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BOOKPLATES THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS |
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A historical retrospective 4 EX-LIBRIS: A THEMATIC APPROACH |
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4a SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS 1620-1980
The bookplates of societies and institutions are of special interest
for various reasons, and they are usually underestimated by collectors
of ex-libris. Their first characteristic is that their owners
are not private individuals; usually, if an ex-libris is ordered by an
institution, it must be approved by its board or committee, and
reflects therefore the taste – normally – of more than one person.
Again, it can be said in general that for such a bookplate, money
is no object. Finally, such ex-libris are ordered to be pasted into
books, and are not commissioned for exchange purposes, and
thus tend not to appear frequently in collections. Bookplates of
societies and institutions often have a special character, and are
usually of significant historical interest. Some other bookplates
of this kind have already been shown in preceding sections, such
as ex-libris of many monastic libraries, those of the Library of the
Elector of Bavaria at Munich (1b/32, 1c/1, etc.), or the plate by
George Vertue for the Gentlemen’s Society of Spalding (2e/9).
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4a/1. ? (D)  AACHEN TOWN LIBRARY, C2, 121 x 104, c.1620.
German town libraries soon developed, in the 16th and 17th centuries, as alternative sources of reference to the monastic libraries. This plate shows the early form of the German Imperial eagle, and the Helm bears the imperial crown. |
4a/2. Workshop of William Jackson (GB) SOCIETY FOR
PROPAGATING THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS, C2, 99 x 73, 1704.
F34041, *416.
A rare early pictorial gift plate. No other non-heraldic ex-libris seems to have been made by Jackson’s workshop. |
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4a/3. ? (I) VATICAN LIBRARY, T, 68 x 98, 1706.
A rare typographical ex-libris from the Vatican Library, which threatens with automatic excommunication any person who does not return a book within seven months of borrowing it. |
4a/4. Johann Meyer (CH, 1655-1712) MUSIC SOCIETY OF
ZURICH, C2, 113 x 77, c.1700.
An undocumented and beautiful ex-libris, with a view of the town of Zurich, and a motto which contains the names of the notes of the scale. |
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4a/5. ? (F) LIBRARY OF THE COLLEGE OF EU, C2,127 x 82,
c.1730.
Viz. Hamilton p. 179, ill. p. 180; GMN p.140.
Founded by the Duc de Maine, the ex-libris of Eu library bears his arms and military devices, as he was Captain-General of the Artillery. Being a Bourbon, his arms were France debruised by a baton. It was printed, at the time, in 15.000 copies, but it is a rari-ty to collectors. |
4a/6. L. M. Steinberger (D) VINDEL COLLEGE LIBRARY, C2, 90
x 67, c.1760. W72.
Viz. L-W p.239, ill.
Another plate for a school library, that of the evangelical college at Augsburg. The image, copied from an old picture which is still in existence and belongs to the Protestant school of St. Anna, shows a sermon being delivered in the school courtyard. |
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4a/7. J. Mynde (GB) PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE IN THE TOWER OF
LONDON, C2, 127 x 83, 1771. F 34243.
Viz. BNL #81. An outstanding ex-libris and of the utmost rarity, as this is the only print outside a public collection. This print was exhibited at least six times in the last twenty years. Earlier in the collection of Philip Beddingham, former president of the Bookplate Society and distinguished collector, whose ex-libris at his death were acquired by members of the Society. |
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4a/8. Samuel Wale (GB, 1721-1786) & J. Green (GB, †1757)
CODRINGTON LIBRARY, C2, 127 x 122, c.1755. F 33394.
Designed by Wale and engraved by Green for the books of the Codrington Library in All Souls’ College, Oxford University. Christopher Codrington (1668-1710) left £10.000 to the college to build the library. |
4a/9. Johann Rudolf Schellenberg (CH, 1740-1806) )
WINTERTHUR BURGHERS’ LIBRARY, C2, 90 x 78, 1793. Weg 7697.
Viz. SBEL 1901/1902 p. 45.
Schellenberg, one of the finest Swiss engravers of the 18th century, made this allegorical plate for his town’s burghers’ library. As the Library grew fast, he made a second plate, somewhat differ-ent but with the same theme, a few years later. |
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4a/10. ? (GB) TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, C2, 135 x 86, 1802.
F 33719.
Schools have long had the tradition of rewarding outstanding students with a gift of books. Trinity College, Dublin, has had many premium plates, and the Franks catalogue registers fourteen variants. The last two digits of the year were left blank on the plate and filled in by hand. |
4a/11. ? (?ROS) MILITARY LIBRARY, SEBASTOPOL, X2, 67 x 89
c.1820.
A fascinating plate, as it gives one a surprising indication of the size of the library of the officers of the GHQ at Sebastopol. |
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4a/12. ? (GB) BRUNSWICK LIBRARY, Liverpool, C2, 103 x 62,
c.1820.
As education progressed and books were more in demand, but many could not afford to buy them, circulating libraries came into being, such as the one for which this ex-libris was made. It is the second state of the plate, which would indicate that the library was substantial. |
4a/13. ? (USA) MASSACHUSSETS COURT LIBRARY, C1,
103 x 70, c.1860.
Specialised legal libraries were not uncommon, such as the General Court library of the State of Massachussets. Note the typical American heraldry. |
4a14 - 4a25
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