Inscriptions and Bookplates

There are some collectors who seek pristine copies of books for their collections, and one of their most important stipulations is that their old books have no writing inside. I have never minded inscriptions; in fact, I tend to like books that contain inscriptions. The inscriptions give the current owner a glimpse into the past history of the book.

Sometimes I will keep a book in my collection solely because of a certain inscription or bookplate that I rather like. Pictured at the right is one such bookplate. It is pasted to the inside front cover of a solid blue Nancy Drew book from the late 1940s that has the blue silhouette endpapers. The book has no dust jacket and is worn. Since I own many nice, dust-jacketed Nancy Drew books, I have no use for the book. I have kept it only because of the delightful bookplate. The bookplate reads:

The errant cat,
though oft astray
Comes back to home
at last one day,
Ah, may this book
when lent be feline
Enough to make
a homeward beeline!

My copy of The Curious Quest by Virginia Fairfax has a message inside it from the original owner, and I have kept this particular book instead of another one that I later acquired that was in slightly better condition. On the reverse side of the front free endpaper, the original owner, Elaine Fredrick, wrote her name and address. Underneath her address, Elaine wrote, "Better look at page 89 if you find this book—"

The message sounded rather ominous, so of course my reaction when I first read the message was to do exactly what Elaine wanted me to do. I turned to page 89. On page 89, Elaine had written "turn over a leaf" and so I turned to the next page. On page 90, Elaine had written, "You are a thief."

Ouch! While the message is kind of rude, actually, it delights me each time that I read it. I didn't steal the book, Elaine! I bought it on eBay, fair and square! It was probably sold at your estate sale to a dealer who in turn sold it to me.

I love reading messages such as Elaine's which reveal exactly how much the original owner cherished his or her books.

I also love reading inscriptions which reveal how much a mother or father loved their son or daughter. I bought a book that had an inscription from a mother to her daughter. The mother wrote, "For 'our Janie.' " The quotes around "our Janie" said it all.