Brother Hildebrand Brandenburg of Biberach Ex Libris


Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections at Brandeis University holds a copy of the very rare first known ex libris - that of Brother Hildebrand of Biberach, a Cartusian monk at the Buxheim Monastery, believed to have been made in the 1470's.

The bookplate is found in a manuscript of the «Summa Theologica» of St. Thomas Aquinas belonging to the collection.

At the Brandeis Special Collections Spotlight blog the history of the manuscript is traced and several considerations are made about other bookplates in the collection including a superlibros of king Charles II.

German Heraldic Bookplates

Dr. Bernhard Peter, from Koblenz, in his website - «Heraldische Exlibris», dedicates several pages to German Heraldic Bookpates.

Amongst the Artists whose Works are commented with excellent reproductions and notes (in German) we can find:

Franz Ignaz Heinrich Hefner (1756-1846)
Christian Bühler (1825-1898)
Adolf M. Hildebrandt (1844-1918) (see…)
Alexander von Dachenhausen (1848-1916)
Clemens Kissel (1849-1911)
Ernst Krahl (1858-1926) (see…)
Otto Hupp (1859-1949) (see….
Paul Voigt (1859-1924)
Lorenz M. Rheude (1863-1939) (see…)
Jean Kauffmann (1866-1924)
Carl Roschet (1868-1925)
Georg Otto (1868-1939)
Oskar Roick (1870-1926)
Alexander Liebmann (1871-1938)
Emil Gerster (6.8.1876 - 22.6.1937)

International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Ex Libris. The Castle Museum in Malbork

The 22 International Biennial Exhibition of Modern Exlibris - Malbork 2009

The Malbork Castle Museum organizes every two years, since 1963, an International ExLibris Contest followed by an Exhibition. It ranks amongst the most important events in the field of Ex Libris. The 22nd International Exhibition was opened on 6th June 2009, showing the 231 ex libris admited to the Exhibition and the Artists that were awarded prizes namely, Plamenko ČENGIĆ (Croatia), Ayrat TEREGULOV (Russia) and Jiři BRÁZDA (the Czech Republic).
As it has become common for decades after the «risorgimento» of Ex Libris post WWII, what the organizers call «utilitarian exlibris» seem to have been a minority amongst the works presented, the majority being prints made for collectors for exchange purposes, however beautiful, but not ex libris at all.
A Catalogue was published.

John Robert Daniel Tyssen



John Robert Daniel Tyssen, FSA, of Hackney, (1805-1882)

He was the son of William George Daniel Esq., (d. 1838) of Foley House, Kent, Hackney, co Middlesex, Foulden Hall, Norfolk, and W. Brooke House, co. Dorset, and Amelia Amhurst (d. 1851) dau. and heiress of John Amhurst Esq., of Rochester, Kent, Capt. R.N. and of his 2nd wife Mary Tyssen.
His nephew was William Amhusrt Tyssen-Amherst (b.1835- 1909), of Didlington Park, Norfolk and Hackney, co Middlesex, created Baron Amherst of Hackney in 1892.

John Robert married, in 1835, Harriet Caroline, dau of Charles Hopkinson Esq., of Cadogan Place.

F 30213

Arms – Per pale, I - quarterly: 1st and 4th, or, on a chev., az. between three French marigolds slipped, ppr., two lions passant respecting each other, of the 1st, a bordure compony, ar. and az., (TYSSEN); 2nd., per saltire, ar. and or, in fess two lions ramp. gu., in chief and in base, a dexter couped at the elbow arm habited of the third cuffed az., the hand ppr., holding a cross-crosslet fitchée, gu. (DANIEL); 3rd. per fesse, gu. and az., three tilting spears erect in fess, or, (AMHURST); II - HOPKINSON (?)

Crests: TYSSEN - A demi-lion ramp., or, ducally crowned, gu., and holding in the paws an escutcheon, az., charged with an estoile, of the 1st; AMHURST - Three tilting spears, one in pale, and two in saltire, or, encircled by a chaplet of roses, ppr.; DANIEL - An arm couped, fessways, habited, az., the hand ppr., grasping a cross crosslet, gu.

Mottoes - TYSSEN - Post mortem virtus virescit; AMHURST - Victoria concordat crescit; DANIEL - Toujours prêt

Sources:
National Archives and
Sir Bernard Burke, The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time, London : Harrison & sons, 1884

On-Line Bibliography on Bookplates


For those interested in the study of «old» bookplates and bibliography, the «Internet Archive» has been building a digital library of Internet sites, namely of books in digital form providing free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.


