Bookplate Literature

Greetings. This book collector is finally back home in Florida!

One of the first biblio-related things I did upon my return was to join the Bookplate Society. Anthony Pincott, sent me a welcoming email, which included a link to the sale catalogue of the library of Brian North Lee. I will have to scrutinize the catalogue because I want one of the books Lee formerly owned for My Sentimental Library.

In a previous email, Anthony Pincott recommended that I acquire a copy of Brian North Lee's "British Bookplates." I checked my small collection of Bookplate Literature, the other day, and I don't have that book. I will order it shortly. Here's a list of books and CDs on bookplates and heraldry I already have in my library, with photos of some of the interesting books:

The Origin and Evolution Of The Bookplate
by G.H. Viner

This soft cover book was reprinted in June 1946 from the Transactions of the Bibliographical Society. George Viner presented this talk before the Bibliographical Society on Tuesday, November 20, 1945. This copy of the book is all the more special because Viner presented it to the noted bookplate collector, C.H. Crouch.

Viner ALS to C.H. Crouch

As a side note, Viner wrote to Crouch on paper containing the letterhead of Headquarters: Anti-Aircraft Command, "Glenthorn," Stanmore, Middlesex. Life goes on, even in time of war.

Viner's Copy Of Heraldry In England

The author of this book, Anthony Wagner, provided a worthy introduction to Heraldry in the King Penguin Book series. Viner, or most likely a more recent owner, added to the material, providing notes on the front free endpapers from Wagner's "Heralds & Heraldry in the Middle Ages," and notes on the rear endpapers from John Platt's "The Arms of the City of Leicester."

Viner's Bookplate

On second glance, these notes appear to be written by a different hand than the hand that wrote the letter to C.H. Crouch.

The Book-Plate Collector's Miscellany

This miscellany was published as a supplement to some of the issues of "The Western Antiquary." This particular supplement, which provides the names of members and subscribers of the "newly-formed Ex Libris Society," is contained in the 1890, 1891 issue of the periodical.

Auction Catalogue,
Bookplates of Henry Blackwell

Besides this catalogue, I also have the auction catalogue of Blackwell's private library.
I've mentioned Henry Blackwell in a previous post about his gift bookplate. I also have two of his personal bookplates, one engraved by H.T.Sears, and the other engraved by E.D. French.



Castle, Egerton. English Book-Plates. London, 1894 (1893).

Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Book-Plates and Super-Libros Held by the Club of Odd Volumes at the Museum of Fine Arts April-June 1898.

Catalogue of the Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Ex Libris Society Consisting of Ladies' Book-Plates. London, June, 1899.

Bowdoin, W.G. The Rise of the Book-Plate. New York, 1901.

Book-Plates. Published by The Book-Plate Printers. Marquette Building, Chicago. February, 1902. Vol. I No. 1 Designed and Printed by Clarence Collins Marder.

Davenport, Cyril. English Heraldic Book-Stamps. London, 1909.

The Book-Plate Booklet. H. Alfred Fowler, editor. Kansas City, March, 1911. Vol. 4. No.1

The Biblio. H. Alfred Fowler, editor. Kansas City, March, 1913. Vol. I No.1.

The Bookplate. The English Bookplate Society. July, 1924. New Series, No.1.

Book-Plates, Selected Examples by R.K. Fletcher. Boston, 1947.

Jones, Louise Seymour. The Human Side of Bookplates. Ward Ritchie Press, 1951. Inscribed by the author with her bookplate enclosed.
Talbot, Clare Ryan. Historic California in Bookplates. Athens, Ohio, 1983 (1936).

Foster, Joseph. Feudal Coats of Arms. London, 1995 (1902).

Pearson, David. Provenance Research in Book History. Oak Knoll, 1998.
Keenan, James P. The Art of the Bookplate. New York, 2003.

Heraldry Reference Library. Euriskodata Inc. 2002. 23 heraldic reference books on one CD.

Somewhere in my library - I haven't found it yet- is a CD of Burke's "General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales."

Sometime in the near future, I will post a thread about the Lydia M. Poirier Collection of Letters from Bookplate Collectors.