#Ex Libris by Carl S. Junge

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Decorative Sunday: Bookplates Edition

Ex Libris by Carl S. Junge collects notable bookplates from the career of Chicago-area artist Carl S. Junge. In his introduction to the volume, Chicago advertising executive and bookplate collector Leroy T. Goble argues that the bookplate is far more than a simple mark of ownership but has artistic value of its own, they are “expressions of fine art calling for the joint interests and attention of artist, engraver, and printer.”  Published in New York by H.L. Lindquist in 1935 in a limited edition of 500 copies signed by the artist. Junge’s bookplates had been collected once before in the 1916 publication Book Plates: A Collection of Original Book Plate Designs in an edition of 200 by Champlin Press of Columbus, Ohio. We hold both publications here in Special Collections.

Goble praises Junge as an eminent bookplate designer, wedding the personality and needs of the person (or institution) for which he is designing with an adept artistic sensibility and drawing on a range of styles. Indeed, Junge received five awards from the International Book Plate Association and his plates are held by such esteemed museums as the The Metropolitan Museum of New York and the British Museum. The stately bookplate of Woodrow Wilson, the appropriately juvenile plate of Leroy Goble’s son (Francis) Cleon, and the art deco inspired plate for artist O. Adreas Garson all exemplify the way Junge adapted his design aesthetic to best represent his client. My favorite is the plate for Lewis Clifford Fiske, with its scowling swordsman pointing insistently at the bookplate-within-a-bookplate (reading: “Fiske His Book”). It visually evokes the old tradition of placing a curse upon book thieves or careless borrowers, as if to say ”This is MY book. Return it, or face my sword!!”

Check out more Decorative Sunday posts here. 

You can find more posts about bookplates here. 

-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Assistant

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