It is an outstanding instrument of work for researchers and bookplate lovers who like to deepen the study of bookplates of earlier epochs put forward by this corporation in cooperation with Google and several Universities and Libraries which hold copies of these works, mainly American and Canadian.


A tremendous amount of work which deserves our appraisal and gratitude and which ought to set an example to Universities and Libraries in Europe holding important bookplate collections, but inaccessible to the public living elsewhere.


The Internet, computers and global communications systems have set the pace for a new world where information must be at hand and access to information and knowledge be easy.


Among the books made available on-line in digital form, sponsored by the University of Toronto, we can find the precious E. R. J. Gambier Howe, Franks Bequest : Catalogue of British and American book plates bequested to the Trustees of the British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks : 3 vols., London : The British Museum : (1903-1904), which many of us are not lucky to possess in their libraries.



Other valuable reference books on Bookplates hard to find are also available, namely:


U.K.
· 147 Examples of Armorial Book Plates: From Various Collections : W. Griggs & Sons : 1892
· William John Hardy. Book Plates : London : K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., : 1893
· Egerton Castle. English book-plates; an illustrated handbook for students of ex-libris : London & New York : G. Bell : 1892
· Egerton Castle. English Book-Plates : ancient and modern : London : New York : G. Bell & Sons, 1893
· Sir Arthur Edward Vicars, Book-plates (Ex-Libris) : Series 1, Library Interior Book-Plates, Plymouth, For Private Circulation : Printed at the Frankfort Press : 1893
· John Vinycomb. On the Processes for the Production of Ex Libris (book-plates) : A. & C. Black : 1894
· Walter Hamilton. Dated book-plates (Ex libris) with a treatise on their origin and development : London : A. & C. Black, 1895
· Walter Hamilton, French Book-Plates : 2nd ed. : London : G. Bell & sons : 1896
· Norna Labouchere. Ladies' Book-plates: An Illustrated Handbook for Collectors and Book-lovers : London : G. Bell & sons, 1895
· Henry Walter Fincham. Artists and engravers of British and American book plates : London, K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & co., ltd.: 1897
· John Byrne Leicester Warren, Lord de Tabley. A Guide to the Study of Book-plates (Ex-Libris): London & New York : John Lane : 1900
· Frederick James Thairlwall. An Index to "A Guide to the Study of Book-plates": (ex-libris), by Lord de Tabley, Plymouth, W. F. Westcott, "Frankfort Press" : 1894
· Edward Almack. Bookplates, London : Methuen & Co., 1904, from University of California Libraries and with several different copies on-line.
· Cyril Davenport. English heraldic book-stamps, figured and described : London : A. Constable & co., ltd : 1909
· Herbert M. Vaughan, The Welsh book-plates in the collection of Sir Evan Davies Jones, bart.; a catalogue, with biographical and decriptive notes : London : A. L. Humphreys, 1920

USA
· Charles Dexter Allen. A Classified List of Early American Book-plates : De Vinne Press : 1894
· Charles Dexter Allen. Ex libris : essays of a collector ... : Boston : Lamson, Wolffe & Co. : 1896
· Charles Dexter Allen. American book-plates, a guide to their study : New York, The Macmillan Company : 1905
· Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Book-plates and Super-libros: Held by Club of Odd Volumes at the Museum of Fine Arts (1898) : Boston : Alfred Mudge & Son , Printers : 1898
· W. G. Bowdoin. The rise of the book-plate; being an exemplification of the art, signified by various book-plates, from its earliest to its most recent practice : New York, A. Wessels Company : 1901
· Wilbur Macey Stone. Women designers of book-plates : New York, Published for the Triptych by R.R. Beam : 1902
· Wilbur Macey Stone (ed.). Book-plates of to-day : New York : Tonnelé & Company, 1902
· Zella Allen Dixson. Concerning Book-plates: A Handbook for Collectors : Wisteria cottage press : 1903
· Loan exhibition of colonial book-plates, Society of colonial dames, state of New York : [New York, The De Vinne Press : 1908
· Alexander Winthrop Pope. Remarks on some masonic book plates in America and their owners : [Boston] : 1908; Remarks on some masonic book plates in America and their owners : vol. 2 : [Boston] : 1911
· Alfred Fowler. Lincolniana book plates and collections : Kansas City : Alfred Fowler : 1913
· Winward Prescott. Book-plate literature : Kansas City, H. Alfred Fowler : 1914
· Harry Parker Ward & Winward Prescott. Some American college bookplates; a presentation of plates, old and new : Columbus, Ohio : The Champlin Press : 1915
· Theodore Wesley Koch. : Concerning book plates : [Chicago] : 1915
· A catalogue of an exhibition of angling book plates held by the Grolier Club of the city of New York, June 6 to September 7, 1918 : [New York, The De Vinne Press] : 1918
· Alfred Fowler, ed. A directory of bookplate artists, with notes concerning their work : Kansas City, A. Fowler : 1919

