Bookplate of Richard Ellsworth Call, 1904

Summary

Bookplates show ownership, but they can also tell us more. Often pasted on the inside of a book's front cover or endpaper, these printed labels contain the owner's name and sometimes the words "ex-libris" (Latin for "from the library of"). Coats of arms, crests, other decorative images, poems, mottoes, and even font type provide insight into the beliefs, passions, and interests of the book's owner.

Bookplates show ownership, but they can also tell us more. Often pasted on the inside of a book's front cover or endpaper, these printed labels contain the owner's name and sometimes the words "ex-libris" (Latin for "from the library of"). Coats of arms, crests, other decorative images, poems, mottoes, and even font type provide insight into the beliefs, passions, and interests of the book's owner.

Artifact

Bookplate

Date Made

1904

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

RC.1.12

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Printing (Process)

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)
Tan (Color)

Dimensions

Height: 4 in  (bookplate)

Width: 3.125 in  (bookplate)

Height: 8 in  (mount)

Width: 6 in  (mount)

Inscriptions

on front: Ex Libris / Richard Ellsworth Call / Gude Friende for Jesus Sake beweare / To stele y booke you seest here / For I myself ha earned y pelf / And ken to own y booke myself / 1904

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