Ex Libris Metafilteris

July 23, 2010 8:56 AM

"The Extraordinary World of Ex Libris Art." A collection of bookplates of the famous and the obscure, from Charles Dickens to Greta Garbo to Jack Dempsey. (Via VSL.)
posted by ocherdraco (16 comments total)

Its a very heavy page that you've linked to. Its still loading even as I make this comment.
posted by infini at 9:00 AM on July 23, 2010

I don't see a link in that post to the Pratt Libraries' full Flickr set of bookplates, which is worth a look. And also check out Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:02 AM on July 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

If you like that, then I'm sure that you'll also like these Ex Libris lino/wood cuts by Ukranian artist Jacques Hnizdovsky. The rest of his site is also well worth exploring too.
posted by Zack_Replica at 9:07 AM on July 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

*seethes*
posted by infini at 9:08 AM on July 23, 2010

Its a very heavy page that you've linked to. Its still loading even as I make this comment. (infini)

There are certainly lots of images—it loaded in 0.16 seconds for me, however, so I don't think it's the page itself.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:09 AM on July 23, 2010

I'm currently stuck using a sim card modem at some ridiculously low speed
posted by infini at 9:10 AM on July 23, 2010

whelp, I now have another thing to put on the "If I had the cash, I would get this classy nifty thing commissioned" list
posted by piratebowling at 9:19 AM on July 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

Awesome! Here's another collection that I love: Exlibris Museum
posted by findango at 9:33 AM on July 23, 2010

The maps on the second page are lovely. Thanks!
posted by dopeypanda at 9:45 AM on July 23, 2010

BibliOdyssey by Mefi's own peacay should also get a look in here.
Nice find , thank you.
posted by adamvasco at 9:54 AM on July 23, 2010

One of my favourite used bookstore finds is "Erotic Bookplates" by Phyllis and Eberhard Kronhausen (sorta NSFW image search).

Wealthy collectors, interested in erotic literature and able to pay for it, usually had their rare erotic books bound in costly vellum and leather by top craftsmen. In these cases, the bookplates appropriately bore erotic designs in keeping with the nature of the book's subject matter.

They're beautiful, particularly the German expressionist ones. Mostly humourous, too, which makes for an interesting juxtaposition.
posted by Nelson at 10:06 AM on July 23, 2010

Screw bookplates. I brought this ossified tradition into the postmodern era by using google books to find out which pages in each of the books I own contain the letters E,X,L,I,B,R,I,S and the letters of my name in the proper order. Then I highlight those letters, and fold down the corner of the page.

I get extra bonus points because my library includes a copy of the Bible Code.
posted by Pastabagel at 10:28 AM on July 23, 2010

These are great, thanks for the link (and all of the follow-ups.)

I've always loved bookplates, but I remain conflicted about them; on one hand, they're my treasured books and a nice bookplate really does add a certain je ne sais quoi to a volume. On the other hand, when I buy used books I don't like them to be marked up or personalized, so I've never gotten in the habit of using them.
posted by usonian at 11:28 AM on July 23, 2010

Yeah, despite the interesting art all bookplates say the same thing. They say "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'M ME AND YOU'RE NOT!".
posted by Justinian at 10:23 PM on July 23, 2010

Wow, beautiful stuff, all of it. I love bookplates! I even made one once for a friend.
posted by otherthings_ at 10:32 PM on July 23, 2010

Here are some free ones that you can print out and use. Mostly designed for kids books, but the Raymond Briggs one is great!
posted by DanCall at 3:25 AM on July 24, 2010