Rockwell Kent: The Art of the Bookplate

The 175 bookplates that Rockwell Kent designed over the span of a half century are a hidden facet of his graphic arts career. Kent stands alone among twentieth-century American artists; he was not only a prolific painter, author and illustrator, but also an adventurer and political reformer. Until now, the extent and significance of his bookplate art were largely unknown. After all, a bookplate is intended to disappear inside the cover of a book. But as Don Roberts makes so engagingly clear, each tiny work represents the passion for books that Kent shared with his clients.

What emerges in this beautiful volume is more than a chronicle of one aspect of Kent's work. It is the story of communion between artist and client, woven within the saga of Rockwell Kent's life and times. Sidebars and 173 black-and-white illustrations help illuminate the text. A foreword by Kent authority Will Ross ponders Kent's rise to unprecedented fame and his subsequent fall from favor. Appendixes include two of Kent's essays on the subject as well as a master list of his bookplates.