Bookplate Ink

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

Antioch

Bookplate ideas for children

One of the fun aspects of printing bookplates is discovering the creative ways they are being used.  In particular, I love hearing about wonderful ideas using bookplates to encourage children to read and to love books.

Recently, I received a request for a second order of bookplates that a school used last year for their “Donate-A-Book Program.” This school asks the grandparents of their students to donate a book to the school library in honor of their grandchild. A bookplate is added to each book telling which child is being honored and by whom. According to the school librarian, “The children are excited about having award-winning books dedicated in their honor! Not only do the children feel ownership, they are beginning to understand what it means to honor and to be honored.  In this fast-paced age, it is a wonderful value to plant deep in their hearts.”

Other schools have a birthday book club. On students’ birthdays, a book is donated to the school library in their honor. Often, a simple border design, perhaps with the school logo and room to add the child’s name, is used. Imagine the pride of young students when they see a book in their school library with their name printed as the donor.

Many bookplates are purchased for gifts to newborn babies or even as baby shower gifts. An idea that I love is to have a “book shower,” where guests are asked to give a book for the upcoming baby, with a bookplate included. One customer wrote about the process: “I explain in the invitation for guests to purchase a favorite book to help start the baby’s library (a bookplate is included in each invitation).  I ask guests to personalize the bookplate and adhere it to the gift.  It’s a unique theme for a baby shower and books make a cherished gift.”

Bookplates make great baby gifts from individuals also. Another customer wrote, ” I originally found you online, but this is my third order, and I’ve got more friends having babies soon!! This is my favorite baby gift — a few classic books with labels inside, and the rest in a lovely box. Just perfect.”

I used this same idea recently when a friend had her first child. I bought a couple of children’s books that I love and inserted one of my favorite bookplates with the baby’s name printed on them. I included a box of the same bookplates for use with other books. The bookplate I chose, design JH100, features an illustration from the classic fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, created by artist Jim Harris. This was a recent addition to our gallery that I’m thrilled to offer. Jim is an American illustrator currently living in New Zealand. His books have sold over 3,000,000 copies, including award-winning titles such as Petite Rouge, The Three Little Javelinas, Jack and the Giant, and Ten Little Dinosaurs. Jim also creates art for private collectors and corporate clients, including the Franklin Mint, IBM, Chicago Tribune, and National Geographic Books.  You can see more examples of his work at jimharrisillustrator.com.

Bookplates can create a connection between grandparents and their grandchildren in a personal and lasting way. One grandfather recently wrote, “This is my fourth order of the same bookplate for my four grandchildren. Tyler is the most recent. I started with this design when I was in college and have enjoyed sharing it with my grandchildren.”

And finally, an additional idea for children was brought to my attention by a comment on this blog. A delightful new customer, Susie Champion, explained that she adds a personal message on the bookplates in books she gives her grandchildren: “Just a note to tell you how important your bookplates are to my grandchildren. Every book I give has an Antioch plate inside. I write a personal anticipatory note about the story’s importance, adventure, life lessons, or pure fun and silliness. In simple ‘kid talk,’ I explain why it’s tailored to that particular child. So the books have piled up over almost five years between two families. Both daughter-in-laws have told me how they have been severely reprimanded by four- and two-year-olds at story time because, ‘That (the first page of the story) isn’t the beginning! You have to start reading at the beginning Mom!’ Your bookplates with their personal message, after the title on the cover, are now the beginning for all my grandchildren. Thank you so very much.
P.S. The oldest came home from pre-school and said how sad it was that all the books there were ’empty.’ They did not have ‘our special page.'”

The dark side of bookplates

Not everyone likes cheerful bookplates. Sure, we have designs that have inspirational verses or pleasing landscapes, but some people prefer bookplates that will ensure their books are returned, even if by threat. Design A124

One customer ordered our design A124, which is a rather serene scene by renowned artist Rockwell Kent first printed by the Antioch Bookplate Company in the 1950s, and included a stern reprimand from the Old Testament: “The wicked borrow and do not return. Psalm 37:21”.

Another included this incredibly explicit warning in our border design, B254:

“For him that stealeth a Book from this Library,
let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him.
Let him be struck with Palsy, and all his Members blasted.
Let him languish in Pain crying aloud for Mercy
and let there be no sur-cease to his Agony till he sink in Dissolution.
Let Bookworms gnaw his Entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not,
and when at last he goeth to his final Punishment,
let the flames of Hell consume him for ever and aye.”

After hearing about these bookplates, my son suggested I start a line of bookplates with a dark and morbid theme. As we’re approaching Halloween, this seems like the perfect time to ponder such ideas. What do you think? Would that be appealing?

Connecting with well-known authors

Printing bookplates has allowed me to feel a connection with some well-known authors, politicians and speakers. Okay, I don’t get to talk with them, but I have the fun of knowing that they will be signing bookplates we provide. Just last week we printed bookplates to be signed by one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices. I’m not allowed to say which one, and we never divulge customer information unless given permission, but they were to be placed in books given to attorneys at a conference.