Austria, Germany & Switzerland
· Gustav A Seyler. Illustriertes handbuch der ex-libris-kunde : Berlin, Verlag von J. A. Stargardt : 1895
· Ludwig Gerster. Die Schweizerischen Bibliothekzeichen(ex-libris) : Ct. Berm, Im Selbstverlage des Verfassers : 1898
· Karl Emich zu Leiningen-Westerburg. German Book-plates: An Illustrated Handbook of German & Austrian Exlibris : London : George Bell & Sons : 1901; Deutsche und oesterreichische bibliothekzeichen exlibris : Stuttgart, J. Hoffmann : 1901
· Walter von Zur Westen. Exlibris: (Bucheignerzeichen) : Verlag von Velhagen & Klasing : 1901
· Richard Braungart. Das moderne deutsche Gebrauchs-exlibris. Mit 400 abbildungen : Munchen : F. Hanfstaengl : 1920
· Richard Braungart. Deutsche exlibris und andere kleingraphik der gegenwart : München, H. Schmidt, 1922


Monographies on Bookplate Artists:
· The book plates of Amy M. Sacker : Boston, Printed at the Troutsdale Press : 1903
· F. Arthur Jacobson and his book plates : Boston, Printed at the Troutsdale Press : 1903
· Paul Lemperly. A List of Book-plates Engraved on Copper by Mr. Edwin Davies French : Cleveland, Ohio, Printed for subscribers : 1899
· Ira Hutchinson Brainerd. Edwin Davis French; a memorial; his life, his art : New York, Priv. Print. [The De Vinne Press] : 1908
· Edwin Davis French, 1851-1906: A Catalogue of an Exhibition of His Engraved Work… held at the Grolier Club, New York, 1909 : New York : De Vinne Press : 1909
· Thomas Moring. One hundred book plates engraved on wood : London, The De La More press : 1901
· A. E. Gallatin. Aubrey Beardsley as a designer of book-plates : London, E. Mathews; Boston, C.E. Peabody : 1902
· William Howe Downes. Book-plates selected from the works of Edmund H. Garrett & a notice of them : Boston, The Troutsdale press : 1904
· Elisha Brown Bird. E. B. Bird: his book plates : Boston, Printed at the Troutsdale Press : 1904
· Joseph Winfred Spenceley & Pierre de Chaignon la Rose. A Descriptive Checklist of the Etched & Engraved Book-plates by Joseph Winfred Spenceley: Troutsdale Press : 1905
· Richard Clipston Sturgis. Book Plates by Frederick Garrison Hall : Trovtsdale Press : 1905
· Albert Carlos Bates. An early Connecticut engraver and his work : Hartford : [The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company] : 1906
· Ex Libris: A Collection of Book-plate Designs by Herbert Gregson : Boston : W.P. Truesdell : 1907
· A collection of book plate designs by Louis Rhead : Boston : W.P. Truesdell, 1907
· Charles Dexter Allen. The book-plates of William Fowler Hopson : Berkeley, At the sign of the Berkeley oak : 1910
· George Heath Viner . A Descriptive Catalogue of the Bookplates Designed and Etched by George W. Eve : The American Bookplate Society : 1916
· Gardner Callahan Teall. Bookplates by Sidney L. Smith: With a Check-list of the Bookplates : Kansas City : Alfred Fowler : 1921
· The Boston Public Library sponsored a digital on-line version of an Album dated 1930, containing bookplates, drawings and sketches by artist Robert Cairns Dobson (1881 - 1916), born in Scotland. Our fellow member Lewis Jaffe published a post on R. C. Dobson at his Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie

Richard Barwell, an Indian Nabob



Richard Barwell (1741-1804)

