dumbfoundry

Ex libris is Latin for "from the books of..." (or "out of the library of...."). And in the days when books were rare and precious, anyone who owned them would want to take particular care that, if they were lent, or borrowed, or taken away by mistake, there was the best chance of them finding their way home again.

Bookplates fell out of fashion as books became more common, less expensive and easier to replace. But there's a long tradition of using them—about four hundred years. There is even a Bookplate Society who know all there is to know about bookplates and the people who designed them or used them.

This entry was posted by Ivy on Sunday, January 16, 2005 at 1:33 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.