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Below is my latest post on the Fine Books & Collections blog. Sorry about phoning this one in here. PS, I did get my neato postcard in the mail today for the book sale at UCO in Edmond, April 17-19. I’ll post more on that soon.

One area I collect in is books about books. A part of that collection includes book trade labels. What is a book trade label? If you’ve handled old books, you’ve likely noticed teeny-tiny labels typically on the front or rear endpaper. They will often be less than an inch long and a half-inch tall.

I’m not really sure why, but it seems more natural to refer to these tiny bits of paper as tickets when associated with a bookbinder, and a label when it is from a bookseller. Perhaps because craftsmen use jobbing tickets and retailers label their merchandise. In the interest of casting my net wide, I refer to them all as book trade labels. That was the nomenclature used when I found Seven Roads Book Trade Labels and realized I was not the only one interested in these gems. Unfortunately, Seven Roads went dormant in June 2007. However lost Seven Roads is, we gained the Bibliophemera blog, which often features labels.

Book trade labels were used by booksellers, bookbinders, and can be a wealth of history and fun. Labels, historically, were available from commercial label printers. However, some specially made labels could set a bookseller apart from others nearby. This 1891 advertisement from James Clegg in London gives just a few examples of common types. I’m currently working on a “field guide” to book trade labels and advertisements like Clegg’s are golden discoveries. Some booksellers today use custom return address labels, which are certainly effective but can be ho-hum. I’ve not seen any contemporary “bibliomorphic” labels like this one from Oklahoma City

Last week I received a new label for my collection from Scott J. Coutts at Solidus bookbindery in Melbourne, Australia. Scott is honestly the first active bookbinder I’ve met who has decided to use a label to identify his work. Deciding to use one, he went all out to make it memorable. He used the image by woodcut artist Jost Amman of bookbinders at work in the 1568 work A True Description of All Trades.

Scott, a microbiologist working at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, decided to take up bookbinding about a year and a half ago.

Exile Bibliophile: What drew you into bookbinding?

Scott: I’ve always loved good books, particularly photography books. Also, I’m often annoyed at how badly constructed modern books are! I like old things and things that have a certain ‘charm’ and sentimental value, things that are quite tactile – especially books, which I collect. So I guess the love of well-made books, my annoyance with badly made books attracted me to binding. It’s a creative outlet.

Exile: What spurred your decision to create your own label?

S: I’ve always liked ex libris and book trade labels. Since I started making my own books, I thought it was reasonable that I should have my own! Primarily, I like the look of them. As you can tell, my labels contain no contact information so, for better or worse, they’re not really designed for advertising or increasing sales (maybe they should be!)

Exile: I think they’re memorable enough! Could you describe the process you used to create your label? Are they letterpress printed?

S: The actual labels are not printed traditionally, only because I don’t have the means. The label was prepared digitally and printed with an inkjet printer. I didn’t use coated paper on purpose – In this instance, I like the small amount of bleed that occurs. The paper is Van Gelder Zonen 120gsm laid paper, which is one of my favourites! After printing several to a sheet, they were torn down using a ‘deckled edge tearer ‘ to produce the irregular edges. Finally, the edges were boned flat and smooth, ready for use.

Exile: I really like the deckled edge effect, and was impressed with your method. I’ve never seen a label featuring a deckled edge. I have some perforated labels, but nothing like this. Thank you for the beautiful label for my collection. I’m sure it will stand out for a very long time!

About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.

1890s Elmira NY, Hosmer H. Billings, bookseller label
Originally uploaded by Exile Bibliophile

Hosmer H Billings. No question.

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My first post is up over at Fine Books & Collections. If you’re not reading it already, you should. No kidding, they have some of the most interesting folks writing for them in the bibliosphere. Also, I’ve been playing with Twitter for a week or two now and will probably keep it going. I like it better than most other banalities of the internet. You should come look me up just to see my book trade label custom background over there! Wicked awesome.

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You’ve been there. The right place at the wrong time. There’s even a very catchy funk tune about it. There I was, gun in hand, maniacal gleam in my eye standing next to the governor and …. well… I missed a great opportunity.

There I am, hulking my mass to cover Kim Henry, oblivious that I’d already missed my chance to meet and have a picture taken with N. Scott Momaday. Don’t misunderstand me, the Governor is nice and all, but for a bibliophile, there’s no beating a wonderful writer and Pulitzer Prize winner.

To add insult to injury, the paper put my cheery Abe Lincoln lovin’ mug on the front page of the paper to be doodled on over mornin’ joe. Maybe I should try growing a mustache again.

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The finest bibliophilic publication in the USA has gone 100% digital. Except the annual, so actually 90% digital. Oh, and the publishing they’re getting into… 85% digital. But according to “them”, the Fine Books website had 45 times more hits than the magazine did subscribers, so we’re back up over 100% again. That doesn’t sound right. I was a history major, you do the math.

I say all of that to say this: I’m excited. At first I felt angry, betrayed, and a trifle weepy for the scrappy can-do magazine that made us love them over a couple short years. But I was only mad until they invited me to the party. Book collectors have no shame. None.

