[New Year's Card] by T. F. Šimon, 1912, 7.5 x 7.5 cm on sheet 17 x 12.3 cm. C.P.J. van der Peet Collection of Czech Bookplates (BKP 94), Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, Yale University.

Other types of small graphic works were often collected alongside bookplates. This is a century-old New Year’s card by Czech artist T.F. Šimon (1877-1942). “P.F.” is an abbreviation for the French phrase pour féliciter, which was adopted in Czech and Slovak as a kind of shorthand for expressing New Year’s wishes. The artist’s distinctive monogram and signature appear beneath the image.

The Yale Bookplate Collection is a significant resource for both historical and artistic research—equally rich for someone interested in the visual culture of a particular time and place as well as someone seeking hands-on study of printmaking techniques.

Here are some starting points for approaching bookplate research:

• What information do you already have on your topic?
• What background information might improve your search?
• What types of primary sources might be relevant to your topic?

You might consider any or all of the following:

• Dates
• Places
• Persons
• Organizations, agencies, etc.

See below for selected collections organized around suggested themes.

Some possible themes by which to explore bookplate collections at Yale include:

This list represents the majority of archival holdings that make up the Yale Bookplate Collection. When available, links to finding aids and estimated dates are also provided in the document.