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Ex Libris: The Art of Bookplates
Endlessly diverse and appealing, bookplates (also called ex libris, Latin for "from the books of") are small decorative labels to be pasted inside a book's cover to express personal ownership. Originating in their modern printed form in 16th-century Germany, where books were highly valuable and treasured, bookplates became an art form practiced by artists across Europe and beyond. This book traces the fascinating evolution of bookplate design over time and across national boundaries, showcasing 100 key examples of ex libris art.
In the early 1500s, Albrecht Dürer and other German engravers and printmakers began to create highly decorative bookplates, often featuring armorial devices and coats of arms for wealthy individuals and institutions. As the fashion for ornamental bookplates spread, distinctive national styles evolved. Nearly every conceivable design element—from cupids to scientific instruments, portraits, and landscapes—served to decorate personal bookplates. This volume explores the various sources of ex libris inspiration, including designs by C. R. Ashbee, Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Eric Gill, and Rudyard Kipling, as seen in the books of Frederic Leighton, Calvin Coolidge, and many others. Book lovers and art enthusiasts alike will delight in this treasury of bookplate art and lore.
In the early 1500s, Albrecht Dürer and other German engravers and printmakers began to create highly decorative bookplates, often featuring armorial devices and coats of arms for wealthy individuals and institutions. As the fashion for ornamental bookplates spread, distinctive national styles evolved. Nearly every conceivable design element—from cupids to scientific instruments, portraits, and landscapes—served to decorate personal bookplates. This volume explores the various sources of ex libris inspiration, including designs by C. R. Ashbee, Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Eric Gill, and Rudyard Kipling, as seen in the books of Frederic Leighton, Calvin Coolidge, and many others. Book lovers and art enthusiasts alike will delight in this treasury of bookplate art and lore.
112 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 18, 2025
An interesting introduction on the subject that makes me want to research it more.
February 7, 2014
Bought it for the pictures. It was worth it. It's only about 50-60 bookplates, but each gets its own page with a brief description of its circumstances. There's a fair variety here.
The happy surprise in this book is the introduction and bibliography. The former is a concise and yet deep introduction to the subject generally. It also points toward further reading, as does the end material.
And yet, I smirk a bit. It really does seem a bit meta to have journals and societies and catalogs and books all about book-ownership-paraphernalia (there's probably a less annoying way to put that). Still, keep it up, universe! You surprise me.
The happy surprise in this book is the introduction and bibliography. The former is a concise and yet deep introduction to the subject generally. It also points toward further reading, as does the end material.
And yet, I smirk a bit. It really does seem a bit meta to have journals and societies and catalogs and books all about book-ownership-paraphernalia (there's probably a less annoying way to put that). Still, keep it up, universe! You surprise me.
June 7, 2013
It could have been so much more.
September 6, 2016
Fantastic. I can't wait to learn more about bookplates! I think I want to try making some of my own too..
August 10, 2019
A short introduction on the history of bookplates, with around 100 illustrations. A nice read, but not adequate - the literature in this genre is hard to find.
March 3, 2022
An informative introduction and a now dated bibliography that leads the reader to other things are the bread of a sandwich filled with examples of bookplates. Lack of an index is a serious shortcoming.
The author declines to enter the fray when it comes to the very first use of a bookplate. This is a controversy that other authors seem to revel in. The quality of the illustrations and the captions that accompany each one is excellent. I expected to see more cats and owls but, instead, there is a preponderance of nudes, mostly women. There were, in fact, artists who specialized in erotic bookplates but I would argue that the example by Von Bayros shown on page 90 has several competitors for the most erotic bookplate in the book.
I would recommend The Art of the Bookplate by James P. Keenan, along side or instead of this one. Keenan's book has more illustrations (isn't that what we're here for, after all) and an index.
I was led to seek out some books about bookplates because someone (we'll call him Mr. T) made a disparaging remark about a bookplate that someone had used in her books. It made me curious to learn a little more about bookplates. It also awoke in me a contrariness that made me want to put bookplates in my books. Not wanting to steal her design, I plan to adopt my own. But I will make sure that it's something that Mr. T would find equally unacceptable.
