Frank Allen Bookplate Collection

Autographs of Jack Lond, Thomas Edison, , and Woodrow Wilson

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.