Frank Allen Bookplate Collection
This is an engraved bookplate from the Mary Crease Sears collection. We also
hold the final handmade draft of this plate, with correction notes for the engraver.
Frank Allen (1913-1978) donated the Frank Allen Bookplate Collection of
handmade bookplates to Western Michigan University in 1965. He had been amassing
his collection of bookplates for twenty years before his generous donation. Mr.
Allen was an Assistant Librarian at Western Michigan University at the time of
his donation. As an avid collector of bookplates he belonged to several bookplate
organizations including:
The American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers,
The British Bookplate Club, and The Society of Ex Libris Historians. Mr. Allen
also published two books on bookplates: Bookplates: A Selection from the
Works of Charles R. Capon (1950), The Bookplates of William Fowler
Hopson (1961), The Golden Age of American Bookplate Design (1979)
and an article "Notes on the Bookplates of Amos Doolittle" which appeared
in Old Time New England (October 1948) and reprinted in Yearbook:
The American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers (1951). The
bookplate collection is divided into three parts: The Richard Lee Sterling
Memorial Collection , The Mary Crease Sears Collection ,
and The Frances Dallam Moss Bookplate Collection .
The Richard Lee Sterling Memorial Bookplate Collection was donated in 1965
by Frank Allen. Mr. Allen was Assistant Librarian here at the time, and an avid
bookplate collector. Richard's father, James C. Sterling, received his degree
in Librarianship in 1952 at Western. Mr. Allen made this donation in memory of
Richard Lee Sterling who died in 1963. The bookplates are by leading American
artists up to 1945. Among the collection are original works by Carl S. Junge,
Dugald Stewart Walker, and Amos Doolittle, as well a scrapbook and an obituary
of D.S. Walker, an artist and bookplate designer.
Frank Allen donated the Richard Lee Sterling Memorial Bookplate Collection in
honor of Richard Lee Sterling who died in 1963. James C. Sterling, Richard's
father, received his certificate in Librarianship in 1952 from Western Michigan
University. The Bookplates demonstrate the creative and aesthetic efforts of
many American and foreign artists and designers before 1945. Among the collection
are original works by Carl S. Junge and Amos Doolittle.
The Mary Crease Sears Collection includes original pen
and ink sketches and block prints of finished designs from Sears' bookplate career
(1890-1938). Sears was primarily a bookbinder. Her bindings may be found at Harvard
University and the Cathedral of St. John the Devine. While the majority of the
Sterling Collection leans toward armorial designs and family crests, the Sears
Collection offers a wide variety of designs incorporating monogram initials and
flora in a decidedly Victorian style.
The Frances Dallam Moss Bookplate and Design Collection consists
solely of one artist: Dugald Stewart Walker. Dugald Stewart Walker (1883-1937)
was an eminent artist, author, and bookplate artist. The collection contains
an obituary, correspondence between Moss and the owners of the bookplates, and
the bookplates designed by Dugald Stewart Walker.
In addition to the bookplate collection Mr. Allen also donated several books
on bookplates, bookplate collections, and bookplate artists.
Finding Aids: Richard Lee Sterling Memorial Bookplate Collection
Mary Crease Sears Collection Frances Dallam Moss Bookplate and Design Collection
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