Bookplate Ink

Bookplates, or ex libris, are decorative labels, or stickers, to identify book ownership and for authors to sign.

Antioch

Too many choices?

I read a marketing book recently that discussed the idea that when it comes to making a purchasing decision, too many choices can be so overwhelming that a potential customer won’t make any choice.

I found a New York Times article that discusses the same phenomenon. In “Too Many Choices: A Problem That Can Paralyze,” Alina Tugend states, “Although it has long been the common wisdom in our country that there is no such thing as too many choices, as psychologists and economists study the issue, they are concluding that an overload of options may actually paralyze people or push them into decisions that are against their own best interest.”

Tugend goes on to discuss a study in California where customers were given samples of Wilkin & Sons jam. When given a greater assortment of jams to sample, more people were enticed to try some, but less actually made a purchase. Similarly, in choosing a 401(k) retirement plan, “studies have shown that if more fund options are offered, fewer people participate. And the highest participation rates are among those employees who are automatically enrolled in their company’s 401(k)’s unless they actively choose not to.”

What does this have to do with bookplates?? Bookplate Ink offers over 150 choices of bookplate designs, more than any other company we have found. We have ships, tomatoes, a rhinoceros, fairies, owls, flowers, musical instruments, a frog, boys, girls, maps, oh! and books. Perhaps the choices are overwhelming for our customers. This is a concern.

On the other hand, there is sometimes a design that doesn’t sell very well, but is perfect for one customer. Like the mustang horse, which was a wonderful bookplate for an elementary school whose mascot is a mustang. Or the now out-of-print Kermit the Frog bookplate for that Sesame Street lover. How about the biplane design for books donated from an aviation lover’s library?

Everytime I think we should take some designs off our website, one of these orders comes in. And the truth is, we have designs in our archives that aren’t even on the website. What’s your opinion? Is more better or is less easier? Should we streamline our offerings?

Altering designs

Bookplate Ink’s website encourages people to call or write if they don’t see exactly what they want in our pages of designs. When possible, we are happy to make changes to a design to fit the needs (or even whimsy!) of a customer.

N100

Design N100

Author William Landay recently made such a request. Like many other authors, he wanted bookplates with room for him to autograph them for readers. Oftentimes, authors use one of our border designs, such as N100, shown here. This elegant yet bold border, printed on cream colored paper, leaves plenty of room for a comment and signature. We have a non-personalized version of this design, but can also print an author’s name, the title of their book, or even include a logo with our personalized version.

Landay image

Modified A124 design

But Landay requested changes to our design A124 to fit his needs. A124 is one of our designs with artwork by renowned artist Rockwell Kent, originally printed in the 1950s by the Antioch Bookplate Company. After many requests, we brought this bookplate back into print several years ago. For Landay, we made the artwork much smaller so that he would have room to sign his name and make comments. He requested “With compliments of the author” and his name be printed on the plate.

Another design that has been altered for customers is B217. Introduced by Antioch Bookplate Company in the 1960s, this design was created by Tom Eaglin, using the inspirational quote attributed to Quaker leader William Penn. We have printed this design without the “ex libris” text, which is Latin for “from the library of,” and without any text at all. With text that is vastly different from the original Penn quote, author Jeaniene Frost has used this design to create a bookplate that suits her style and books.

Jeaniene Frost version of B217

B217

Design B217

In Memoriam medical bookplates

Bookplate Ink’s design D62

One of the popular uses of bookplates throughout the years has been to designate a book as being donated to a library, school, church, synagogue, university, or other organization, in memory of a loved one.  We received just such an order from the sister and brother-in-law of Dr. Robert Leffert, a physician who made a significant contribution to orthopeadic medicine. An article I found online in the Harvard University Gazette states that Dr. Leffert “became a major force in Rehabilitation Medicine and also in the management of upper extremity disorders” while at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was “adored by his patients and his students.”

D-10

> D-9[/caption]

The design Dr. Leffert’s sister and brother-in-law wanted to use was Bookplate Ink’s D62, which shows two surgeons at work. This design was created by woodcut artist Harry Roth, who escaped from Germany just prior to World War II. The Antioch Bookplate Company began offering it in the 1940s. Harry Roth created two other bookplates for Antioch that weren’t quite as popular, D-9 and D-10. He seemed to have a penchant for medicine.

D-10

The D62 design that we usually print has the text “ex libris” included, which means “from the library of.” Dr. Leffert’s sister and brother-in-law asked that this text be changed to “In Memoriam” for this order. As a side note, I appreciate when customers call with questions about changes that can be made to our designs. Even though this can be time-consuming, I’d rather have people ask. We aren’t able to show all the options that are possible with our bookplate designs, and we specialize in personalization.

