This post features three vintage library bookplates (shown above) in my collection. All three were formerly in books that were probably discarded from the libraries they represent. I acquired each of the bookplates after they had been removed from the books by someone else. I just got the Library of Congress bookplate which was used by the library after 1814 when the library was burned by the British but not too long after that. The Library Company of Philadelphia bookplate is from the James Cox collection. Cox sold his collection of almost 5,000 art books to the Library Company in 1832 for an annuity of $400. Because he died a year later, the Library Company got a real bargain. The third bookplate is from the Social Friends' Library at Dartmouth College, a student literary society. This bookplate was a gift from Lew Jaffe of Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie. There's a great story about the effort of the faculty to seize this library in 1817 in an earlier blog post. The student literary society libraries at Dartmouth were formerly merged with the College library collection in 1903. I have more images of vintage bookplates from my collection on the Library History Buff website.
2 comments:
Thank you for your post and photo. William Elliot the printer of these LOC book labels printed 11,100 by letterpress. This posting helps identify another of variation of that 1815.There is a copy of your bookplate/label in the 1904 edition of History of the LOC, Volume 1 1800-1864. There is a slight variation. In your copy all the bottom of the flowers in the corner of the square box showing chapter, all point like airplanes to the inside of the box. Their copy shows the same flowers except the top left is pointing away from the box towards the I in United. These borders all had to be set by hand. Just thought you would like to know.
Regard,
Robert
Robert,
Thanks for this great information about my Library of Congress bookplate. Very interesting!
Larry
Post a Comment