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Spare the scribbles and leave those pages pristine

Special to The Oregonian By Special to The Oregonian The Oregonian
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on December 10, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Don't ruin books by writing in them.

More books probably are ruined at Christmas than any other time of the year. Instead of buying a gift card, parents, grandparents and friends jot down a holiday greeting in the front endpapers of the book.

This is a no-no.

Unless you authored the books, don't ruin them by writing pithy little messages such as "To my lovely grandson, with all my ...."

Chances are, the books will pass through the grandson's hands. The next owner -- if anyone else will accept the book -- won't want the personal message.

Give a volume to friends on their wedding, anniversary or birthday. Fine. But write any inscription on an accompanying card, not on an endpaper or on the half-title page.

The history of bookplates, book labels or book stamps is centuries old. Book historian William M. Ivins said the "size of the bookplate is usually in inverse proportion to the owner's interest in books."

The successful man of the house long has blessed a volume with his personal bookplate, which forever will personalize a book long after the owner and tome have separated. While bookplates may establish a book's provenance by identifying an earlier owner, mostly they are blemishes created by an owner's ego. Laying in an owner's personal card is much more appreciated by a later owner, unless the individual is so important that his/her signature adds rather than detracts from the book's value.

Sadly, there are worse book sins than signatures. Some owners deface books by writing on the edges, scratching notes in the margins, underscoring or leaving check marks so information can be found easier at a later time.

Argh!

-- Douglas Yocom

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