Dr. Leffert’s bookplates

After the bookplates were shipped, I received a very sweet note from Dr. Leffert’s sister:

I’m writing to thank you for the help and beautiful work on the surgeon’s bookplate in memory of my brother, who was a wonderful surgeon.

We’ve begun pasting these into his books (a very simple job), which will become part of a library for doctors from Partners in Health, who bring their expertise to Haiti.

I think my brother would have loved these plates – and they have made me smile!

We don’t have bookplate designs that are strictly for “In Memoriam” bookplates. Most of our customers find artwork that is appropriate for their use, whether it be a border design or something more elaborate, and request the text of their choosing. This gives the customer more flexibility and more customization.

Around the world in one paragraph

Despite a rise in the popularity of Kindles, Nooks, and other e-readers, Bookplate Ink has had a good year. From my vantage point, many people still prefer reading physical books to digital ones, and many people enjoy personalizing their library with bookplates.

As in previous years, the holiday season was a busy time for us. I noticed that many of our holiday gift orders were going overseas. We are shipping bookplates to a wider and wider audience around the world. This year, outside of the U.S., our largest number of orders was from Australia. Which, of course, gives me the impression that Aussies are book lovers! Canada was second, followed closely by the United Kingdom. Other European countries included France, Spain and Belgium. Colder countries in Europe with bookplate customers are Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. Of course, customers in warmer climates around the world ordered bookplates also: Malasia, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Singapore, Thailand, and Mexico and Brazil. Countries we shipped to for the first time this year include Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

Other than filling out customs forms, I enjoy shipping overseas. I like to picture the setting in the country where the bookplates are going. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it’s fun to imagine people around the world opening much anticipated presents and finding a box of bookplates printed with their name. And I often receive post-holiday e-mails telling me how much recipients love their bookplates!

To all our customers and bookplate lovers, Happy New Year! May 2012 be a joyous and prosperous year for you.

Friends with bookplates from long ago

I started this blog with an entry stating that very often, people I meet don’t know what bookplates are. And this is true. However, my friends have also popped up with Antioch bookplates they have used, sometimes for years.

When we first launched our Facebook page, a friend of mine from high school (many moons ago) posted this photo on our page of a book of his from years ago, with design B213 inside.  This bookplate, by famous calligrapher Raymond DaBoll, was introduced by the Antioch Company in the mid 1960s, just a decade before we were in high school, and has been a bestseller ever since. This bookplate would have been printed by the Antioch Company when they were still printing non-personalized bookplates to be available in retail stores. We print a personalized and non-personalized version of this design.

A neighbor, after hearing about Bookplate Ink, looked through his library of books that had belonged to his grandmother. In the classic “Good Housekeeping” cookbook, her favorite which he says she used every day, he found an old Antioch bookplate which we are still printing as design M777. This design was introduced by the Antioch Company in the 1950s. As an early Christmas present, this week I gave him a box of bookplates with this same design, but personalized with his name. The look on his face when he opened the box was priceless to me. He was so happy to have this connection to his grandmother.

And then there’s me. When I was thirteen, my mother gave me a box of non-personalized bookplates, design B208, for Christmas. One of our most popular designs, this adaptation of German Romanticist painter/poet Carl Spitzweg’s famous satirical painting “The Bookworm” was originally published by the Etchcraft Company. It was introduced by the Antioch Bookplate Company in the 1950s. When I moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, and started working with bookplates in 1990, I was amazed to see this design and realize I had come full circle.

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to all our readers and customers!

Bookplates and real books for Christmas

This time of year is very busy at Bookplate Ink. We receive many, many orders for bookplates to be given as Christmas gifts. Amidst all the Christmas craziness, many customers take the time to write wonderful e-mails and comments in their orders. I’m convinced that bookplate owners are some of the sweetest people in the world.

Recently a customer named Auban placed an order for two sets of bookplates to be given as gifts at Christmas. In the comment section of the order form, she wrote, “For my mother and my daughter. My mom just found a book with a bookplate in it from her father, who passed away when she was 5. It meant so much to her. I wanted to allow her to share that with my girls.”

This is the type of comment that makes everything else worthwhile. When I picture Auban’s mother finding that bookplate from a father she lost at such a young age, it brings tears to my eyes.

I wrote to Auban that when I started printing bookplates, I had no idea that they would mean so much to so many people. Auban wrote back: “My younger sister passed away last year and I have found books of hers with the bookplates we got for Christmas one year. It has been such a tangible connection to family members we’ve lost recently and long ago.” More tears.

I know many Kindles and Nooks will be given as Christmas presents this year. But nothing beats the beauty and intimacy of a physical book (especially with a bookplate inside!) as a present. I was very encouraged to read an article in the New York Times this past Sunday saying that publishers are adding high quality and decorative touches to book covers and endpapers to encourage the pleasure of owning physical books as opposed to e-books. As I know from this business, there are still plenty of people reading and enjoying real books in their personal library.