well known person or someone who shares a name with a celebrity..A recently acquired bookplate from the library of Emily Post is a good example of what I mean.The bookplate was in a tattered copy of Coins de Paris by Georges Cain ( published around 1907).When I questioned the dealer who offered it to me he explained that Emily Post the American guru on all things relating to etiquette visited Paris in the early 20th century so he concluded that the book was used by the real Emily Post (wishful thinking ) I happened to like the bookplate so I decided it was worth keeping regardless of which Emily Post was the original owner. Emily Post Some of Emily Post's descendants are involved with The Emily Post Institute so I contacted that organization .They responded quickly but their answer was inconclusive, I am still uncertain about what I purchased. Here is a link with more information about Emily Post. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Post On Friday I got a bookplate for Roland Keith Young. Research on this one was effortless.The English actor Roland Young was an avid collector of ceramic Penguins Here is some biographical information about Roland Young: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Young The Virginia bookplate was also purchased on Friday. I assumed it was from the library on a yacht. As it turns out the Virginia did start out as a yacht, owned by W.K. Vanderbilt . By 1909 she became a house boat.It is the only houseboat library bookplate I have ever had. Here is a detailed record of Virginia's life. Status: DESTROYED Original Name: Virginia Current Name: Virginia Hull Number: 533 Boat Location: DESTROYED Contracted By: W.K. Vanderbilt Current Owner: Contract Date: 10/11/1899 Owner Since: Class: New York 70 Sub-Class: Original Rig: cutter Current Rig: Original Price: $32,594 Restored By: LOA: 106 ft. 0 in. Beam: 19 ft. 4 in. LWL: 70 ft. 0 in. Draft: 14 ft. 0 in. Designer: NGH Provenance: Owner Years Location Boat Name Sail No. W.K. Vanderbilt 1900 - >1906 New York, NY Virginia A Philadelphia owner has turned her into a houseboat by 1909. http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/doc/HMC_Registry.pdf Pictured below is a mystery bookplate .If you know something about it please contact me . [email protected] When I put the Latin phrase on Google I Came up with the following: 1. . auction slip tipped in at front, two pictorial bookplates, one with the motto "felix est qui me habet" and the other with the name "Harold Marshall, Harlesden. 2 Since there was an HMH in the upper right corner and no other name I incorrectly speculated that this might be a bookplate used by Harold Marshall Harlesden. After several emails with fellow collectors Richard Schimmelpfeng and Anthony Pincott I decided that my speculation was also wishful thinking. Here is what Anthony wrote : “Happy is he who has me” could be one translation, but the other is “It is Felix who owns me”, and I suspect the owner enjoyed the double interpretation. The initials HMH are surely those of the artist. It would surely be strange to mix the address into an owner’s initials. The Brooklyn Historical Society Blog has a nicely presented posting about bookplates.Here is a link: http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/tag/bookplates/ See you again next Sunday

Daniel Mitsui is at the top of his game. Here is one of his recent bookplate designs. http://www.danielmitsui.com/ This is Allen* #821 , Franks** # F28032 * American Book-Plates by Charles Dexter Allen ** Catalog of the Franks Collection of British and American Bookplates Bequeathed To The British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks Mr. Allen attributes the bookplate to Peter Maverick but this is highly unlikely. It is also possible that Allen was describing a bookplate for another person named William Stephens . The quest begins. I will keep you updated as my research continues... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From time to time I still use" archaic" words like dungarees and valise I remember how Tomatoes tasted before the advent of corporate genetic alteration. That's why I am a card carrying member of this organization. http://www.seedsavers.org/ .It's interesting to see how quickly words change within a few generations In the 1890's men smoked Segars imported from Havana In the 1840's Cheap did not have a negative connotation The rebirth of an old idea- From The New York Times July 29,2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/business/hotels-add-libraries-as-amenity-to-keep-guests-inside.html?_r=1 Some Hotels Offer people an escape from electronic addiction (My Words) Daniel Rosenbaum for The New York Time "Reading material in many hotel rooms has become about as spare as it can be — open the desk drawer and it might hold a Gideon Bible and a Yellow Pages. But some hotels are giving the humble book another look, as they search for ways to persuade guests, particularly younger ones, to spend more time in their lobbies and bars. They are increasingly stocking books in a central location, designating book suites or playing host to author readings. While the trend began at boutique hotels like the Library Hotel in New York, the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Ore., and the Study at Yale in New Haven, it is expanding to chain hotels. For these chains, a library — or at least the feel of one — allows a lobby to evolve from a formal space to a more homelike atmosphere, one that younger customers seek. Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman for the travel, hospitality and leisure groups at Deloitte, said, “My general impression is that this ties into changing demographics.” He added, “Younger travelers want to be part of the community.” As with any other change in a hotel, there is a financial angle. Room revenue in hotels rose 6.3 percent in 2012 compared with a year earlier, but food and beverage revenue increased only 2.3 percent, according to PKF Hospitality Research Trends. For hotels, the challenge is to persuade guests to spend more time, and money, in restaurants and bars, rather than venturing outside. The Indigo Atlanta-Midtown hotel, for example, has a separate space in the lobby it calls the Library, with books, newspapers and coffee. The Indigo Nashville Hotel also has a library-style seating area. Country Inns and Suites, with 447 hotels, now has an exclusive arrangement with Penguin Random, called Read It and Return Lending Library, that allows guests to borrow a book and return it to another location during a subsequent stay. Scott Meyer, a senior vice president at Country Inns, says the goal is to provide guests, 40 percent of whom are business travelers, with “something they didn’t expect.” Since early July (a version of the program was begun in 2001) the hotel chain has offered novels by Dean Koontz and Steve Berry and other Random House authors, as well as children’s books. A corporate blog contains an excerpt from Mr. Koontz’s March release, “Deeply Odd.” The circulating books for both authors will be from the backlist. Mr. Berry is enthusiastic about a new outlet for his work. He called it “the easiest, most efficient, carefree way to put books into the hands of readers.” In June, the Hyatt Magnificent Mile in Chicago completed a renovation that includes a bar stocked with books and magazines and a small number of computers. Marc Hoffman, the chief operating officer of Sunstone Hotel Investors, which owns the hotel, says he has also brought the library concept to Sunstone’s other hotels, including the Renaissance Washington, D.C., Downtown Hotel which has books about presidents and sports; the Newport Regency Beach Hyatt; and the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, where he says books about the Boston Celtics, fishing and baseball are popular. “We’re creating spaces people can relax in,” he said. Bookstores and Web sites supplying hotels report an uptick in business. The Strand bookstore in New York, for example, sells books to the Library Hotel and the Study at Yale, as well as to hotels in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, among others. Jenny McKibben, who coordinates the store’s corporate accounts, estimates that 60 percent of corporate business stems from hotels or design firms working for hotels. Before the recession, she said, 15 to 20 hotels a year would call to order books. Now, with increased guest interest and newer technology that allows hotels to review pictures and title lists, the number of hotels ordering has increased to about 40 annually. “It’s a new luxury item,” she said of books. Meanwhile the boutique hotels are personalizing a library-like experience even more. At the Library Hotel in New York, where individual floors are assigned numbers from the Dewey decimal system and rooms have books within that classification, the hotel ran a haiku contest in April to celebrate National Poetry Month. Steven Perles, an international lawyer practicing in Washington and a frequent guest, didn’t participate in the contest, but during a recent stay he considered his choice of the hotel. “Books are so much part of the appeal,” he said, although on an earlier trip he said he stayed in a room designated for Slavic languages and couldn’t understand any of them. Still, he gives the hotel high marks for its service. Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., supplies books to the Heathman Hotel in that city. Authors appearing at the bookstore or nearby Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, who stay at the hotel, go through a ritual of signing their most recent work to add to the hotel’s collection. The hotel has nearly 2,100 books signed by authors including works by Saul Bellow, Stephen King and Greg Mortenson. Guests have access to the library each evening. Some hotels are staging author readings. Ahead of President Obama’s second inauguration, Lewis Lapham, editor of Lapham Quarterly and former editor of Harper’s Magazine, read excerpts from “A Presidential Miscellany,” a book he wrote, at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington. The Algonquin Hotel in New York is looking to build on its rich literary history with a suite stocked with books from Simon & Schuster. On a recent evening, more than 125 people gathered in the hotel’s main lobby to hear Chuck Klosterman, the author, essayist and columnist on ethics for The New York Times, read from his latest work, “I Wear the Black Hat,” published by Simon & Schuster. Mr. Hoffman said that hotel books could become a souvenir. He says every book is stamped with the hotel name. And he concedes that some guests may take them home. “We hope they remember the trip, remember the good times and go back again,” he said." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Whatever comes around goes around. Let's turn the clock back to the days when men smoked segars. Many hotels had reading rooms. Here are just a few bookplate examples: Parker House Engraved By J.W. Spenceley If any of you have some unusual hotel bookplates please send me a scan and I will add it to this posting [email protected] 8/18/2013: Just Received this note: Dear Mr. Jaffe: I saw with interest your blog post on hotels in the US that have books and reading spaces available to guests. I don't know about the general trend in Europe, but last summer, my husband and I stayed in a hotel in Brussels during a bad heat wave that offered such an amenity. It was the Hotel Sofitel in Brussels located in Place Jourdan [a lovely jewel-box of a place, I might add]. The only negative thing I can say about it was that there initially was the ubiquitous loud and intrusive music that seems to be thought necessary to be piped in everywhere. When I requested that it be turned down or off in the library space, however, the staff immediately complied. We spent every morning of our stay in the hotel's library space, as we didn't want to venture out into the oppressive heat and sun. And we indeed did spend money inside the hotel, enjoying the coffee and fabulous pastries that were brought to us there. I am a bad traveler, but this was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had in a hotel and I remember it fondly. Thanks for the post. I look forward to reading your blog each Sunday. Kind regards, Ms. A. O'Connor Galway, Ireland 8/21/2013 Just arrived- from an E Bay purchase See you next Sunday.

I confess to being a junkie when it comes to street art especially the colorful murals with inspiration