A decorative label stuck inside a book with the owner's name on it – an ex libris bookplate – can tell a lot about its history. But why are they so hard to find, asks MARY LELAND IN THE introduction ...

It begins by somebody saying: ” Why don’t you have a bookplate— you have such a lot of books.” You think: “Why, yes—I guess I will.” You remember, vaguely, bookplates you have known—heavy engravings ...

That's part of the reason why I found Ex Libris: The Art of Bookplates, a new book by Martin Hopkinson and published by Yale University Press, so delightful. This slim little volume, complete with 100 ...

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. As e-readers and e-books rise in popularity this holiday season, good ...

As personal libraries grew in the 19th and 20th centuries, so did bookplates. A way of establishing ownership, the little pasted pieces of paper pressed on inside covers evolved into miniature works ...

For countless young people, and even the odd deeply defiant older person, tattoos are the ultimate way to express your identity. The small decorative labels used to denote book ownership which date ...

Black in on white paper bookplate with a dragonfly (Toronto, 1930-69). It was illustrated by Thoreau MacDonald, a Group of Seven founder and a leading Canadian book illustrator (courtesy Thomas Murray ...

Some are no bigger than a standard envelope, their purpose little more than a marker of ownership, but to those in the know, bookplates have their own stories to tell. Robert Littlewood, convener of ...

Liu Shuohai (left), a woodblock-print artisan, establishes China's first ex-libris museum, the Shuohai International Ex-Libris (Graphic) Arts Collection Museum in Tianjin.[Photo provided to China ...

A decorative label stuck inside a book with the owner's name on it – an ex libris bookplate – can tell a lot about its history. But why are they so hard to find, asks MARY LELAND IN THE introduction ...