Bookplates ~ David Ellenson Rare Book Online Exhibit
The invention of printing made private ownership
of many books possible. Frequently, owners identified their personal
collections with labels which read ex libris ("from the library of").
Artists were soon commissioned to create bookplates which might include
symbols, accessories, or armorial crests reflecting the owners' status,
vocation or interests.
The Library's bookplate collection contains plates commissioned
by Jewish owners or executed by Jewish graphic artists. Many artistic
techniques are represented: etchings, wood and copper engravings,
woodcuts, lithographs, and scissor cuts.
| Bookplates of the Birnholz
Family |
| They reflect Marco Birnholz's profession as a
pharmacist, his various hobbies, abd his family name, which
means "pear tree." He commissioned bookplates for his wife,
his daughters, and his sisters -- over three-hundred-fifty in
all! |
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If you have any further questions about finding information on this,
or any other topic, ask your local HUC-JIR librarian or email us using
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Copyright © 2007 Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
made possible through the generous bequest of Sadie Klau
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