Described by his biographers as an East Indian Co. Civil Servant, Richard Barwell was born in Calcutta the son of William Barwell (1705-69), Governor of Fort William, Bengal (1748), and a director of the East India Co. (1758-1766) and his third wife Elizabeth Pearce.
Most probably due to the influence of his father Richard Barwell hold offices with the East India Co. from 1756 having risen to Member of the Bengal Council in 1774 under the controversial Warren Hastings (1732-1818) governor-general of what was to become British India.
Having made an enormous fortune in India, estimated to be over £ 400,000, he returned to England in 1780 having bought his way into the House of Commons, elected M.P. for Helston (1781-4), St. Ives (1784-90) and Fort Winchelsea (1790-6), for «…prestige and also to protect himself against attacks on the sources of his East India wealth», according to reputable sources.
But being an M.P. and wealthy was not enough to obtain the desirable social status, and so Richard Barwell purchased for £ 100,000 the estate of Stansted Park in Sussex, from the trustees of Lord George Montague-Dunk, 2nd. Earl of Halifax, apart from other land and property in the area and a house at St. James’s Square, in London.

He also had portraits made by famous painters (see, Richard Barwell 1741-1804. By George Engleheart 1786 - http://fr.cinoa.org/art-and-antiques/detail/52075 and Portrait of Richard Barwell and His Son, by J. Reynolds - http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/sir-joshua-reynolds-p.r.a.-plympton,-devon-1723-1-1-c-7wvq8botnr)
While in India Barwell married Elizabeth Sanderson, in 1776, and secondly, in 1785, Catherine Coffin of Boston, Mass., by whom he had ten children.
Known for his licentiousness Barwell had also children from a Mrs Seaforth (née Rebecca Lyne) painted by Reynolds.
Arms: Barwell (?) - Barry of ten, argent and sable, over all a griffin segreant vert. Probably assumed arms.
Crest: a demi-wolf salient ermine
F 1709
Sources: Lewis Namier, John Brooke. The House of Commons, 1754-1790, reprint, Boydell & Brewer, 1985, pp. 60-61

Earl of Shrewsbury



Charles Talbot, 15th Earl of Shrewsbury (1753–1827)



He was the son of Charles Talbot (1722-1766) and of Mary Mostyn daughter of Sir George Mostyn, 4th Bt. He succeeded his uncle George Talbot (1719-1787) 14th Earl of Shrewsbury. Also Earl of Wexford and Waterford in Ireland, Baron Talbot, Strange (of Blackmere), Furnival, Verdon, Lovetot, Giffard (of Brimsfield), Comyn (of Badenoch), Valence and Montchensy.


He began in 1812 the creation of the extensive gardens at Alveton Lodge, Staffordshire (later renamed Alton Towers) which estate had been in the family since the 15th century. He married Elizabeth Hoey, daughter of James Hoey, of Ireland. They left no issue.

Upon his death he was succeeded by his nephew John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury (1791–1852) who in 1831, moved the family seat to Alton Towers, having lost the family home at Heythrop, Oxfordshire. Lord John Talbot a devout Catholic proceeded with the improvements fo the House and Gardens at Alton Towers.


But sadly, the contents of Alton Towers were sold in auction by Mssr Christie and Mason at Alton Towers on July 6th 1857 (see, http://www.altontowersheritage.com/article.asp?articleid=57), on the death of Bertram Arthur Talbot (1832-1856) 17th Earl of Shrewsbury (suc. 1852), Earl of Waterford and Wexford in Ireland, Lord High Steward of Ireland, the son of Lieut. Colonel Charles Thomas Talbot (1782-1838) son of a younger brother of the 14th earl, and a cousin of the 15th earl.


Arms: Gules, a lion rampant, within a border, engrailed, or
Crest: On a chapeau, Gules, turned up ermine, a lion statant, or, his tail extended.
Supporters: Two Talbots, argent.

Lord Carteret



Henry Frederick Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret PC (1735–1826)


He was the second son of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth, and his second wife Louisa, daughter of John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville. His elder brother was Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth and 1st. Marquess of Bath.
An MP he was elected for Herefordshire till 1770.
He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1770. In 1776, he changed his name to Carteret, when he succeeded to Hawnes Park, Bedfordshire on the death of his uncle Robert Carteret, 3rd Earl Granville. He was created Baron Carteret, of Hawnes, in 1784.

