Bookplates in Spain: History and Evolution

Leaving aside earlier precedents that may be considered ownership marks found in old Spanish codices and medieval manuscripts, the first recognized Spanish bookplate for which surviving examples exist is the one used in the private library of the Catalan historian and archivist of Barcelona Cathedral, Francisco Tarafa. It is an oval woodcut with a coat of arms and the year 1553, bearing the inscription “Bibliotheca Francisci Tarapha, Canonici Barchi”.

Francisco Tarafa’s bookplate (1553), considered the first known in Spain

The 17th and 18th centuries: Bookplates for the nobility

In the 17th and 18th centuries, many of the most renowned engravers produced bookplates for members of the Royal Household, the nobility, and the clergy. Particularly noteworthy for their historical importance are those made by the Flemish engraver Juan Schoerquens for Don John of Austria, and the plates engraved by Antonio Salvador Carmona for Pedro Álvarez de Toledo (Duke of Alba), after a drawing by Carnicero, as well as for Infante Luis Antonio de Borbón, designed by Maella.

Goya and Jovellanos: A jewel of Spanish bookplate art

From the late 18th century we also have the heraldic bookplate etched by Francisco de Goya for his friend Melchor Gaspar de Jovellanos. It is an etching of which only two proofs are known. One of them, preserved at the National Library of Spain in Madrid, bears the inscription “Del Sº Jovellanos” and is signed by Goya. This engraving was executed between 1780 and 1798.

Rare bookplate engraved by Francisco de Goya for Jovellanos

Modern bookplate culture in Spain

Modern Spanish bookplate culture begins with Mariano Pardo Figueroa (Dr. Thebussen), who published a study on the subject in 1875 in La Ilustración Española e Iberoamericana. Later, the bibliophile Pablo Font de Rubinat commissioned his first examples after a trip to the 1898 Paris Exposition Universelle, where a collection of bookplates from the National Library of Paris could be seen.

The 1901 “National Exhibition of Fine Arts”, which included a display of bookplates produced by José Triado, further boosted the movement in Spain. In 1902 the “Association of Iberian Bookplate Collectors” was founded, and in 1903 the “Iberian Review of Ex Libris” appeared.