We’re exploring…the surprisingly dramatic world of book ownership. 
Before barcodes and due dates, readers used bookplates, personal stamps, heartfelt inscriptions—and sometimes blood-chilling curses—to say: this book is mine.
This session invites you to:
Peek into the personal flair of book ownership through history
Explore the mix of art, identity, and superstition behind bookplates and warnings
Wander down a particularly cursed rabbit hole of poetic threats
“Steal not this book, for fear of shame,
For here you see the owner’s name.”
— 18th-century ownership inscription
What are bookplates and ownership marks?
Bookplate (Ex Libris): A decorative label pasted inside the cover, often with a name, crest, or motto. Think of it as a classy “this belongs to me.” These range from the simple (just a name in fine print) to the lavish (engraved coats of arms, hand-drawn illustrations, Latin mottos, or personal symbols). Many are miniature works of art. Some collectors value the bookplate more than the book.
Ownership Inscriptions: Handwritten notes claiming, gifting, or dating the book. Sometimes touching. Sometimes possessive. Sometimes weird. They can create a chain of custody, revealing the book’s personal journey through time.
Book Curses: Medieval threats scrawled in the margins to prevent theft or loss, ranging from spiritual warnings to surprisingly creative hexes. Before overdue fines, there were medieval book curses, handwritten threats meant to scare off thieves and negligent borrowers. These curses could be found at the beginning or end of a manuscript, especially in monasteries where books were rare and precious.
Library Stamps, Embossers, and Withdrawn Marks: Institutional claims that document a book’s past lives in libraries, collections, or private hands.
Explore
Ownership marks are identity, history, and drama, pressed into a book’s opening page.
They tell us:
Who read and loved a book before you
How books travel across time, hands, and libraries
What lengths people once went to protect their precious pages
In rare books and archival work, provenance marks help us trace authenticity, value, and cultural memory. In everyday reading, they’re like literary graffiti left by someone who mattered, even if just to one book.
Questions for the Bookplate Reader:
How does it feel to read a book that clearly mattered to someone else?
The Curse of the Hidden Book -Hidden in the front pages of a 13th-century manuscript:
"He who steals this book shall be hanged on a gallows in Paris…"
And that’s just the start.
Book curses were once standard in monasteries and personal collections, written in Latin, English, and rhyme. They warned of divine retribution, public shaming, and more than a few demonic enforcers.
Some were serious. Others? Gleefully vengeful.
"If this book you steal away,
What will you say on Judgement Day?"
“May the hand that steals this book wither,
May his eyes fail, and all his days be full of sorrow.”
Not all were fire and brimstone. Some were quietly witty:
“This book belongs to me, and I’ve chained it to this wall, so that’s how it shall be.”
So yes, your librarian got distracted. A rabbit hole was entered. And instead of getting up to do something productive, we’re now reading 700-year-old rhyming death threats.
And now you are, too.
