ADRIAN FEINT 1894-1971
Australian Mutual
Provident Society 1934
wood-engraving
Australian Library of Art
State Library of Queensland Acc. 7230
(c) Estate of the late Adrian Feint
used with permission
Bookplate clubs and societies
Ex Libris societies began in England in the 1890s and commenced in Australia in 1923. The Australian Ex Libris Society began with 45 foundation members, but by 1930 their coterie had swelled to 185 bookplate artists and collectors. John Lane Mullins was elected inaugural President of the society in 1923. He held this position until his death in 1939, the same year the society folded.
Although its membership declined during the Great Depression, the Society continued to organise Ex Libris exhibitions, publish literature on bookplates, run competitions for artists and present bookplates to prominent people (such as the Duke and Duchess of York). As the Honorary Secretary, Percy Neville Barnett was one of their most active members. He wrote seven books on bookplates from 1930-1951. However, Barnett’s exuberance for bookplates was perceived as domineering by some members who formed the breakaway New South Wales Bookplate Club in 1932. They promptly announced an International Bookplate design competition which boasted 50 guineas in prize money. Such handsome winnings during the Great Depression caught the attention of the mainstream press. The competition was a success, but after a flurry of activity and several publications, the New South Wales Bookplate club faded from existence in 1935.
While Sydney was the centre of the Australian bookplate world, two important groups mushroomed in Melbourne. The Australian Bookplate Club began in 1941 through the enthusiastic efforts of collector R.H. Croll and printer John Gartner. The Club stimulated interest in bookplate design but does not appear to have survived beyond 1944. The Bread and Cheese Club, restricted to men only, formed in 1938 to promote Australian art and literature. It too held art exhibitions featuring bookplates and folded around 1946.
One of the impacts of World War II was the international decline in bookplate clubs and collecting. Organised interest in Ex Libris wasn’t revived in Australia until the formation of the New Australian Bookplate Society in New South Wales in 2005. This group aims to revive the lost art of bookplates by bringing together people with an interest in designing, owning, studying or collecting bookplates.
The New Australian Bookplate Society [new window]
The American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers [new window]
Last updated: 16th January 2012
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