F # 5295


Earl of Harrowby


Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, PC, FSA (1762–1847)

He was the son of Nathaniel Ryder (1735-1803), 1st Baron Harrowby, an MP, and his wife Elizabeth Terrick, dau of Bishop Terrick of London and a grandson of Sir Dudley Ryder (1691-1756), a lawyer and Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench. Nathaniel Ryder bought the Sandon estate in 1776 from Lord Archibald Hamilton.
He was educated at Harrow School and St John's College, Cambridge and was a Member of the Parliament for nearly 50 years. Created Earl of Harrowby in 1809.
Lord Harrowby married Lady Susan Leveson-Gower, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, in 1795.
In 1804 he was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in William Pitt’s Government and after leaving office he was appointed, in 1805, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In that year he was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister: Plenipotentiary to Berlin, Vienna, and St Petersburg, on a special diplomatic mission. In 1809 he was created Viscount Sandon, of Sandon in the County of Stafford, and Earl of Harrowby, in the County of Lincoln and from 1812 to 1827 he was Lord President of the Council under Lord Liverpool.

Franks # 25823
Arms: Ryder impaling Leveson-Gower.

Lord Colchester


Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester, PC, FRS (1757 –1829)

He was the son of Dr John Abbot, rector of All Saints, Colchester, and, by his mother's second marriage, half-brother of the famous Jeremy Bentham. In 1793, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
MP and statesman holding cabinet positions under six prime ministers, including Chief Secretary and Privy Seal for Ireland (1801) and Speaker of the House of Commons. On 1817 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Colchester with a pension.
In 1796, he married Elizabeth Gibbes (1760-1847), the elder daughter of Sir Philip Gibbes, baronet, of Springhead, Barbados.

Frank’s #4

Arms: Gules on a chevron, between three pears or, as many crosses, reguly, az. Within a tressure, flory, of the second.
Crest: Out of a ducal coronet or, a unicorn’s head erm. maned and tuffed of the first, between six ostrich feathers ar. quilled or.
Supporters: On either side a unicorn erm. armed, maned, hoofed and tufted, or gorged.

Sources: John Burke. A General and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British Empire, vol. 1, H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1832

See, The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester; Speaker of the House of Commons 1802-1817, 3 vols, 1861; reprint, Adamant Media Corporation, 2002

Lord George Lennox





General Lord George Henry Lennox (1737 – 1805)


He was the son of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond & 2nd Duke of Lennox and of Lady Sarah Cadogan, the daughter of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan. From his father he was a great-grandson of King Charles II.
The 2nd Duke of Richmond followed the Hanoverians serving as Lord of the Bedchamber to George II and as Master of the Horse and fought as a Lieutenant-General against Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden, in 1746.
Lord George Lennox married Lady Louisa Kerr in 1759, the daughter of Sir William Henry Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian – aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland, at the Battle of Culloden - and Lady Caroline Darcy.
Their son Charles Lennox (1764-1819) succeeded his uncle in 1806, as 4th Duke of Richmond and his grandson Charles Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond was to inherit the Gordon estates from his maternal uncle George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon.
George Lennox was the colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot till 1762, when he was appointed colonel of the King's Own Scottish Borderers and on 1784 he was appointed Constable of the Tower of London.
Arms: Lennox impaling Kerr
F 18146

Stephen Martin Leake, (1702-1773)



Stephen Martin Leake, (1702-1773)
Garter Principal King of Arms, numismatist and author



He was the son of Captain Stephen Martin (1656-1725), a naval officer, and his wife, Elizabeth Hill, dau of Captain Richard Hill, of Yarmouth, Norfolk. Elizabeth’s sister Christian married rear-admiral Sir John Leake, commander-in-chief of the Fleet and Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty in the reign of Queen Anne. The Admiral being a widow and having no surviving issue adopted his brother-in-law Captain Martin as his heir. The latter was then authorized to add the surname Leake to his own.
Stephen Martin Leake married, in 1735, Anne, daughter of Fletcher Powell, a brewer.
Elected FSA March 1726 and in the same year was created Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary at the College of Arms. Promoted to Norroy King of Arms in December of 1729, Clarenceux King of Arms in 1741 and appointed Garter Principal King of Arms in 1754. He also compiled a collection of drawings of knights' stall plates from St George's Chapel, and travelled abroad to invest foreign princes with the Garter.
Published Nummi Britannici Historia, London, 1726; The life of Sir John Leake, Knt., Admiral of the Fleet, London, 1750 He also left manuscript Life of Captain Stephen Martin, 1666-1740, edited by Clements Robert Markham, for the Navy Records Society, in 1895 and several valuable works upon heraldry.



