Ex Libris (Bookplate)

蔵書票 / 15th century– / Style / Publishing and Editing

A small print of ownership pasted to a book's endpaper. Since Dürer, engravers have cut heraldry, allegory and the collector's own exact self-image into a few centimeters, making a private graphic where book culture meets printmaking.

Ex Libris (Bookplate) — Dürer, bookplate for Willibald Pirckheimer — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Dürer, bookplate for Willibald Pirckheimer — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Ex Libris (Bookplate) — Beham bookplate (CC0) — Beham bookplate (CC0) · CC0

Ex Libris (Bookplate) — Koloman Moser, bookplate for Adele Bloch, around 1905 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Koloman Moser, bookplate for Adele Bloch, around 1905 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

The EX LIBRIS formula
Heraldry and allegory
Precise miniature engraving
The owner's self-image

Best used for

Small prints bearing an owner's name, pasted into limited editions
A personal device made for the single recipient of a gift book

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Dictionary entry

Type: The formula and name in fixed places, weight matched to the image
Composition: One scene in a small upright field, lettering pushed to top or foot
Material: Fine intaglio or wood engraving, printed in a single color
Caution: Packing in favorite imagery leaves the lines clogged and unreadable once the plate is seen at the size it is actually pasted.
Further study: Dürer's bookplates / Japan's bookplate movement / the international federation FISAE

Related entries

Private Press (プライベート・プレス)Same Publishing and Editing lineage.Compare Ex Libris (Bookplate) and Private Press
Heraldry (西洋紋章学)Shared effects: Luxury / Nostalgia.Compare Ex Libris (Bookplate) and Heraldry

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