Oh, Bookplates, How I Miss You

I miss bookplates. *sad face*

It's something I never think about on my own, but as soon as someone else mentions bookplates, I get nostalgic and bummed out that the practice has pretty much died.

When I was a little girl, I had dolphin bookplates. I'd stick them in the front cover and shakily scrawl my name after the "This book belongs to..." I also made little library cards in the back for when friends wanted to borrow books, but that's neither here nor there.

Why then, you might be wondering, did I just now start thinking about bookplates if I never think about bookplates?

Well, because The Observer's Very Short List just sent me an email with a link to a website called Dark Roasted Blend, which posted a blog today on the study/history of bookplates that provides images of some quite gorgeous ones (and some owned by celebs/authors!):

Ex libris, meaning ‘from the library of’, or ‘from the books of’ is a Latin expression concerning the artform of bookplates - stamps or labels inside books that identify the owner. Ex libris bookplates range from the simple to the decorative and elaborate, the obscure or even bizarre and surreal.

Noble families often used a personal coat of arms or crest, frequently featuring a family motto in their native language or Latin. Naturally, the styling of bookplates changed over time, but most reflected the decorative styles of the day.



A vast array of illustrations feature on bookplates - dragons, angels, trophies, animals, birds, children, musical instruments, weapons, floral displays, trees, plants, landscapes and much more.

Read more of the article (and see more pics!) HERE

I think I need to get some bookplates stat--at least for the ones that I plan on keeping in my possession for years and years to come.

I had seen some beautiful ones last year from one of my favorite Etsy artist shops, The Black Apple, but she's all sold out. She does, however, have another set of cute hedgehog ones currently available!

Hmmm...I must ponder...