bookplate, a label with a printed design intended to indicate ownership, usually pasted inside the front cover of a book. Bookplates probably originated in Germany, where the earliest known example, dated about the middle of the 15th century, is found. The earliest dated bookplate extant is also German, from 1516. The earliest dated example by an American engraver is a bookplate for Thomas Dering in 1749.
Early armorial bookplates in 16th-century England consisted of a simple unornamented shield, symmetrically mantled helmet, crest, and a scroll beneath for the owner’s name. Ornamentation waxed gradually until about 1770, when classical motifs regained favour.
Pictorial bookplates included portraits (one by Albrecht Dürer engraved in 1524), arrangements of stacks of books, views of libraries, and landscapes. Allegorical bookplates were in favour in France during the reign of Louis XV and in England by mid-18th century. On these appeared personifications of the Christian cardinal virtues and other abstract ideas, such as truth, justice, wisdom, hope, and faith. Also introduced into the design were symbols of the interests and occupations of the book’s owner, such as scales of justice, naval and military trophies, and palettes. Toward the end of the 19th century, German designers began to use nude figures as a major motif of bookplate design, and this fashion was followed in Europe and the United States. Figures were treated naturalistically, sometimes with erotic intent.