15. Reitsma Valenca, E., Bergen N.H., Netherlands, to Samuel X Radbill, 20 January 1958

File — Box: 1

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: This collection of Samuel X Radbill's correspondence concerning bookplates spans 1936 to 1963. Included among the correspondents are bookplate collectors, as well as bookplate designers and engravers. The major correspondent in the collection is Dutch bookplate engraver E. ReitsmaValenca. In addition to correspondence, the collection contains one of Radbill's bookplates as designed by ReitsmaValenca and photographs of bookplate engraver Ernest Huber.

Radbill corresponded frequently with Reitsma Valenca over a three year period; he had commissioned the Dutch engraver to design a bookplate for him. Their correspondence provides details about the creative process involved in producing a bookplate, such as deciding on themes, symbolism, and design. In addition to providing insight into the intellectual content of Radbill's bookplate, these letters describe the engraving process and the different "stages" of a bookplate. Included with the correspondence is a copy of Radbill's bookplate in its second stage.

Radbill corresponded with other bookplate engravers, including John W. Jameson and Ernest and Lucie Huber. Included with the Hubers' correspondence is a photograph of Ernest, autographed and dedicated to Radbill, and a photograph of Ernest with Radbill. Also present is biographical information (in German) and an article (in French) that appeared in L'Ex Libris in 1963.

The other letters in the collection are from bookplate collectors, including Manuel A. Ortiz, J. Sidney Pearson, Clare Ryan Talbot, and Irene Green (Dwen) Andrews. Pearson and Radbill were collaborating on a definitive alphabetical list of medical bookplates; included in the collection is the "A" list sent by Pearson to Radbill. Also present is a letter to Mrs. Radbill from Clare Ryan Talbot; Talbot mentions that she is sending the Radbills a copy of her latest book (probably Historic California in Bookplates [1936]). Also included in the collection is correspondence from Irene Greene (Dwen) Andrews, the author of several works about collecting books and bookplates, including Owners of Books: The Dissipations of a Collector (1936), which Radbill mentions in his letter to her.