Pockets of People Interested in Books And Prints often in Art Museums and Libraries

Print clubs often began as pockets of people interested in books or prints. It was museums and libraries which sought out the prints. When one reads the accounts of Sheldon Cheney (1906-1910) and later H. Alfred Fowler (1911-1945) one can identify with the enthusiasm the took the States by storm. (Cheney was editor of the Book-plate Booklet, Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Fowler was editor of the Book-plate Booklet Volume 4.) I have chosen to let these two gentlemen speak in their own words with excerpts from their published chronicles. (Bold type has been added by me to highlight some points.) Thanks to the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, MO for the use of these materials. (Above design by Albertine Randall Wheelan)

Editorial
"The publication of a magazine in the interests of the book-plate art assuredly has a place in this day of multitudinous literary ventures. It is a regret to all book-plate collectors that the previous attempts at such a publication in America have failed, in the end, for one cause or another. There is a fascination in the study of ex-libris, which creates a fraternal comradeship between collectors. That indefinable sense which binds lovers of the beautiful together, and the antiquarian interest which holds two collectors together far beyond meal or bed-time, both contribute to make ex-libris collectors akin. There should certainly be some medium between collectors; some outlet for expression on the subject which is worth while. The little magazine, if it may aspire to that name, which is born in this issue, is not in the least pretentious. It is in the nature of a private or amateur publication. It is in no way a commercial enterprise. The experience of others in the same field has precluded any idea of financial gain. "California Book-plates" will appear occasionally, as material for each issue and time for editing it come to hand. The present number is more personal than the following ones will be, it being entirely the work of the editor. Hereafter it is hoped that articles by the well-known authories on ex-libris will see the light in these pages.
(Right design by Mary Eleanor Curran)
There are ever new ideas about certain classes of plates--children's, ladies,' medical, ecclesiastic and the several other groups--they may all be discussed to advantage. And there is always the long-mooted question of heraldic or pictorial plates. The mottoes on book-plates are always interesting, and there are many plates of special interest which can be described. There are a hundred departments in which new material may be found. The title of the magazine is a little misleading in that it would suggest a purely local field.
Though there will always be some leaning towards articles touching on California's plates, the make-up will in the main be for all collectors of ex-libris. It is hoped that check lists of the work of the more prolific California designers can be published, and there will be descriptions of California's collections and of older California plates. All of which, however, should be of interest to the serious collector and sincere student of book-plates."

California Book-Plates--A Survey
"The history of the use of book-plates in California is as yet very obscure. No one has ever made a special study of the local field, and there is no authority to tell us which plates are truly Californian, or even to give us an idea of the number of plates in use during the first half-century of the State's existence. It is hoped that the publication of this magazine will serve to bring together all the data on the subject, and that in time a complete list of ex-libris used prior to 1900 can be compiled. Since the latter date, so many plates have come into existence that a collector must needs give all his time to keep them straight." (Left design by W. T. Winterburn)

"The first authentic California book-plate known to collectors is that of Wm. D. Odds, dated San Francisco, 1849. Of course there may have been earlier plates brought over the plains by the families who came in 1848, or earlier, but until such have been proven and established, the Odds must stand as the pioneer of California ex-libris. After the Odds plate the present writer knows of very few positively identified as to owners and dates before those of the late nineties. The armorail plate of Hall Mc Allister and the pictorial plate of L.W. Lees are both well-known to collectors. The owners were both men intimately connected with San Francisco's public affairs in the early days. Besides these, there are perhaps a dozen before 1890 of which collectors are sure. But during the last few years of the nineteenth century, and since, the use of book-plates has grown rapidly, and today there are a dozen plates where there was one ten years ago."

"Of California designers, Mrs. Albertine Randall Wheelan stands first and foremost, not only in the number of plates done, but in the quality of workmanship. Mrs.Wheelan has made book-plate designing her special field, and now has something over sixty plates to her credit. It would be difficult indeed to pick out one of her plates and hold it up as her best. Her seven designs for the University of California form a set equaled in very few libraries of the world. In looking through a collection of Mrs. Wheelan's work, the quality one must notice above all others is the dignity, the essential strength of her designs. They are all plates well thought out, and almost without exception they have symbolic meaning. Probably no designer in the country, excepting, of course, our great engravers, can claim a set of plates as satisfactory individually and collectively as Mrs. Wheelan's." (As seen above to the Right here)

"Mr. E.J. Cross of San Francisco has designed about a dozen plates for Californians. His work has been along such diverse lines that a general characterization is impossible. The striking boldness of his designs for Jack London and Edward M. Lind is in utter contrast with the delicacy of the Margaret Wilson Harwood plate. There is a decorative quality in the plate for Edgar C. Chapman which appears in few of his other designs. Each plate is distinctive, and yet through them all there is a standard of excellence which shows that the artist knows thoroughly the capabilities of each of his mediums."

"Miss Mary Eleanor Curran of Los Angelos is represented by several good decorative plates. Posteresque is the only word which describes several of her designs. Miss Helen Coan, also of Los Angelos, has designed several plates for Southern Californians."

"To the collector California ex-libris the names of Xavier Martinez, Morgan Shepherd, G.H. Gihon and Florence Lundborg suggest themselves naturally as those of successful designers. There are many others whose one or two plates apiece cannot be described now, but whose work, it is hoped, will be reproduced in this magazine at some later date."

"Among the plates of Californians one may find the work of the best Eastern artists. The signatures of such men as J. Winfred Spenceley, E. D. French, A. W. Clark and William Edgar Fisher are to be found in the most representative collections of California plates." (Left design by C. F. Cross)

"Of California collectors, Rev. William Augustus Brewer of Burlingame has been most successful in his gathering. His collection numbers about four thousand and contains an unusually good array of modern engraved plates. His collection of E.D. French's designs number about two hundred and twenty. The library of the University of California has a collection of about twenty-five hundred plates. They are all unmounted, however, and so are, unfortunately, inaccessible to inspection."

"Morgan Shepard, the well-known publisher, who recently moved his business from San Francisco to New York, had a valuable collection which was lost in the San Francisco fire. The present writer has some six hundred plates, one hundred of which are Californian. Mrs. William H. Burnham of Orange and Miss Mary Burt Brittan of San Francisco have large collections. The collections of Miss Daly and Professor W.D. Armes of Berkeley, of Mr. W. A. Morrow of Oakland, and of Mr. Cross of San Francisco range from five hundred down."

"An attempt has been made in this short survey to give an outline of the history, designing and collecting of ex-libris in California. If the reader in finishing, has a better conception of the generalities of the subject, the author has accomplished his purpose. This description is by no means exhaustive of the subject; not does the writer pretend to know the entire field. Undoubtedly the work of some artists has been passed over and some collectors neglected, but it is hoped that this magazine will aid in developing the whole field, so that in time an exhaustive treatise can, and will, be written." (Above design by editor and artist Sheldon Cheney) (above excerpts taken from "The Book-Plate Booklet Volume 1" edited by Sheldon Cheney Nov.1906 - Nov. 1907 / Catalog Number R 087 B724 v.1/ Missouri Valley Special Collections)

Comments by Karl Marxhausen: Sheldon Cheney is a fellow--who is excited about his plate "discoveries"--and who takes it upon himself to get the word out. Not for financial gain. Notice as well the number of plates being collected. People are very interested in these miniature designs. It is this living history that flows to us in 2010. Years before Fred Geary took up wood-engraving, people were drawn to exquisite designs, many of which were modern engravings, as we shall see later.