We focus on British bookplates, but membership is worldwide. Some of our members are bookplate artists, and we maintain a list designers in the British Isles who are currently willing to accept commissions (see Gallery - Artists). Many of our subscribers are not bookplate collectors at all, but have diverse interests in kindred fields of heraldry, genealogy, biography, bibliography, printing & engraving, and graphic art. They find the range of bookplate design, technique and history to be fascinating.

If you wish, before joining, to receive a sample copy of The Bookplate Journal for £7 (post free in UK) please write to the Society's Hon. Treasurer (details on contacts page).

Membership benefits
The annual subscription entitles members to the following benefits:

The Bookplate Journal (ISSN: 0264—3693) commenced in 2003 its 2nd Series in enlarged format. It is now a 72-page journal published in Spring and Autumn each year.

The Bookplate Society Newsletter (ISSN: 0309—7935) appears twice a year in Summer and Winter. It gives news of meetings, auction lists, membership changes, sales and wants, and items of interest not covered in the Bookplate Journal. Occasionally there is an extra bonus - our June 2003 Newsletter included an original print of C.W. Sherborn's armorial bookplate for Montagu Knight of Chawton, and with our December 2005 Newsletter we were pleased to be able to distribute originals of J.A.C. Harrison's fine seal armorial for Herbert Walter Plews Harrison. With our June 2008 Newsletter each subscriber received an original bookplates of Sir William Forbes Bart. of Pitsligo, dating from the 1790s and illustrated in Lee and Campbell's Scottish Bookplates.

In the past, subscribers have received a members book every year. For 2002 this was John Blatchly's Bookplates of George Wolfe Plank. In succeeding years this was followed by two books by Brian North Lee: Some Bookplates of Heralds, and Some Bookplates of Church of England Parochial and Cathedral Libraries. For 2005 the subject of our book was Bookplates in the Trophy Style, which provided an interesting view of the ex-libris of military men. We have an ongoing plan to publish studies of the work of artists, and to cover bookplate history by styles, themes and by different areas of the British Isles, such as the book by Sir Ilay Campbell and Brian Lee on Scottish Bookplates, our members' book for 2006 and now available for purchase by non-members. Books now in the pipeline are mentioned on the Projects page. There came a point at which, in order to avoid any increase in the £30 UK subscription, we decided to issue books once every two years, commencing with the book for 2007/8, but this does not preclude the provision of bonus items from time to time. Our 2007/8 book was John Blatchly's East Anglian Ex-Libris, and for 2009/10 we have secured copies of Karen Livingstone's The Bookplates and Badges of C.F.A. Voysey, Architect and Designer of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Our latest book, by Colin Lattimore, is about the bookplate work of Miss C Helard, wife of author and heraldic authority Arthur Fox-Davies. This appeared in April 2012, for the two years 2011 and 2012. Anyone joining in 2012 (or who left end-2011) may pay £10 extra in order to receive the book.

The Society holds two bookplate study meetings (usually in central London) and two auctions each year in which our overseas members participate keenly by post. Since 2007 we have had such a wealth of material offered for sale that we have been able to hold a third auction.

From time to time the Society holds public exhibitions of bookplates, and we try to coordinate this with the publication of our books. Thus our most recent exhibition was held at the College of Arms, London, coinciding with the issue of the book on herald's bookplates mentioned above.

If you would like to join online and pay by credit card through PayPal please click here.
For postal/cheque payments please read below.

Joining the Society
Application Form: If you live in the UK, you can join the Bookplate Society and receive a year's publications and join in our activities for only £30 sterling. This £30 subscription has been held unchanged since 1995 (although the dollar rate has had to be adjusted in line with the exchange rate) and is payable on 1st January each year. Members outside the UK pay £39, $65 US or
€ 50, because we need to cover the cost of extra postage. Payment can be made by a cheque drawn on a UK or US account, or online by credit card through PayPal. Please download and print the application form, fill in your details and mail the completed form to us, together with your payment. The information in this form will be published in our Newsletter, the Members' Directory and the Directory published by the International Association of Bookplate Societies (FISAE) unless you ask us not to.

Standing order form: The officers of the Society give their time voluntarily, and we ask that all members with UK bank accounts please pay by bank standing order. Please download, print and use the standing order form.

Gift aid: The Bookplate Society is a registered charity (UK Regd. Charity No. 295678), so we ask all UK taxpayers to sign a gift aid declaration, please. This enables us to recover 20p for every 80p of subscription, thus helping to keep subscriptions at the present level. Higher rate taxpayers may recover their higher band tax.