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ex-libris THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS A historical retrospective |
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EX-LIBRIS
OR THE MARK OF POSSESSION OF BOOKS
by Benoît Junod Curator, 'World of Ex-Libris' 3 / 3 The half-century of obsessive interest in bookplate collecting had a direct impact on the ex-libris themselves. It became usual to have several different bookplates for the books of a single library and to exchange them with other collectors. Many artists gained fame for their talent in designing and engraving bookplates, some producing over 500 ex-libris for different customers. In the frenzied search to justify having a new bookplate, collectors commissioned them for different types of books: for erotic publications, for children’s books, for works by one author, for books on music and culinary texts. The invention of new graphic techniques such as offset-lithography, photogravure, rotogravure and line-block printing, enabled artists to produce ex-libris easily from a sketch without the tedious work which original graphic techniques demand. A ‘Secession’ against such practices and the production of mediocre bookplates was launched, in particular by artists such as James Guthrie in Britain, and collectors were at a loss as to what was ‘good’ and what was ‘bad’. Many then rivalled to see who could commission the biggest, best and most extravagant plate for exchange – without worrying whether it would ever be pasted in a book. In 1922, the German ex-librist and author of many studies of bookplates, Richard Braungart, distinguished between ‘Gebrauchsexlibris’, or bookplates meant to be used, and ‘Sammlerexlibris’ or bookplates for collection. Today, there are still such perceptible differences in collector’s concepts – with the same variety of criteria for their pursuit as in any other field of ‘collectibles’. This, however, tends to enrich the landscape, even if it can lead to quibbling. It must, however be remembered that an ex-libris is a form of applied art, and not a free graphic; it is meant to be discovered in the intimate gesture of opening a book, and should be observed at reading distance, rather than in a frame at the other end of a room. | |
7. Alfred Soder (CH, 1880-1957)  EMIL JUNG, C2, 178 x 178, 1914.With the proliferation of collectors, ex-libris were often commissioned for
exchange rather than for pasting in books. In 1922, the German ex-librist Richard
Braungart distinguished ‘Gebrauchsexlibris’ (bookplates for use) from
‘Sammlerexlibris’ (collectors’ bookplates). This is a large example of the latter,
probably never pasted into a book.
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8. ? (GB) ‘UNIVERSAL’ EX-LIBRIS, C3, 93 x 58, c.1790.Viz. GMN p. 209.
When books became accessible to a wider social stratum, not all owners could afford
to commision an ex-libris. Some engravers produced ‘universal’ plates, such as this
one, where the owner simply wrote his name in the blank space provided.‘Urn’ ex-libris
were fashionable in Britain in late 18th and early 19th Centuries; for this ‘universal’,
the engraver substituted a motif of triumph over death (vanitas) where the
coat-of- arms is usually placed.
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Nevertheless, certain criteria
amongst collectors tend to remain stable: if every possible technique
which allows the production of multiple copies of an image
has been used for the production of ex-libris, usually more value
is attached to those produced by original graphic techniques
where the artist retains control over the end-product of his work,
rather than industrial ones. A rare original print is usually preferred
to a common rubber stamp. An ex-libris by a good artist is
preferred to a bookplate by a second-rate one, though the fame of
the user can swing the balance.
After a period of eclipse, bookplate collecting started again modestly after the Second World War. As it gained ground in the early 1950s, an International Federation of Societies of Ex-libris Collectors, F.I.S.A.E, was founded, and by the 1970s nearly all the national societies had been reconstituted. F.I.S.A.E. organises international congresses every two years, and the last congress was in Milano in 1994, at which the Belgrade Ex-libris Circle was admitted to the federation. Contemporary bookplate collecting has its difficulties and hazards. Unlike postage stamps, where each item is known and catalogued, and its value is accurately estimated on the basis of its beauty and rarity, ex-libris are still a largely unchartered jungle. Techniques and taste have evolved with great speed, and today the computer is like a new paintbrush bringing infinite new possibilities to the artist-technician for the generation of images. For a collector to develop a critical sense as to contemporary bookplates, much as the art critic or the historian, he must draw on the experience of earlier works. Even if his personal taste is the decisive factor, he must know something of the historical background for his judgement not to be completely arbitrary. A historical retrospective of ex-libris, such as this one, despite its obvious limitations, aims at giving the viewer some understanding of the bookplate as a sui generis socio-artistic phenomenon, and a reference by which better to perceive the qualities and weaknesses of the contemporary ex-libris which are on show in the four other ‘World of Ex-libris’ exhibitions. Perhaps it will also stimulate others to follow the fascinating five-hundred-year- old tradition of commissioning a small printed work of art to indicate the ownership of his books. | |
9. Michelin (F) ‘UNIVERSAL’ EX-LIBRIS, X1, 195 x 104, 1785.
Viz. GMN p. 25, ill. p 152/153.
Occasionally, 18th century publishers in France had cheap editions bound with a woodcut cover. This one was ordered by Couret de Villeneuve, His Majesty’s printer in Orléans for a series of classical Italian poets. The owner filled his name in the blank space, which was given heraldic reference by its shape. Few such examples have survived, and even in poor condition they are today very rare. | |
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