Claim your Covers: Bookplates belong in every booklover’s library
I have loved books for as long as I can remember. Reading them, holding them, looking at them and making them.
I have admired bookplates (also known as ex libris labels) for many years. I love their nostalgic connection to past owners, often with handprinted designs that spark my printmaker’s heart. They’re personal, creative and reflect a family’s heritage or an individual’s style.
Wth fewer new titles printed and reprinted each year, book resources feel increasingly precious.
Sadly, I suspect this diminishing print run trend will continue. Internet scrolling and reading ebooks don’t cut it when you compare reading with holding and turning the pages of a physical paper book!
My own book collection has grown and shrunk over the years. It is currently growing with printmaking and art resource books for my workshop library. I’m loving building a collection of books specific to printmaking processes and artists in one place … a collection that I and students can enjoy and learn from.
I have had in mind for several years the idea to create my own line of contemporary-designed bookplates. I have finally done that, releasing 3 contemporary bookplate designs this April:
Bookplates aren’t just practical; they can be personal too.
As print runs shrink and the frequency of book reprints dramatically drops, I feel (or hope) that the personal connection to books will only grow stronger. Gifting books feels like an intimate gesture given the increasingly precious nature of printed and bound resources.
A bookplate can simply contain a written name, but it can also document a purchase or gift date, or a note about when and where a book was discovered.
Place a bookplate inside the front cover if you are gifting someone special a book. Write their name on the bookplate. Maybe even the reason for the gift.
A pack of bookplates makes a thoughtful present – tuck one in a card for a book-loving friend, or place a label in a book you plan to give away. A short message adds a warm, memorable touch.
One of the earliest known bookplates, thought to be from around 1480, is a hand-colored woodcut design made for Hildebrand Brandenburg of Biberach, a monk at a Carthusian monastery in Buxheim, Germany.
Artists decorated bookplates with coats of arms and simple motifs, turning every label into a personal statement of ownership. Book collectors recognised their value and sought out limited or signed designs by renowned artisans of the time. These miniature prints, often hand-printed, spread with growing personal libraries,. Today, they remain a classic way to add a personal touch and safeguard each treasured read.
Below is a collection of ex libris pins on one of my Pinterest boards. I love the diverse collection of graphic styles, interpretations of the idea of “bookplates” and cultural references.
I came across this chart on Online Etymology Dictionary, showing how “bookplates” trended over the last 220 years. It would be interesting to compare this with the rise and spread of printed books during the same period. Early on, book ownership belonged to religious institutions, expanding to wealthy families. Over time, printing became cheaper and more widespread, and more people began collecting books. Now, with digital technology and younger readers often turning to screens, what will happen to bookplates? I like to think the curve after 2019 took a leap upward when COVID hit in 2020, and that interest in books and bookplates remains strong.
More Information About Bookplates
The New Australian Bookplate Society celebrates the art and collecting of bookplates throughout Australia. They support both established and emerging artists, host exhibitions, and foster appreciation of this unique printed tradition.
The Bookplate Society in the United Kingdom and the American Society of Bookplate Collectors & Designers in the USA both encourage the appreciation and study of these unique book labels in their respective regions.
Buy Bookplates Online
If you’re interested, I sell bookplates from my studio and through my online shop. Currently, there are 3 designs. The selection will expand throughout the year.
