The Art of Erotic Ex Libris (NSFW)

 

Ex Libris is a Latin phrase that translates as “from the books”. Also known as bookplates, Ex Libris were first used in Germany in the 15th Century. These designs are pasted into a book’s inside cover or endpaper as a sign of ownership.

The first books were highly valuable and prestigious objects, and often the Ex Libris show a motif relating to the book’s wealthy owner, such as a coat-of-arms, crest, family motto or a commissioned artwork by leading artists of their generation, such as Albrecht Duerer, Lucas Cranac and Edward Burne-Jones. More recent illustrations are by the likes of Aubrey Beardsley, Eric Gill and Félicien Rops.

As book ownership became more affordable, more of us began to use these identifiers and erotic pictures of nudes, genitals and sex became prevalent.

 

Germany’s Frederikshavn Kunstmuseum has a terrific collection of erotic Ex Libris, in which many of these designs appear. You can red more about them in Ex-Libris: The Art of Bookplates by Martin J. Hopkinson.

 

 

 

 

Lead Image: Erotic Ex Libris Illustration By Walter Helfenbein