The Modern Bookplate - An Example

Modern Ex Libris

Living where I do I often come across discarded military history and other defence studies books.  Every now and again I'm pleased to find that some of these books include bookplates.  Recently I picked up a couple of items that contained what could be considered very modern bookplates by typical standards, even though these ex libris appear to have been created during the 1970s or 1980s.

The plate on the left represented the library of the Canadian department of national defence's operational research division, whereas the plate on the right was for the DND Operational Research and Analysis Establishment.  A bit of research has suggested that neither of these libraries still exist, so I don't think I'll come across these ex libris again anytime soon.  I would still like to pin them down to a more definitive date, but in the meantime I'm glad I was able to pick up good specimens for my collection.

I don't know why exactly, but I find it interesting that the bookplate on the left appears to have been created with a dot matrix printer.  It gives the whole bookplate a very specific early computer tech look, which seems appropriate given the library the plate was made for.  Meanwhile the bookplate on the right clearly demonstrates the bilingual nature of the country's armed forces, as well as the connections to the commonwealth by the inclusion of the official crest.

Two modern bookplates, rather different from the usual fare that appears here.  Makes me wonder what other organizations were using bookplates well beyond the 'golden era'.  Until next time...