AbeBooks: Beautiful Bookplates

A bookplate is a small print that has been pasted inside the cover of a book to denote ownership. It is usually associated with the term, Ex Libris, which means 'From the Library of...."

A great way to discover the magic of bookplates is a book called Ex Libris: The Art of Bookplates by Martin Hopkinson. This book, published by the British Museum, shows the progression of bookplates through the ages.

The first bookplates featured coats of arms of the aristocracy -- the only people wealthy enough to have a library. By the 19th century, books were more common and bookplates became artistic statements. Talented illustrators -- such as Albrecht Durer, Edward Burne-Jones, Aubrey Beardsley, Charles Voysey, Frank Brangwyn, Walter Crane and Eric Gill -- designed bookplates.

Bookplates often reflected the owner's interests and many artistic styles can be seen from the Arts and Crafts to the modernist movement. Etchings, woodcuts, pen and ink drawings, linocuts and lithographs have all been used.

Learn more at the AbeBooks' Book Collecting Guide: http://bit.ly/ujYGTh

Find copies of Ex Libris by Martin Hopkinson at AbeBooks: http://bit.ly/vCqucE

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