Fashion Plates for Rare Books

Flickr continues to amaze me. Some fine images frequently turn up there. Recently I came upon The Penn Libraries wonderful and historic collection of rare books. They have documented thousands of images from many of these fine books which span over 5 centuries. I've handpicked some of my favorite bookplates from some of their collections. Above is one I find especially intriguing. It is a German anagram bookplate circa 1840 designed by Karl Emich Leiningen-Westerburg for Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich (Froehlich), 1796-1865. The notation further explains how the shading of L I C H has some significance (I presume to the pronunciation). Anagrams were far more experimental than most of your typical mid-19th century bookplates which is why this one appeals to me so greatly I guess. Below is a beautiful engraving (undated) of a monogrammed bookplate with the initials M L C. 

This Ex Libris is unidentified.  

This is a beautiful monogram and marbled endpaper, but also unidentified.

Ex Libris for writer and scholar Giovanni de Bizzaro, 1782-1833. Great name!

Bookplate of French book collector Tobie-Gustave Herpin, 1820?-1900.

I included this 1804 label as a beautiful copperplate engraving example of hand-rendered script. It records the purchase by Ludwig Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, of Carl Gerhard von Ketelhodt's library of 16,000 volumes. 

This monogrammed bookplate is unidentified. My guess is it is French, based upon another French book with similar endpapers. 

This bookplate makes me smile. It's unidentified. Just a mermaid with a mirror, and a comb, and Mason. 

Stamped Ex Libris Victoris Aemilii Tiranti. No date or positive ID.

Bookplate with the interlocking initials of Gilbert Mainssonnat. Undated.