The author declines to enter the fray when it comes to the very first use of a bookplate. This is a controversy that other authors seem to revel in. The quality of the illustrations and the captions that accompany each one is excellent. I expected to see more cats and owls but, instead, there is a preponderance of nudes, mostly women. There were, in fact, artists who specialized in erotic bookplates but I would argue that the example by Von Bayros shown on page 90 has several competitors for the most erotic bookplate in the book.
I would recommend The Art of the Bookplate by James P. Keenan, along side or instead of this one. Keenan's book has more illustrations (isn't that what we're here for, after all) and an index.
I was led to seek out some books about bookplates because someone (we'll call him Mr. T) made a disparaging remark about a bookplate that someone had used in her books. It made me curious to learn a little more about bookplates. It also awoke in me a contrariness that made me want to put bookplates in my books. Not wanting to steal her design, I plan to adopt my own. But I will make sure that it's something that Mr. T would find equally unacceptable.
March 9, 2021
Bookplates, they're great! Some are puns relating to their owner. Others feature important symbols or mythology. Most are black and white, but there are some color ones too. In fact, there's so many I can't pick a favorite artist much less a bookplate. Excellent to peruse on a lazy afternoon.
December 20, 2023
This was awesome-inspiring. I’ve always grimaced whenever I found a bookplate in a book I have purchased. Now i have an appreciation to the art and the meanings of the owners of the bookplates that I will begin to seek them out when I visit used book dealers.
March 6, 2025
A short and sweet overview of the history of bookplates and beautiful examples of them over time. There could have been so much more here, but I am inspired!
July 8, 2018
Art books are generally rather subjective in terms of quality—either you appreciate the art or you don't, and moreover they're somewhat niche books by definition—but I found Martin Hopkinson's Ex Libris: The Art of Bookplates a thoroughly charming little volume. Containing—as advertised—several dozen vintage artistic bookplates by prominent printmakers and engravers (Albrecht Dürer included!), often for famous book collectors and authors themselves, Ex Libris was delightfully quirky, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover a subculture within the world of book and art collectors, of a significant market in vintage bookplates. In my last review, I said I'm currently in graduate school for library and information science, and the existence of this subculture was wonderful and interesting to me.
You can discern a better art book by the quality of the accompanying essays and commentary, and both of these from Hopkinson more than adequately fit the bill; Hopkinson's introduction laying out the full history of bookplates and their artwork was a perfect accompaniment to the illustrative examples in Ex Libris, along with Hopkinson's individual commentaries on individual bookplates. That Ex Libris contains a diverse variety of the subcategories of artistic bookplates that Hopkinson describes in the introduction, as well as examples from throughout the history of their printing (Dürer's inclusion is illustrative, and Ex Libris goes all the way to the 1970s), is a nice touch as well.
I don't know that even as a librarian-in-training, I'd necessarily be interested in becoming a collector of vintage and/or artistic bookplates myself—again, to some extent that particular avenue of enthusiasm is sufficiently niche for me to be reluctant to "formally" pursue it myself—but it was still interesting and nice to see the many designs for bookplates that have come along over the years. In my youth I had some nice bookplates (backed with stamp glue, I believe, and mass-produced as well, something Hopkinson notes as an example of the semi-decline of ex libris as a "formal" art), and it was wonderful to see that I wasn't alone in deciding to personalize my books with a bit of flair. All in all, a cute little volume.
You can discern a better art book by the quality of the accompanying essays and commentary, and both of these from Hopkinson more than adequately fit the bill; Hopkinson's introduction laying out the full history of bookplates and their artwork was a perfect accompaniment to the illustrative examples in Ex Libris, along with Hopkinson's individual commentaries on individual bookplates. That Ex Libris contains a diverse variety of the subcategories of artistic bookplates that Hopkinson describes in the introduction, as well as examples from throughout the history of their printing (Dürer's inclusion is illustrative, and Ex Libris goes all the way to the 1970s), is a nice touch as well.
