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A Treasury of Bookplates from the Renaissance to the Present
Selecting the finest specimens by Dürer, Beardsley, Kent, and others, the former editor of American Artist offers 761 miniature works of art representing 500 years of the bookplate from the first known example — ca. 1450 — to a wide range of fascinating 20th-century designs. Most comprehensive collection available. Introduction.
151 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 3, 2022
This book was something of a disappointment from my point of view. The 5-page Introduction is very informative as a very short history and general overview. There are lots of pictures of bookplates. Fine so far.
There is no index to the owners of the bookplates and no way, except browsing, to find bookplates with a particular image or theme. All of the illustrations in the book are in black and white, although at least some of the bookplates were not and there is very little information about them.
The author explains at the end of the introduction: "This collection of bookplates, arranged chronologically by country, comes from a wide range of sources but does not attempt to be a definitive or scholarly treatment. Thus information concerning the medium, the original size, or the exact date of each bookplate has for the most part not been included. The captions indicate the artist and the original owner (in cases where this is not obvious from the illustration), but the date is given only when it is of particular historical interest. The reader is referred to the Index of Artists for more specific indications of the dates of their lives."
There is no index to the owners of the bookplates and no way, except browsing, to find bookplates with a particular image or theme. All of the illustrations in the book are in black and white, although at least some of the bookplates were not and there is very little information about them.
The author explains at the end of the introduction: "This collection of bookplates, arranged chronologically by country, comes from a wide range of sources but does not attempt to be a definitive or scholarly treatment. Thus information concerning the medium, the original size, or the exact date of each bookplate has for the most part not been included. The captions indicate the artist and the original owner (in cases where this is not obvious from the illustration), but the date is given only when it is of particular historical interest. The reader is referred to the Index of Artists for more specific indications of the dates of their lives."
Displaying 1 of 1 review