Ever since people have collected books, there have been bookplates to identify their owners. For centuries, fine artists and illustrators have used bookplates as a medium for creating beautiful designs, some simple and utilitarian, others richly elaborate and ornate. In a unique homage to bookplate art, this treasury illuminates 342 of the finest examples of the craft in a breathtaking variety of black-and-white images. Produced by woodcut, engraving, etching, and other methods, and collected from all over the world, each bookplate is a masterpiece in small scale.