When I started college I had a small library of mostly paperback books that were dear to my heart. Many of them traveled with me from Alaska to Michigan, and then they got shuffled and schlepped from a University of Michigan dorm room to apartment after apartment.
My first real apartment was an adorable studio with high ceilings and a beautiful mantle shelf that was just the right size for my book collection, and after unpacking them all and admiring the view, I decided to finally purchase some bookplates. Regardless of my fluctuating income levels, books have always been a priority, so even in a tiny studio with no air conditioning, bookplates seemed necessary. I ended up purchasing a simple and beautiful label from Hollanders (if you are ever in Ann Arbor, I implore you to visit) with a sailboat design. I had to fill in my own name, but I still felt so fancy after lovingly putting them in all my books.
Naturally, my book collection continued to grow, and Hollanders stopped carrying the sailboat design. Initially I was heartbroken, because I loved the idea of consistent labels in every volume, but then I decided to embrace the new labels. I had no trouble finding other designs I liked, and in a way it marked a distinct division in my reading life; the sailboat books were my favorites from late high school (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Lost Horizon, The Good Earth), while those with the new designs were from college (Metamorphoses, Howard's End, A Lover's Discourse). I still however, depended on the whims of Hollanders and had to write in my name.
These single girl/book hoarder habits continued until I got married, and everything involving my name became more official. I started customizing and monogramming everything in sight, and bought myself some custom book plates from Felix Doolittle. Nate Berkus and Oprah Winfrey were huge fans of their products, which was how I first heard of it, and I loved their whimsical designs. Even though I had I felt I had "arrived" enough to buy custom labels, I couldn't justify purchasing their larger, more expensive plates, so I settled for the mini medallion style, illustrated with a little watercolour fox. I spot foxes now and then around Grosse Pointe and even had a Fantastic Mr. Fox-themed birthday one year, so they seemed like a good emblematic animal. Eventually I bought some return address labels and stationary that matched the book plates. Did I forget to mention that I'm an archivist, a book hoarder, and a general stationary enthusiast?
I was naturally devastated when they stopped producing the mini medallions. I had bought many up to that point, and a huge percentage of my library was labelled with them, especially since I had done significantly more book collecting after moving into a house with real bookshelves. I was so disappointed that I stopped buying bookplates and continued to collect books at my normal rate, though they sat naked and label-less on the shelves.
Finally I took the time to revisit their selection a few weeks ago, and was so delighted to see that they had added new illustration options to the larger bookplates (including a fox), and they had also dropped the price!
Naturally, I scooped some up and now I'm back to happily wandering around my house putting labels on things, which is my definition of pure bliss. I'm most excited for the books I've acquired more recently, like the volumes of Joan Didion, because they will all consistently have the beautiful new bookplates.