Ex Libris: The Art of Bookplates - Softcover

Hopkinson, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300171633 ISBN 13: 9780300171631

Publisher: Yale Univ Pr, 2011

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

'...[a] modestly priced, beautifully produced introduction to the art of bookplates... admirably concise and thought provoking... The book's card cover with generous flaps will rightly draw in many people who have yet to encounter Ex Libris and its content will whet their appetite for more.' --The Bookplate Journal, May 2011

'Endlessly diverse and charming... traces the design evolution [of bookplates].' --Apollo, March 2011

About the Author:

Martin Hopkinson, formerly Curator of Prints at the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, is an art critic and writer.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale Univ Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0300171633
• ISBN 13: 9780300171631
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 111