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This is My Book.
Nothing says “hands off” like a bookplate. Yale’s bookplate collection spans the centuries and the globe.
March/April 2010
by The Editors

The bookplate, which emerged in the 1400s as a way to adorn a book with its owner’s coat of arms, has evolved over the centuries into an artistic genre of its own. Artists specialize in it; collectors swap pieces old and new, and sometimes commission a plate not for their books, but for its own sake.

Because Yale’s collection is largely unprocessed, it is also largely inaccessible.

The Yale library’s collection, estimated at near one million, is one of the largest in the world. It is a collection of individual collections, donated by devoted bibliophiles—including one who fled Europe during World War II with only two bags, one of them filled with bookplates (and books). But because the collection is largely unprocessed, it is also largely inaccessible. “We have such a huge collection,” says arts librarian Jae Rossman. “This is probably going to take us ten years.” Beyond a small circle of librarians and scholars, few have ever seen its contents.

To see slide shows from the collection, click here. Click here to read thoughts by Alex Beam '75 on why book owners mark their literary territory with personalized art.

Psychology of the Bookplate

Slide shows of bookplates from Yale’s collection




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