I’m so glad to see this post, what a great idea! So many wonderful examples. I only really learned of Numismatic Bookplate collecting when I read Ursula Kampann’s essay before Künker’s 2020 Poinsignon
Library sale. (I remember thinking, “Now,
this is a specialized collecting
area!”) I didn’t get any there, but here are some I’ve acquired since 2020. (When I can, I also
pick up inscribed or
signed volumes and numismatic literature with historical paraphernalia.)
I haven’t received the first one yet (from one of the recent
Lanz Library sales), but I’m very much looking forward to receiving Hubert
Lanz’s British Museum
Catalog,
Corinth with a bookplate from G. F.
Hill:
I’m sure others here have come across the Bullowa and ANS-Bullowa bookplates (the former not too visually interesting!) -- if not, they frequently appear on
ANS's
ebay sales (none at the moment). I have pair of these on a 1933 edition of
Sydenham's
Coinage of Caesarea in Cappadocia and Renauldin's (1851)
Études Historiques et Critiques sur Les Médecins Numismatistes (a peculiar topic -- it means what it sounds like, physicians who collect coins!):
This last one isn’t a bookplate, but an inscribed/double-signed/double-stamped copy of
Stefan's (1932) forgettable
Münzkunde des Altertums from the
Clain-Stefanelli library, inscribed by the author and
signed and stamped by Vladimir
Clain-Stefanelli (well, just Clain then!). (Vladimir and
Elvira Clain-Stefanelli are known in large
part for their curation of the U.S. National Numismatic
Collection at the
Smithsonian. Elvira may be most recognizable for her comprehensive 1985
Numismatic Bibliography, the
standard reference for the
field.)
Usually, I only go for them if the attached book is also desirable, but in this case it’s a little-known (or, politely, "
rare") 58 page book or offprint (though warmly reviewed by Harold
Mattingly for the NC in 1932).
Elvira Clain-Stefanelli didn’t even mention the volume in
Numismatic Bibliography (despite having this copy in her own
library, inscribed and
signed by the author!).
In this case, though, the signatures and stamps provide a great piece of
history. The book was inscribed by its author, Friedrick
Stefan, to Vladimir Clain and dated 10 July 1940. This was after Vladimir and Elvira married, but before they'd changed their names to
Clain-Stefanelli. I’m not sure if they were living in
Berlin yet, but they were by 1943 when they were taken to Buchenwald Concentration Camp (Vladimir first, then Elvira later). They spent 18 months (Vladimir) and 14 months (Elvira) in Bunchenwald Concentration Camp, being freed in 1945.
The book is
signed by Vladimir (“V. Clain”) on the cover and also stamped “V. Clain” at the top of the title page. Like
Stefan’s
inscription, these predate their time in Bunchenwald. Like this one, many of Vladimir’s books were also later stamped “Dr. V.
Clain-Stefanelli” opposite the original "V. Clain" stamp. It’s unclear exactly when the pair starting using the hyphenated name, but it would seem to be after Buchenwald (1945), and perhaps only after emigrating to the
United States (1951). (For a very similar
history, see Mark Salton-Schlessinger’s name change after the war and
his move to the U.S.)
In any case, the presence of both stamps (and the signatures) shows that they clearly managed to preserve their
library (at least parts of it) despite their time in the concentration camp. I suspect the four months between Vladimir's arrest and Elvira's gave her time to secure their belongings.
I bought the book from Kolbe & Fanning 162 (22 Jan 2022). They previously sold the
Clain-Stefanelli library after
Alexander (Vladimir and Elvira's son) died in 2014. Vladimir died in 1982 and Elvira in 2001, so I presume the book remained with Elvira, was then passed on to
Alexander, and then acquired by K&F. I also have several dozen coins from “The Demarete
Collection” or the “E.E.
Clain-Stefanelli Collection” that presumably followed a similar path (and on to Stack’s, NAC, and/or Naville, and some to other
collections before mine) – only a few of those have any kind of documented
provenance prior to the
Clain-Stefanelli's (so far, I haven’t yet seen the archives at
ANS!).
Incidentally,
per otlichnik's question, I've been working on a bookplate... I wouldn't put my own on the pages of anything like these of course. But I've thought of putting it either on the plastic dust jacket cover or a loose page "laid in" along with all of the
provenance info I'm aware that is not physically present (e.g., from someone's
library but without a stamp/bookplate), as I do with my coin tags, so it won't all get lost if I get eaten by a tiger or abducted by aliens. (I also keep an
index, but who knows if that'd be found.)