The new Fine Books & Collections blog will be written by a small flock of bloggers and I get to be one of them! And all the nerds yell Huzzah! The other bloggers are likely well known to all of you already, but will give a good cross section of the bibliophilic sphere. I’m very happy to see Scott Brown, the original editor of the magazine involved in this project especially as we don’t get to hear from him much these days. We’ll have rare book dealers in from the snootiest auction rooms of large cities where they have taxi cabs. We’ll have new booksellers, old booksellers, kind and cranky, academics, and publishers. And me. They think I’m a librarian. I’ve also been mistaken for being named Barry, so there’s no accounting for some things. Over at FB&C, I’ll represent we who do not reek of globtrotting ozone, and only ooze trace amounts of green insidious envy onto our cherished tomes while reading of the book fairs, auctions, readings, and sightings. I promise, it’ll be good.

STICK THAT IN YOUR READER!

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Bibliophile President Lincoln would have turned 200 years old yesterday. He probably would have loved to receive a good book for his birthday. Or maybe a gift certificate to a bookstore. We had a large event at the museum (where I work) and I completely forgot to mark the occasion for all of you in the blogosphere. So, with a small apology, I’m posting a classic from the Exile Bibliophile Archives.

Isn’t this gorgeous? I love the layout, the image, the typography. It all comes together very nicely. I’ve seen it described as a trade card and a voucher. Isn’t it a bit long for a trade card? If it was a voucher of some kind, wouldn’t it say something to that effect, or give a value? Is there anything on the back? Is it supposed to look like currency? Anyway, trying to nail down some years on this little gem. The capitol dome was completed with the statue on top by 1869. Wikipedia says 1863, but photos on the Library of Congress page dated 1864 show an uncompleted dome. Also, the dome looks a little tall and skinny in this photo. That could just be the artist’s interpretation. I wonder when you could no longer drive your horse and buggy up to the front steps. A completed auction cites it to 1862, as part of a lot of souvenirs from DC from that year. In that case, the completed dome would be pure imagination, or based on another sketch.

Thanks to the Lincoln Log (http://www.thelincolnlog.org/view/1862/5) I know they were in business May 7, 1862, as President Abraham Lincoln (a documented bibliophile) ordered some books: “Library of the Executive Mansion” orders books from William F. Richstein, bookseller and dealer in foreign and American stationery, 278 Pennsylvania Ave. “1 set Hood’s Poems $6.50, 1 Goldsmiths Poems $5.00, 1 Homes of American Authors $6.00.” [Thomas Hood, Poems; Oliver Goldsmith, Poems; Homes of American Authors: Comprising Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches, by Various Writers . . ., New York, 1853.] Last item is paid for by President; others out of annual appropriation of $250 for books for White House per Benjamin B. French, Commissioner of Public Buildings.” Pg. 180. (Pratt, Harry E. The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln. Springfield, IL: The Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943.)

I wonder if Benjamin B. French is the same French of French & Richstein…

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This past Saturday, while you were munching on cinnamon chip scones, I was on an epic book safari with nearly all of the Bibliophiles of Oklahoma. We crossed the state line into north Texas to visit Larry McMurtry’s Booked Up. It was fantastic in the true sense of the word. The last image is of just the Books about Books section. I easily spent half the day there. In all seriousness, budget not being such an issue, I could spend about 4-5 days at Booked Up making my selections. There is a goldmine of ephemera waiting to be mined. Of course, I took my camera along, but managed to get no photos of the good folks who came along. This is normal for me (and my family). One reason I brought my camera was to take photos of book trade labels (came away with several) or bookplates that were particularly interesting. I don’t have so much space and money that I can really afford to buy books only for the bookplate within. This ex libris, belonging to someone named Severett Belknap, who was a bookplate collector around 1900, I found particularly nice. It sums up my feelings, and the other Bibliophiles as well.

“A man never gets so much good out of a book as when he possesses it.”

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1860s, Binghamton NY, Preston Sears, Union Book Store, patriotic tc
Originally uploaded by Exile Bibliophile

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A patriotic, civil war period business card, from Preston & Sears Union Book Store in Binghamton, New York, having a fine image of an unusual 35 star American flag (circle within a circle, larger stars in center and at each corner). At top is a quote that may not be exactly accurate, but its meaning is clear. “The first man who attempts to haul down this Flag shoot him on the spot.”

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It’s been a little over two months since the launch of the Flickr group Seven Roads Book Trade Labels. We’re now up to 9 members, which is ok, but the very exciting bit is we have 376 labels up, with new additions every week. This week, we have this very nice label from WH Smith & Son’s subscription library, detailing subscription levels, and how Smith’s gave “more bang for your buck”, or ha’penny or whatever ridiculous clap-trap the English were doing with their money back then. Loyal label poster alan.98 has posted a couple other lending library labels as well. I very much like the agricultural library, but the label from Wray’s Modern Library takes the cake. As Alan points out in his posting to the group:

“What a wonderful shop this must have been — you could not only buy books and fancy stationery but take out fire insurance and hire your servants too. You had to be quick and read your books in two days, though.”

Flickr memberships are free (if you have a yahoo account, you already have a Flickr account), so why not take a minute, join Seven Roads Book Trade Labels group and post some of the little book trade labels in your own collection?