Bookplate Tony Blair signed

Recently, Bookplate Ink printed bookplates that were to be signed by Tony Blair, former prime minister of  Great Britain. We were contacted by the Arab-U.S. Relations Council, which was hosting an event in Washington, D.C., at which Mr. Blair was speaking. The bookplates were a simple text-only design, but printed on our cream vellum paper they were quite elegant.

Many authors offer a signed bookplate to readers on their website. One successful author and speaker who does this is Dan Pink. We have printed bookplates for his bestselling book Drive several times, which he makes available at www.danpink.com/bp.

You may have heard about President Obama’s summer reading list, which included Abraham Verghese’s best-selling book, Cutting for Stone. Verghese has ordered our design B252 and seems to be a wonderful, caring and intelligent man. ‎Cutting for Stone was chosen as the selection for NPR’s monthly Book Club in March.

Design B252

Every once in a while, I manage to obtain a signed copy of a book from a customer. The most notable of these was Alan Greenspan’s book The Age of Turbulence. This is a rare occurrence and usually a gift from a company holding an event at which an author is speaking.

Many years ago, we printed bookplates for the late and beloved Tim Russert. I was told Russert asked to have the bookplates brought to his hotel room along with copies of his book Big Russ and Me, where he would get down to the business of signing his name hundreds of times. His family doesn’t know me, but when I see his son Luke on TV reporting the news, I feel proud, as if I watched him grow up in my neighborhood.

Antioch Bookplate Designs

Bookplate Ink is fortunate to have inherited hundreds of bookplate designs that originated with the Antioch Company, originally the Antioch Bookplate Company. Many of these designs were out of print for years.

Originally, the Antioch Bookplate Company specialized in printing personalized bookplates for its customers, promising to keep the designs on file for future printing.

As the company grew, they added designs, some handpicked by owner Earnest Morgan. An example is this Viennese “Scherenschnitte” design,

S200

Design S200

Scherenschnitte is a papercutting art form which has been popular for many years. Arthur Morgan, president of Antioch College in the 1930s, brought this swan design home from a trip to Europe. His son, Earnest Morgan, a co-founder of the Antioch Bookplate Company, incorporated it as a bookplate.

As the company added new designs, older less popular bookplates were taken out of print. In the 1980s, Antioch expanded into the wholesale market, printing non-personalized bookplates to be sold in bookstores. At this time, Bookplate Ink took over the service of personalizing Antioch bookplates. Originally, we only printed the most popular designs. Over the years, however, it has become apparent that a wide range of the older designs have been important to people and we have made them available again.

Many people who write Bookplate Ink have been using a particular Antioch design for years. One such person ordered design E176, a classic and popular design combining books on a shelf and a ship in the background. This design was created from a steel engraving originally done by Bank Gordon for the Etchcraft Company. It was introduced by the  Antioch Bookplate Company in the late 1950s. The customer ordering E176 wrote that that he had been using this bookplate since 1964 and is grateful we’re still printing it.

Another customer, ordering design B213, wrote,

Dear Karen,
I have been using this bookplate for decades, and was distraught when Antioch Bookplates Company vanished.  I’m very happy that you are continuing the tradition.  I will eagerly await my supply of your bookplates.
Regards,
Alan

These types of notes make my day. It is so rewarding to know that we are providing a product that has been a part of peoples’ lives for so many years. And while people are thankful to receive their personalized bookplates, I’m thankful that I am able to carry on this wonderful tradition. I will be writing more about the history of Antioch bookplates in future blogs. You can also read more in the “About Us” section of our website, bookplateink.com.

A bookplate is what??

I am the owner of Bookplate Ink LLC, a company that prints both personalized and non-personalized bookplates. Most of you who are reading this blog will know what a bookplate is, but the majority of people I encounter in my everyday life have no idea what I’m talking about when they ask what I do.

Here’s how the conversation generally goes when I meet someone:

Them: “What do you do for a living?”

Me: “I own my own business.”

Them: “Really? What is it?”

Me: (Long pause as I gear up to explain what a bookplate is, while they are probably thinking from the look on my face that I’m about to tell them I do something illegal) “I print bookplates.”

Them: (Silence while they have a blank look on their face.)

Me: “Bookplates are decorative labels that are adhered to the inside covers of books to identify ownership.” You’ve probably seen them in Bibles or in a library, with text that says “This book donated in memory of such-and-such.”

Them: “Oh yeah! I’ve seen those. Hmmm, interesting.”

So why would I continue in a business that most people don’t understand? Because there are still many people throughout the world who love and cherish bookplates. Bookplates, or ex libris as they are often called, allow people to add a personal and lasting touch to their books. People become very attached to the bookplates they have used over the years. Bookplate lovers often ask to re-order designs they have used for 30 years or more. Or they are looking for a design they received as a child or found in their deceased parent’s library.

I feel privileged to be able to help people in this way. The gratitude that many customers have expressed is endearing and rewarding. With the exchange of e-mails and phone calls that often takes place with orders, some of Bookplate Ink’s customers feel like friends to me. Friends thoughout the world.

I hope to use this blog to tell about some of these people and their bookplate stories. And to tell about the history of bookplates, of Antioch bookplates in particular, and interesting tidbits from the business of printing customized bookplates.