I don't know that even as a librarian-in-training, I'd necessarily be interested in becoming a collector of vintage and/or artistic bookplates myself—again, to some extent that particular avenue of enthusiasm is sufficiently niche for me to be reluctant to "formally" pursue it myself—but it was still interesting and nice to see the many designs for bookplates that have come along over the years. In my youth I had some nice bookplates (backed with stamp glue, I believe, and mass-produced as well, something Hopkinson notes as an example of the semi-decline of ex libris as a "formal" art), and it was wonderful to see that I wasn't alone in deciding to personalize my books with a bit of flair. All in all, a cute little volume.
September 11, 2011
Provides history and examples of ex libris.
Bookplates are prints, dwgs, or watercolors inserted into the front of books to display ownership.
1st produced in last quarter of 15th century.
Inspiration for them derives from medieval practice of including portraits or other means of ID at the front of illuminated Books of Hours (prayer books) to indicate their ownership.
1440 Gutenberg invented movable type, nevertheless early books were very precious and prestigious items. after Gutenberg's death in 1468 book owners began to commission artists to design and make woodcuts with images of personal significance to announce their ownership.
Images almost always the owners' coats of arms.
1500 to 1850, contd to be heraldic or armorial...18th c Rococo movement...began including images of books...(book-pile plates) and some suggestion of landscape..
19th c..extended to middle class, who might not have coats of arms
Bookplates are prints, dwgs, or watercolors inserted into the front of books to display ownership.
1st produced in last quarter of 15th century.
Inspiration for them derives from medieval practice of including portraits or other means of ID at the front of illuminated Books of Hours (prayer books) to indicate their ownership.
1440 Gutenberg invented movable type, nevertheless early books were very precious and prestigious items. after Gutenberg's death in 1468 book owners began to commission artists to design and make woodcuts with images of personal significance to announce their ownership.
Images almost always the owners' coats of arms.
1500 to 1850, contd to be heraldic or armorial...18th c Rococo movement...began including images of books...(book-pile plates) and some suggestion of landscape..
19th c..extended to middle class, who might not have coats of arms
February 7, 2012
This was a little gem. These days I really only use the dedicated bookplates for Bookcrossing purposes, but as a child I had some wonderful Puffin Club bookplates. Plenty of visual jokes and some beautiful, skilled work. There's a stag's head which seems to come off the page with every bit as much life as something which would normally need 3D spex and a rat which the book owner had explicitly asked not to have but which the maker said 'crept in when I wasn't looking' It's quite inspirational for having a go myself.
April 20, 2013
I'm always very interested in history but who knew there was so much information regarding the history of bookplates? I was quite interested in how people valued books so much they added bookplates in to show ownership and pride over their books. Lots of beautiful images of old bookplates reside in this book :)
February 22, 2016
The bookplates are very well reproduced, but what gives this book an extra star is the outstanding commentary that accompanies the plates. Information mainly on the artists, but also sometimes on those who commissioned the plates. Anyone who loves books and book-history will likely appreciate this one.
May 23, 2012
A nice little book of bookplates, mostly old, with short biographies of both the artist and the owner of the plate. Many include references to the owner's profession, interests, etc., which the author points out. Now I want to carve a linoleum block and make my own.
December 26, 2015
I loved reading this small book and looking at all of the bookplates. Hopkinson does a nice job of explaining the history of bookplates, including the punning and symbology that shows up in many of the plates. Definitely recommend to anyone interested in the subject
June 14, 2012
Not much to read in this book, but plenty of lovely pictures of bookplates. I think the Lail library might have to acquire an official bookplate now!
January 19, 2012
I would never dream of doing this to my books but it was interesting to learn the (potted) history of book plates.
July 15, 2014
By no means an authoritative source, but a great glimpse on the beautiful, rich history of bookplates.
August 5, 2015
A good sourcebook for my current artsy obssession.
December 28, 2016
Delightful.
September 22, 2012
Just OK.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews