These five beautiful bookmarks showcasing the stunning art of Fiona Francois were recently gifted to me by my sister.  Thanks Sis!

My sister had visited Fiona's gallery in Deloraine, Tasmania, Australia, when she was there on a holiday in 2018.  She loved Fiona's artwork so much that she again visited in 2019.  This time, knowing my love of this kind of art, and my love of collecting bookmarks, my dear sister bought these five bookmarks for me as a gift.

Great to see a bookmark featuring prominently in this humorous artwork by Eric Lobbecke in the newspaper, The Weekend Australian, August 10-12, 2019.  There it is at the very top left of the page and it again appears behind the child sitting on her plush armchair reading the "Never Ending Story" which is upside down!  LOL!

Meanwhile Mum is in her beach attire sipping on a cocktail while reading her ebook, the dog is trying to get someone interested in a walk and the cat wistfully looks at several book pages floating away in the breeze.  Love it!

I have recently been having fun searching online for bookmarks held by museums, libraries, archives and historical societies.  It is so great to see that there are some bookmarks being collected and preserved by our wonderful public institutions.  

Typically, these bookmarks are donated by people (sometimes famous) as part of their larger donation or bequest of books, documents and other items.

Here are a few examples of these bookmarks that I have found so far in some American institutions.  Click on the institution name to view the bookmark in its original location and to read more about it.

Library of Congress
​The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
Washington, D.C., USA

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Washington, D.C., USA

​I have recently been having fun searching online for bookmarks held by museums, libraries, archives and historical societies.  It is so great to see that there are some bookmarks being collected and preserved by our wonderful public institutions.  

Typically, these bookmarks are donated by people (sometimes famous) as part of their larger donation or bequest of books, documents and other items.

Here are a few examples of these bookmarks that I have found so far in some British institutions.  Click on the institution name to view the bookmark in its original location and to read more about it.

British Museum
London, UK

Victoria & Albert Museum
London, UK

British Museum
​London, UK

London Transport Museum
UK

I have recently been having fun searching online for bookmarks held by museums, libraries, archives and historical societies.  It is so great to see that there are some bookmarks being collected and preserved by our wonderful public institutions.  

Typically, these bookmarks are donated by people (sometimes famous) as part of their larger donation or bequest of books, documents and other items.

Here are a few examples of these bookmarks that I have found so far in some Australian institutions.  Click on the institution name to view the bookmark in its original location and to read more about it.

For a few years, I have had an alert set up on eBay so that I know when vintage or antique bookmarks are posted for sale.  I also keep an eye out for other bookmarks.  

Yesterday, I received an alert for these stunning bookmarks.  They are a series of 48 bookmarks called "Affichistes de Siecle" (Posters of the Century), representing the 1900s, and were issued (date unknown) by the Centre de L'Affiche (Poster Museum) in Toulouse, France.  Each bookmark features an advertising poster, it's artists name and signature and the date the poster was released.  

Fabulous! I love them all.  Such a great set of bookmarks.  The sale price on eBay of AU$192 however, is a little bit out of my available budget at the moment, but at least I can collect the bookmarks digitally for free and share them here for other bookmark collectors to enjoy and perhaps even purchase!  Enjoy!

PS:  Unfortunately, the eBay seller photographed the bookmarks in plastic sleeves so the images are not as clear and crisp as they would otherwise be.  Not to worry, we can still enjoy them as they are.  

​Click on each image to enlarge.

European bookmarks are often very beautiful and these four of my favourites from the publisher Nieuw Amsterdam of the Netherlands are an example of that.

I received hundreds of stunning bookmarks by the publisher Uitgeverij Cossee of the Netherlands as part of my WOBODA Raffle 1st Prize.  This company produces beautiful bookmarks of exceptional quality and design.  I also like how they incorporate all the information on the front of the bookmark and leave the back blank.  Simple, beautiful bookmarks with great impact.  Here are 16 of my favourites.  I have included others, particularly in the Thematic pages of my website.

When I was unpacking the many parcels containing all the bookmarks I had won in the WOBODA Raffle (see previous posts), I was with my elder sister and elderly mother, who both enjoyed the whole process with me.  They both loved these three bookmarks in particular!  My sister said, "Wow, what hunks" and my 93 year old mother said "they are good looking young men aren't they".  Love it!  They are now way more interested in bookmark collecting.  LOL!

This is certainly one of the more unusual bookmarks I have received!  Yes, it's a toilet seat that clips onto the page of your book (as shown in the second image).  What's it all about Google Translate?

The bookmark is promoting the book "Caca: The Encyclopaedia of Shit" or as it is more politely called "Caca: The Encyclopaedia of Poo" by Oliviero Toscani of Colors magazine.  Fascinating!  Amazon.com told me more about the book:

"From the moment we're born to the moment we die, we produce it. It's as natural as breathing. But many of us can't bear to look at it, touch it or smell it. We dispose of it behind closed doors, flush it down clean white toilets, don't mention it in polite company. It's one of ""civilized"" society's last taboos. Enough! It's the world's most underrated resource. We can cook with it, build with it, admire it, wear it. It's unique (no two examples are alike). It's as old as creation. It will never run out. It's time to celebrate shit.Cacas, the first ever encyclopedia of shit, is a project of Colors. The magazine about the rest of the world, Colors has been on sale bimonthly since 1992 in 80 countries worldwide, in 8 bilingual editions: English paired with Italian, Japanese, Croatian, German, Spanish, Greek, Russian and French. As is the case with every issue of Colors, this book explores a single theme. And, as is the case with the magazine, the book Cacas exists thanks to United Colors of Benetton.
-- Explores 68 different types of animal shit from Antelope to Zebra
-- A unique cultural anthropology about shit
-- Features interesting and fascinating stories around the most natural thing of the world."

This striking set of 6 bookmarks from the Netherlands appears to be a bunch of sportsmen, footballers by the look of it, proffering motivational messages.  I have used Google Translate to translate the Dutch into English.  Hopefully, it is close to the intent of the messages.

The backs of the bookmarks are blank.

A beautiful set of bookmarks from the Netherlands titled "Best of YA" (Young Adult).  The back of the bookmark translates to "35 girls come to the palace, now there are only six".  Intriguing!

Delighted to have received this bookmark in a recent exchange with another bookmark collector.

​I have quite a few poetry books published by Norton on my bookshelves and this bookmark (on the back) lists many of my very favourite poets... Anna Akhmatova, E.E. Cummings, Audre Lorde, Robin Morgan,  Adrienne Rich, Rainer Maria Rilke, May Sarton, Patti Smith, and Wislawa Szymborska.

Ooh I do love Cecily!  I received the "Cecily was determined to turn over a new leaf" bookmark as a donation and already being a fan of Cecily, I searched to see if there were any other bookmarks available.  There were, I purchased them, and I now currently have the whole available set.  Yay!

As the Cecily website says, and do take a look...

"In case you have not been introduced to Cecily she is a cartoon character. Not just a stick thin pencil line drawing though, she is a well-rounded character, sometimes more well-rounded than she would like! Cecily is someone that women will recognise, for Cecily’s foibles are their own. Cecily diets, skips gym classes, sometimes drinks too much and worries about how she looks. She has bad hair days, occasionally consults her horoscope and struggles with technology. She is a modern woman who lives life to the full as she pursues career, friendship and love.

Cecily’s humour can be found on tasteful, useful and quality merchandise such as cards, tea towels, calendars, reading glasses, books etc. These can be viewed under the 'Products' tab on this web site and are available for you to purchase. Cecily merchandise can also be found in many quality gift and bookstores, a list of which can be seen under the ‘Stockists’ tab.

Have fun with Cecily!"

Celia Allison is the creator of Cecily.

​Here are the six currently available Cecily bookmarks...

...and then there is "The Cecily Book Book" with 20 tear-out bookmarks and a loan record...

When going through antique and vintage bookmarks one often comes across one that by today's standards, is considered "politically incorrect"... this c. 1930s bookmark is very much one of them!  Aargh!  Reeks of white superiority, racism and British colonialism.

Arthur Barker Limited was founded in London by Arthur Barker in 1932, and published a range of general titles, with an emphasis on fiction. During the Second World War Barker was a Japanese prisoner-of-war, and publishing was suspended between 1939 and 1946. The firm was purchased by the printing company Morrison and Gibb in 1946, and in 1959 sold to George Weidenfeld, where it became an imprint of Weidenfeld and Nicolson. The imprint ceased in 1991.

"I love Pippi Longstocking"... me too!  Happy 70th Pippi, actually 74th now!  

​Great bookmark!

Loved reading Pippi when I was a kid.

​Read all about Pippi Longstocking
(full name Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking).

These are two very attractive bookmarks from Lithuania.  Lovely graphics.

As the bookmarks indicate, Ekslibris.lt produces custom made stamps of all kinds, including for use as bookplates (ex libris), authorial marks, or for promotional / advertising purposes.