Ex libris, or bookplates, are placards inscribed with the name of a tome’s owner and affixed to the inside of its cover. Ex libris establish some amount of provenance — a clue into the history of a book’s possession. The art decorating bookplates is often heraldic, fantastic, ornate, and gorgeous. This collection is comprised mostly of plates created in Europe during the 17th & 18th centuries.

“From the books of…”

Theology & Science meet. By Louis Rhead, ca. 1907

Bookplate for Anne Seymour Damer by Agnes Berry, ca. 1800

Ex libris Moritz Carl Christian Woog. È Bibliotheca Woogiana. ca. 1740

Daniel Chodowiecki: Ex Libris für seine eigene Bibliothek. Kupferstich. ca. 1760

Georges A. Wild. 1927

“Ex libris Bibliothecae D. Zach. Conr. ab Uffenbach. M. F.” Bookplate of Zacharias Konrad von Uffenbach (1683-1734) Engraved by Johann Ulrich Krauss of Augsburg c.1705

Exlibris of the Załuski Library showing the library’s interior. Jan Józef Filipowicz. mid-18th century.

Exlibris des kath. Theologen Martin Eisengrein (1535-1578), Dekan u. Rektor der Universität Ingolstadt, Propst von Moosburg, 1570

Ex libris “Bibliothecae Aulicae Brixinensis” (Fürstbischöfliche Hofbibliothek Brixen), 102 x 73 mm, Kupferstich, ca. 1580.

Ex libris mit Wappen des Christoff Hos, beider Rechten Doktor, kaiserliche Procura und Kammergerichtsrat, 1528

Bookplate of Ruskin House, a division of the publisher George Allen & Sons, 156 Charing Cross Road, Saint George slaying the dragon, with large monogram “GA.” Signed in lower right with unidentified monogram.

From Armorial Ex-libris of David Samuel von Madai.

Exlibris: Wappen der Martinic (Martinitz), mit zwei Greifen als Schildhaltern und manieristischer Dekoration. Knapp beschnitten, oben mit Bildverlust. Inschrift “Omnia Cordis habet. Effulget titulis Heros…” Johann Christof Schmischeck fecit. ca. 1650