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ex-librisex-librisTHE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS |
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A historical retrospective |
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EX-LIBRIS FROM THE ENLIGHTENMENT TO DECADENCE 1700 -1860 The 18th century, often termed the Enlightenment, was a period when knowledge and culture became available not only to a small privileged aristocracy and to the Church, but to a wider new ‘middle class’. In terms of libraries and ex-libris, the social evolution of the 18th century had a profound impact. Private libraries developed swiftly and even circulating libraries appeared. Many people without coats-of-arms turned to pictorial and often allegorical subjects for their bookplates, although armorial ex-libris were still the most common form of bookplate during this period. Decorative styles and the aesthetics of the time more directly affected bookplates than previously, and ex-libris were more widely used. Some engravers produced stock-patterns and even ‘universal’ ex-libris, in which they left a space for the owner to fill in his name. After the Napoleonic wars, some stagnation in the renewal of decorative styles can be observed, probably due to the fact that in most parts of Europe, books became common enough to lose their quality of ‘status symbol’. Larger editions of ex-libris were necessary for rapidly growing libraries, and less cost was attributed to the decoration and quality of presentation of books. Heraldry lost its common purpose of identification of a family and was often regarded as snobbish. Many ex-libris of this period were the work of professional engravers – perhaps rather at the crafts end of the trade rather than the artists’ end, although there are notable exceptions. It is only with the arts renewal movements of the second half of the 19th century that one can see creativity in ex-libris flourish again. |
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