Bookplates

[Steve Moulding]

Hi all, I just found this bookplate pasted in a Vlasto/Ravel (reprint) that recently arrived. I like the Etruscan letters that Vecchi uses. Very fitting.

Steve

[SC]

Nice font.

So has no one made their own ex libris design?  I have started research and see that one can either get a rubber stamp made or have self-adhesive labels printed.  I am inclined to go with the labels myself.

SC

[Molinari]

I use a seal impression instead of a book plate.  I’ll try and post a picture tomorrow.

[SC]

Wet seal or dry seal?  Wet seal is a rubber stamp, dry seal is the metal embosser that squeezes the paper between "dies".

SC

[Molinari]

Dry seal.

[SC]

I forgot about that option.  I remember some university libraries used those in Toronto.

Does it handle all paper types and thicknesses??

SC

[Pekka K]

Red wet seal on Cunetio Treasure book:

[Molinari]

I haven't tried it on many types of paper but I would think it works on most:

[Enodia]

Lousy image, but...

[Ron C2]

Red wet seal on Cunetio Treasure book:

Wonder if it's the same Dennis Kroh that used to run Empire Arms and the related coin business?

[Steve Moulding]

Could be

"Dennis Kroh starting collecting ancient coins at age eight, and has been a dealer and expert in ancient coins and numismatic literature since 1977. Although spending much of his life in California, Arizona and England (and "on the road" at shows), he currently resides in Ormond Beach, Florida. Dennis is also an accomplished musician and songwriter, as well as owner of EMPIRE ARMS, a popular company dealing in collectable military firearms manufactured 1880-1960."
(this was from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Coin-Reference-Reviews-Dennis/dp/0963875108)

Didn't know about those parts of his career.

Steve

[curtislclay]

I don't doubt that it's the same Dennis Kroh!

[Steve Moulding]

The "Catalogue of Ancient Greek Coins Collected by Godfrey Locker Lampson, Compiled by E.S.G. Robinson". Signed by Mr. Locker Lampson himself.

This is no longer in my library, sadly. However, it went on to a very good home, the library of a gentlemen who was instrumental - through rarer book loans and encouragement - in getting the provenance project off the ground and to whom I'll be forever grateful.

Steve

[Curtis JJ]

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.)

[esnible]

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.

You treasure the bookplates of long-dead collectors and scholars in your library.  Yet you plan to design a bookplate, have that bookplate manufactured, but then not attach it to your any books?

What is your rationale?

[Curtis JJ]

You treasure the bookplates of long-dead collectors and scholars in your library.  Yet you plan to design a bookplate, have that bookplate manufactured, but then not attach it to your any books?

What is your rationale?

I wouldn't be reluctant with Seaby or Sayles books that someone bought online and gave me for a birthday present, or maybe books/offprints I've gotten from the authors. What I meant was that, for books like the ones I was sharing above, that already have bookplates/inscriptions/signatures from important numismatists, I think most people would consider it harmful to put my own stamp or bookplate opposite G.F. Hill's bookplate or Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli's signature/stamps (especially since the latter is meaningful to me as a historical document of a precise period, c. 1940-1951, so it'd feel destructive for me to stamp it in 2022).

I do appreciate when I find additional material laid into some books, such as correspondence between one owner and the previous or with the author or editor. E.g., a number of books I got from Mark & Lottie Salton's library didn't have their names stamped anywhere on the books themselves, but I greatly appreciate having their written record laid in to indicate where they got the book and other information (it seems to be Mark's, not Lottie's, anywhere I see correspondence or notes signed/initialed).

Likewise, I usually keep a slip of paper for my books inside the cover, dated and named, with any information I want to remember and that might be of value to the next owner. For whichever books I'm not comfortable stamping, I thought I might instead add the stamp to that slip or somewhere else non-permanent (why not? I guess you could call it a nod to the practice).

[SC]

I hadn't got around to thinking about that.  My efforts to make ex lib's stickers have not progressed much.

But I agree, not sure I would slap my own in opposite Sir Charles Oman's.  But Inserting it on a slip or maybe inside the back cover???

SC

[Steve Moulding]

Just noticed Alex Malloy's bookplate in my copy of the de Sartiges sale, Naville XVIII (1938) "Monnaies Romaines". Pretty cool.

[n.igma]

From my copy of Newell's Eastern Seleucid Mints ...

