From 1880 to 1910 and after previous eras of intricate bookplate design, illustrative or pictorial bookplates slowly popularized. This was partly due to the profitable art of book decoration at this time, and often the same designer worked in both areas. Additionally, users of these bookplates could now bypass the restrictions of social class since illustrative forms traded the traditional, expensive engravings and embossments for affordable ink and colorization.
Despite these changes, illustrative bookplates still represented their owners personally. In light of increasing technological capabilities such as printing and its subsequent increase in accessibility, illustrative bookplates are still used today.
Written by L. C Arlington and William Lewisohn, this copy of In Search of Old Peking was gifted in July of 1935 and serves as a great example of an illustrative bookplate. Here, the simple image is devoid of heraldic symbolism. Instead, the design merely includes “Nelson and Jane Johnson” and the peaceful image of a desk and harbor outside of a large window.
An interesting example of a bookplate’s evolution, “Eduardo Obejero Urquiza” seems to have been influenced by both traditional heraldic coats of arms and illustrative forms. Incorporating a helm, crest and shield into the larger image, this bookplate blends the eras into one while also keeping his personal representation. The text, Bibliothèque Américaine (...) was written by F.A. Brockhaus Verlag Leipzig and Paul Trömel.
Circa 1892, this incredible pictorial was tucked away in a copy of F. Victor Dickins' The Old Bamboo-hewer's Story, otherwise known as Taketori no okina no monogatari. Marked “Aubrey Heywood Jones,” the bookplate was actually created by Herbert Jones, denoted as “H.J.” Designed for a collection of folklore, the image is a bit mystical as angels, monsters, and demons look in on a group of people gathered around to hear a story.
An additional poem is also included, and while this was common at the time to ward off anyone who might steal a book, this poem is different in nature and subject, making it an interesting example of a bookplate.
MAN’S MIGHTIEST WORKS ARE FLEETING, TIME WEARS ALIKE AWAY,
THE MASSIVE MARBLE, TRIPLE BRASS AND COLD OF FINE ASSAY;
YET THESE FOLK-TALES OR SAID OR SUNG,
THOUGH LIGHT AS FOAM FROM WAVE’S CREST FLUNG,
LIVE THRO’ THE LAPSE OF AGES FOREVER FRESH AND YOUNG. [H.J]
A conservationist, writer, and historian, Henry W. Shoemaker lived from 1880 to 1958. After graduating from Columbia University and working in European embassies, Shoemaker returned to Pennsylvania. He worked on folklore and environmental preservation, co-founding the Pennsylvania Folklore Society in 1924.
Located in the book, Remarkable Providences Illustrative of the Earlier Days of American Colonisation by Increase Mather and George Offor, this bookplate professes his love of nature as we can see how it incorporates the near meeting of the tree branches and the skyline outside the window. Columbia University’s logo and motto are also apparent in the top of the plate.
A book containing evidence of two different owners: the bookplate of Edith Barbara Tranter, and a Christmas 1895 inscription to "May, from Uncle Will."
Tranter was a secretary to W. T. H. Howe (1874-1939), president of the former American Book Company in Cincinnati, and subsequently administrator of his estate.