Arms: 1st and 3rd., or., on a saltire engr. az. nine annulets ar, on a canton gules a castle triple-towered of the third (Leake); 2nd and 4th, paly of six or and az. on a chief gules three merlins of the first (Martin).
Crest: A ship gun carriage, on it a piece of ordnance mounted all proper
Motto: Pari Animo
Probably Franks # 17837


Sources: Pratt Libraries Ex Libris Collection
Mark Noble. A history of the College of Arms: and the lives of all the Kings, Heralds, and Pursuivants from the reign of Richard III, founder of the College, until the present time : London, J. Debrett and T. Egerton, 1804
Sir Bernard Burke. The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, Comprising a Registry of Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Volume 2, London 1878; reprint, Heritage Books, 2007
E. R. J. Gambier Howe (ed.). Franks bequest. Catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the trustees of the British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, vol. 2, London, British Museum, 1904

Japanese Ex Libris





Miniature Japanese Woodblock Prints in the Collection of Gary and Janet Christenson

An on-line gallery of fine Japanese ex libris in woodblock prints ranging from such famous artists as Gen Yamaguchi, Shigeru Hatsuyama, Takeo Takei, Maseo Maeda, Junichiro Sekino, Shiko Munakata, Kiyoshi Saito and Rokushu Mizufune to Hodaka Yoshida, Haku Maki, Yoshio Kanamori, Sho Kidiokoro, Yuzaburo Kawanishi, Michihiko Ishida and Yasushi Omoto, to name but a few.

Japanese Ex-Libris Stamps from the National Diet Library Collection

The National Diet Library of Japan has an electronic exhibition of Japanese Ex-Libris Stamps under the general title "Memories of Japan", from which we quote:

«Ex-libris ownership stamps were imprinted in books to clearly indicate to
which collection these literary works belonged. They were first seen in China
from where they were brought to Japan. While we can trace Japan's oldest
ex-libris ownership stamps back to the Nara period (710 to 794), we cannot
pinpoint when nor how they were introduced to Japan. In any case, since that
time until the middle of the Edo period (1603 to 1867) they were used by only a
limited number of people such as in temples and shrines and by members of the
privileged classes. However, as books became more common, and as scholars and
persons of letters who collected books grew in number, a wide variety of
ex-libris ownership stamps were produced to satisfy this more widespread
use. »

------------------

«At this writing, the National Diet Library houses about 7.7 million volumes. They were originated from the old collections of the Imperial Diet's House of Peers and House of Representatives, and the Imperial Library's old collection which originated from the book repository established in the fifth year of the Meiji era (1872). Among these collections, some of those of the early collectors have been kept intact, while others have been scattered through the ages and only a few books have reached the shelves of the NDL. We would like to introduce a selection of 30 ex-libris ownership stamps allowing you to sample the historical aspects and charm of the culture of these stamps that are a part of the meticulously kept collection housed at the National Diet Library».

As it can be seen, book ownership stamps derived from China can be traced back in Japan to the Nara period (VIIIth century Christian Era). In Europe, ex libris in print form had to wait for the «invention» of printing by Guttenberg. Till then they were manuscript in the folios of the great monastic or princely libraries.

A testimony of the great cultural heritage of the Japanese civilization and an example of what some western Libraries that hold large bookplate collections should do.

John Lynch, DD


John Lynch, DD (1734-1760)
Dean of Canterbury


Son of John Lynch, Esq. of Groves, by Sarah his wife, d. of Francis Head, of Rochester Esq. and Sarah Head.
He married Mary, daughter and heiress of the Most Revd. William Wake, D.D. Archbishop of Canterbury, descended from an ancient family in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire and left issue Sir William Lynch, K. B. and John Lynch, LL. D. archdeacon and prebendary of Canterbury.
The arms are of Lynch granted in 1572 to Lynch of Staple in Kent, Sable three lynches proper with the crest A Lynx passant proper.

Frank’s 18.963 – Early Jacobean Armorial

Sources: David S. Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain, vol. II, Heirloom & Howard Ltd.; 1st edition (2003), page 402;
'Parishes: Stalisfield', The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 6 (1798), pp. 438-445. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62983 - Date accessed: 09 February 2009.
Staple & The Downhamford Hundred

Joseph Tayler, MD


Joseph Tayler, MD Cantab.
F 28948/28949 - Jacobean Armorial
Didn't find much more about this book collector up to now!