[esnible]

I particularly like this one that is Ex libris Szigeti Andra.

The monkey bookplate is perhaps a homage to a famous 1700s painting by Chardin which depicts a monkey looking at a coin and consulting numismatic books.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Sim%C3%A9on_Chardin_-_The_Monkey_Antiquarian.jpg

I have a poster of this painting next to my book collection.

[cmcdon0923]

Love it !!

I just printed it out and will be hanging it on my office wall.


Craig

[Ron C2]

I hadn't got around to thinking about that.  My efforts to make ex lib's stickers have not progressed much.

But I agree, not sure I would slap my own in opposite Sir Charles Oman's.  But Inserting it on a slip or maybe inside the back cover???

SC

Then again, you're a recognized author/numismatist.  I think you'd be surprised to know who would like your bookplate on a tome some 40 or 50 years from now.

[Curtis JJ]

you're a recognized author/numismatist.  I think you'd be surprised to know who would like your bookplate on a tome some 40 or 50 years from now.

I would be glad now. I always appreciate seeing the signature or bookplate of any author or collector whose name I recognize. What happened previously in the life-course of a book (or coin, with collection history), how it may have fit into the projects or collecting activities of others -- those questions are fascinating. Object biographies describe social networks and intellectual history.
--


Unfortunately I've been overindulging in digital hermitude, and have allowed a bunch of numismatic bookplates to pile up without sharing them.... I have to choose one to start, so here's a favorite:

An Introduction to Sasanian Coins by David Sellwood, Philip Whitting, and Richard Williams (London: Spink, 1985). It is signed by all three authors and inscribed in David Sellwood's (London, 1925-2012) hand to Robert Göbl (Vienna, 1919-1997). It also includes R.G.'s bookplate inside the front cover. On the back inside cover there is also a custom pouch, into which was laid a "presentation letter" from Williams to Göbl.

The nice thing about this volume is that it feels like a "passing of the torch" moment, from the prior generation's preeminent scholar of Persian numismatics (R.G.) to the next (D.S.). (Well, the "passing" metaphor isn't great, as it literally implies passing something in the opposite direction. But something like that....)

It was also apparently in the numismatic library of the German collector, Günther Hoffman (1935-2020), about whom I was only able to learn minimal details from a Solidus Numismatik literature auction catalog.

(Someone else please post one because I don't want to go twice or thrice in a row!)





   

[helvetica]

A double whammy - from a well-known author to another. Bluma L. Trell to Dr. Lafaurie on an offprint of Trell's article, "Phoenician Greek Imperial Coins"

[Curtis JJ]

Nice one, Helvetica. I love finding an inscription from one well-known numismatist to another.

Here's another from a well-known numismatist: Rev. Edgar Rogers (1873-1961).

This is his 1914 Handy Guide to Jewish Coins, inscribed:

"To the Dean of Durham, with [?] recollections of a delightful visit, Edgar Rogers. Feb 17, 1930.”
I like this one because he's acting in both of the roles for which he is well-known -- both as a numismatist, and as an official in the Church of England, where he was the Dean of Bocking (dates?).

   

It’s fortunate the inscription was dated, since that means the likely recipient can be identified:

Rev. James Welldon (1854-1937), Dean of Durham (1918-1933). Welldon was an important and colorful character: one of Queen Victoria’s Chaplains (c. 1888-1898), he wrote many books and was notoriously disliked by many, presumably including Winston Churchill.
Welldon’s New York Times Obituary (19 June 1937) described him as the man who famously “flogged Winston Churchill” in his role as a headmaster.

From a receipt inside, I was able to learn that the book was later owned by two figures of note in local British numismatics:



John Gaunt (d. 2010), a Bedford numismatists, bookseller, and author. Wrote a book, Bedfordshire Seventeenth Century Tokens, and articles on 17th cent. British tokens in Numismatic Circular, Coin Hoard IV & V, Brit. Numis. Journal, and smaller publications. Published at least 14 FPLs of coins and/or numismatic literature.
Mr. D. Evans (dates unknown), Chairman of the Dunelm (Peterlee) Numismatic Society and founder/corresponding member of the Newton Aycliffe [Numismatic] Society, c. 1967 (per Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin, 1967).
(Don’t have enough solid on the most recent seller, to report yet.)

Even without the inscription, this is a book I love for Rogers’ attention to language (and the nice plates):