British Bookplates : A Pictorial History

David & Charles, Newton Abbot, first edition, 1979. Cloth, folio, 34 cm,. 160 pp, over 250 ills. From the blurb: "In Britain bookplates have been used since the sixteenth century and they provide a continuous record of book collectors and their libraries; they often afford useful clues to the genealogist; and, since for many users they were their only foray into the field of art, they reveal, uniquely, lay response to the artistic styles, fashions and fads of their times. Lastly, of course, they offer modest but not unimportant examples of the work of some of Britain's finest graphic artists and book illustrators. Brian North Lee here traces the 500-year history of the bookplate, from its rather undistinguished and derivative beginnings in Britain, through the periods of its greatest popularity and flowering, to its diverse forms today. He offers practical hints to the would-be collector on beginning, expanding, and organising a collection; detailed descriptions to help the experienced collector; and much fascinating information for the general reader. For this book is not just for the bookplate collector. As the author says in his Introduction, 'ex-libris are also relevant to other aspects of artistic activity and have stylistic parallels in areas as diverse as monumental and trade card design, ornamentation of old cartography, the engraving of silver and painting of armorial porcelain, for which they sometimes provided models. Elegant bookplate on front pastedown endpaper, covers a trifle rubbed, otherwise Very Good in Very Good dustwrapper.