University of British Columbia bookplate collection online

Ex Libris Myrtle Bryce by Stanley Harrod

The University of British Columbia's Rare Books and Special Collections Division has made their bookplate collection available for browsing online.  This fascinating website incorporates the Thomas Murray Collection and greatly expands upon the number of bookplates that may now be examined more closely.  Needless to say this is great news for the hobby, and for Canadian book history in general.

I was pleased to find a number of new bookplates I had not seen before, including several by some of the artists and designers I've begun taking a greater interest in researching further.  For example, the bookplate on the right is a great specimen of Stanley Harrod's wartime work, and is but one of several interesting ex libris to be found in this collection.

Hopefully other Canadian institutions with similar collections in their holdings will take note and perhaps follow suit.  With each new collection opened to the public, interest in both our hobby as well as our cultural history grows.  Be sure to take a moment sometime soon and check out the collection.  Until next time...