Bookplates pictures (various styles, personalized)

If you have a nice library you should have a nice bookplate! Even if you don't use it :)










Do not overlook the fact that a bookplate can be in colors other than black!




See also:

Make your own bookplate (ex libris)

Personalized printable Ex Libris (bookplate). Make your own!

The custom of adorning books with their owner's signatures is perhaps as old as books themselves. The reasons for having a distinctive stamp or a bookplate on every book in your home library are pretty obvious: theft protection (this includes the practice of "borrowing"), owner's pride, artistic value of the designs, the desire to leave some trace in this universe... My personal opinion differs from that of the most book collectors. I simply do not find it appropriate to permanently mark as yours an object that will most likely outlive you perhaps even without loosing any of its value. Of course, if we are talking about a stamp used by a library, that's a whole different story. On the whole, however, I think that bookplates are more appropriate than stamps, because they do not look permanent. Well, enough of the disclaimer! You still want to make your own ex libris or bookplate?

In the past pretty much the only way to obtain a personal ex libris was to have it designed by an artist and turned into a personalized rubber stamp. With the advance of computers it became extremely easy to design bookplates on your own PC and print them out. But what if you lack any artistic ability whatsoever? I suggest you use the tools available at www.says-it.com. Put the words Ex Libris at the top your your design and add your name on the next line. If you have a personal motto you can use it with or even instead of you name. It's that easy! Just make sure you use water resistant ink in your printer!

P.S. Do I need to explain that "ex libris" is Latin for "from the books"? :) By the way, some people incorrectly refer to bookplates as labels.

A reading room, separate from your home library?

The idea of having a special room set aside as a reading room only is not so far fetched, as it might seem at first. If you consider the ideal conditions for storing books with the conditions typically seen as most comfortable and pleasant for reading or working with books you will see the striking differences. Books (especially antique and valuable volumes) are best kept in rooms with little natural light and with low humidity. Reading is something that most people enjoy doing with natural light. Personally, I really like open air or at least an open window. It is therefore not such a bad idea to have a small room adjacent to you home library (if your financial situation permits :) ) that is specifically designed as a reading room. This means comfortable furniture, a large window to allow as much natural light as possible, well planned sources of artificial light, a desk and perhaps a small bookcase to store the books that you are working with at the time.

Book set buyer's guide

Buying book sets is perhaps the easiest way to fill the shelves of your home library with large quantities of quality books. The only way to achieve the same goal would be to inherit a library, I believe. The quality of book sets is usually assured by the fact that they combine editions that have already been published as separate volumes and have received recognition as such. Book sets are generally well designed and well published, most often as hardcovers. Although technically even two or three books qualify as a book set you will find many sets that exceed 20, 50 and even 100 volumes. Let us now looks a few categories of books that one needs to remember when it comes to choosing book sets for your home library.

• Encyclopedias and other reference works. These types of editions are by their very nature are prone being published in multiple volumes.
• Do you have a favorite author? There is a very good chance that you can find a collection of his or her works. From C.S. Lewis to Conan Doyle - take your pick.
  
• Collections of classical books. One such collection (Classical in more than one sense) is the Loeb Classics Library. This very prominent collection features almost the entire extant corpus of literary works from Greek and Roman antiquity (Greek and Latin texts with facing translations). There are many people who do not own the entire collection (about 500 volumes, I believe), but even if you decide to limit yourself to a specific subset of Loeb you will end up with a few very nice looking bookshelves that can be used for reference: ancient epics, ancient poetry, philosphical works etc. Just do not mix this collection with Harvard Classics. The Five-foot Shelf of Books. 52 Volume Set, which is an equally impressive set of books from later times.
  
• One of the most expansive book sets one can easily find for sale today is The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection: More than 1000 of the Greatest Classics Keep in mind, though, that if your favorite authors are featured in this collection you can limit yourself to just their works. Of course, in case of Dickens or Tolstoy that means dozens and dozens of books!
• If are interested in theology there are many reference works and Bible commentaries that can be usually purchased at a very low cost.
  
  

In my opinion, it is always preferable to buy a book set in its entirety. Even though on today's market it is not difficult to quickly obtain individual volumes their quality will differ depending on a lot of factors.

See also:

Book clubs - a great way to build a home library

Small Home Library + Living Room: Photos of Designs

If your current circumstances do not permit using an entire room as a library, it is most likely that the living room will have to carry on the same functions: storing books and media, and providing a convenient area for reading and occasional writing. Here I have gathered a few designs suitable for a living room / library. My favorite is the design with the columns. They separate two areas of the living room: the sitting space and the library.



















See also:
Architectural columns in home decor

Planning a home library: Reference books and more

Unless you are planning to house an existing collection of books in your new home library you will inevitably end up with more empty shelves that you want. It is possible to fill that space with classic decorative pieces: bookends, statues, globes etc. You should always consider whether your home library lacks some essentials, and if so you can purchase more books to achieve the look you might desire.

Reference books

Encyclopedias

The times when the only way to have quick access to information was to own an entire encyclopedia are gone. Computers are happily performing most of our reference needs. This means, however, that if a paper encyclopedia is something you would like to have in your house the price can be much more affordable than in the past. Used reference volumes can be found online, as well as at yard sales. Among the most authoritative remains Encyclopedia Britannica. Keep in mind that if you have a nack for antiquarian books, the 29 volume 1911 Edition is a classic that one should be very pleased to own. There is also the first edition. Although the original one may be in short supply and not within your price range, this four-volume compendium of late 18th century knowledge has been reprinted in all its glory.

Dictionaries

The Oxford English Dictionary is arguably the best lexicographic work of all time. The full edition is cumbersome and expensive, but there is a one-volume portable edition. If you want to have an American classic, it is important to remember that Noah Webster failed to secure any sort of trademark for his dictionary. As a result, anybody can publish a Webster's dictionary. That said, if you want the best American lexicography has to offer, you should go with Merriam-Webster, preferably the 3d edition.

If you know any foreign languages (no matter how well), it is a good idea to purchase authoritative dictionaries. And even if your linguistic skills are modest, it is a general idea to have a good dictionary for every one of the most important languages: French, Spanish, German, Latin. Quotation dictionaries are also useful. Oxford publishes a good one.

Classical works

Works by classical authors are generally inexpensive. You can very quickly build a collection of hard cover volumes. If, however, you have any interest at all in what can be properly called the classics (Greek and Roman), there is an excellent series that currently features nearly all of Greek and Latin texts prior to 4th century. I am talking about the Loeb Classical Library. These small well designed and well published volumes have Greek and Latin text accompanied by facing modern English translation. If you have a few bookcases that you feel like quickly filling up with first-grade books, Loeb is the answer!

Home Library - House of the Year

A little video of a home library. Could be an inspiration for someone... The color scheme hovers around pure plain white, rather unusual for libraries, but it works for this home owner.