Most books contain clues relating to the many hands that made them. A rise in the appreciation for the art of the book — that is as an object — has generated a desire both to admire and to study books for their individuality and charming features, such as printers’ devices, marbled endpapers, painted fore-edges, bookplates and much, much more. This week’s blog post will focus on another aspect of the book as an object of material culture and the joys of uncovering small hints of provenance and gaining insight into the histories of past book trading. It’s now time for the booksellers’ labels or bookbinders’ tickets to shine!
A bookbinder’s or bookseller’s ticket can be defined as a small engraved, printed, (sometimes embossed or stamped too) label, often found affixed to the endpapers or flyleaves of a book. These labels usually give the name and often the address of the bookbinder or bookseller and can vary greatly in colour, shape, decor and cuteness.
From the Big Apple (New York) to our Fair City (Dublin) — and some places in-between — let’s take a look at some of the bookbinders’ and booksellers’ tickets that lie hidden within the many bindings in our collections.
37.P.36 The Little Bookstore, New York, c. 1927
Tucked inside the poetry book ‘Creatures’ by Padraic Colum, this 3 cm x 2.5 cm label with its stamp-like edges and horizontal style framing makes for a very eye-catching label. At a glance, one can imagine taking shelter from the bustling streets of 1920’s New York in this little bookshop, whose striking shop front takes pride of place on this bookseller’s ticket. Through the means of this tiny ticket, The Little Bookshop advertises the precise location of its shop, encouraging a return trip or perhaps influencing a potential new customer.
5.Y.9 The Hidden Bookshop, New York, c. 1928
Similar to the above, this bookseller’s label for ‘The Hidden Bookshop’ — once located underneath 74 Broadway, New York, — features both the name of the bookshop and an appealing illustration. On what appears to be a very comfortable looking plush armchair, a hidden reader privately enjoys their book. A simple illustration entices us, the viewer, to perhaps take a trip to the bookstore and purchase a book to curl up with, and get lost within.
2.V.34 Label of bookseller Maurice Le Dault
Ah, Paris!! Home to many beloved bookshops, some of which have been around for centuries — Shakespeare and Company and Librairie Delamain to name a few. Pasted on to the magnificent marbled endpapers of this book, one can find a bookseller’s ticket belonging to Maurice Le Dault (1871-1956), a man renowned for his efforts in the recognition and preservation of Breton culture. The Breton bookstore was founded by Le Dault in 1902, in Paris.
Upon the oval-shaped label, M. Le Dault’s name stands front and centre with ‘Librairie Breton’ ‘6 Rue du Val de Grâce…’ printed in vibrant red above and below the bookseller’s name. The simple symmetrical design further draws the eyes towards Le Dault’s name. Maurice opened his bookstore with the mindset of promoting and preserving Breton cultural heritage, a legacy which continues to inspire efforts of preservation to this day.
2.V.20 Bookseller’s label of J. Gamber, Paris, c. 1894
Remaining in Paris, the J. Gamber University Bookstore, or the Librarie d’Exportation, was once located at 2 Rue de l’Université. This red and mint-green coloured rectangular label, with some Art Nouveau-style decorative flourishes, features both the bookseller’s name and the address to find the Librarie d’Exportation. Below, a label from the same bookseller (note a change in the colour combination) was found pasted on to the spine of the book — a first, in my experience of searching for these tiny tickets.
A (rare?) example of a bookseller’s label pasted upon a book spine
1 OFM 0631A P. J. Doyle bookbinder’s ticket, c. 1700’s
Lastly, we’re off to the homeland! This bookbinder’s ticket is belonging to P. J. Doyle, a bookbinder once based in Co. Wexford. Despite appearing much more minimalistic than the aforementioned labels, this label holds some extra charm with it’s grubbiness, visible age and unevenly cut edges.
Found within a book dating to 1707, this label appears to have been printed using a dark red-ink. It is simple, to the point and includes a nice selection of typefaces. The smudged ink, visible at the bottom left corner of the label, could perhaps be the traces of a fingerprint and quite possibly belonging to the bookbinder himself.
Another similarly charming label is this example from Belfast (see below). The noticeable residue paste, staining, haphazard cutting and placement of the label truly adds to its overall character.
821 BRO W. Mullan & Son Booksellers label
The final tickets are two of many examples within our collections whose provenance traces back to the bustling city of Dublin, once a haven for bookbinders, booksellers and craftspeople alike.
43.G.6 Bookbinder Joseph Dollard’s ticket
Pasted upon these mesmerizing endpapers of green and shimmering gold shamrock, there’s no mistaking where this bookbinder’s bindery could be found. Joseph Dollard’s bookbindery was based on Dame Street, Dublin, and was prolific in both the binding and publishing of print materials in Dublin city. The expertly designed diamond-shaped ticket features a beautiful geometric, insular design and the contrasting circular design cleverly frames Dollard’s name and location.
949.5 DIE Browne & Nolan, Ltd.
A couple of streets away, Browne & Nolan Ltd. printers, publishers, account book and paper dealers were also busy at work. This precisely placed label stands out from the others with its vibrant pink coloured paper, horizontal shape and neat, black typeface. Pasted upon the inner bottom corner of one of the front flyleaves, it is quite difficult to miss upon opening the book.
These tiny delights shared above are a slight glimpse into the examples which can be found, and appreciated, amongst our book collections. Little has been written or published about this modest aspect of bookcraft, which perhaps signifies even more reason to keep a keen eye out for these unique pieces of book-trade history, often found nestled in the corner of the inner front board or backboard of a binding. One hopes that this blog post will provide a space for these quaint artefacts, within the larger history of past bookselling and bookbinding.
This post was written by Rachel Daly, Library Assistant, UCD Special Collections
Further Reading:
CANADIAN BINDERS’ TICKETS AND BOOKSELLERS’ LABELS by Gayle Garlock
Many thanks
Michael Byrne