A Highly Important Collection of Judaic Bookplates

Bookplates, also known as ex-libris, have been used since shortly after the advent of printing in the late fifteenth century to declare one's ownership of a particular volume. Though these distinguishing marks of proprietorship have often been collected and prized, the present assemblage of bookplates of Jewish interest is almost certainly the greatest collection of its kind still in private hands.

Amassed by Moshe Ya'ari, the brother of noted bibliographer Abraham Ya'ari. The Ya'ari collection incorporates the work of numerous Jewish artists, including bookplates by Hermann Struck, Arthur Szyk and Ephraim Moses Lilien, one of the first illustrators to incorporate distinctive Jewish motifs in the bookplates he designed. The ex-libris in the collection also represent a fascinating cross-section of many famous Jewish book collectors, scholars and institutions. Perhaps the most fascinating segment in the Ya'ari collection are the many bookplates of average individuals, emphasizing perhaps that ex-libris can and do operate as a democratizing factor in the broader world of bibliophily. Anyone who owns even a single volume is able to mark his or her books in a manner which reflects both a personal sense of aesthetic as well as pride of ownership.

The printed catalogue mistakenly attributes the collection to Abraham Ya'ari. The bookplates in the collection were assembled by Moshe Ya'ari, the brother of Abraham Ya'ari.