George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

Bookplates Used in the Guide

This bookplate, used for gift books, has a sun motif. At the time of its founding Bowdoin College was the eastern-most institution of higher learning in the United States; the sun was chosen for the college seal as it rose first over Bowdoin.

A fund in memory of John F. Kennedy was established in 1964 by an annonymous donor, and supplemented by others thereafter. This bookplate is used in books paid for by that fund.

The Abbott Memorial Collection contains the records of the Abbott family, including authors Jacob and John S.C., and editors Lyman and Edward, as well as a collection of works by, edited by or about the family and its many members. A 1907 gift of Edward Abbott was suplemented by a later gift of Alexander L. Abbott.

Arctic explorer Donald Baxter MacMillan (Bowdoin 1898) was an avid collector of books about the polar regions. Books from his library bear this plate.

This bookplate identifies volumes from the library of Susan Dwight Bliss of New York City. They include a large and impressive collection of fine bindings, now housed in a baroque room named for the donor in Hubbard Hall.

This collection is the gift of the Anthoensen Press, a small letterpress house in Portland, Maine. Started by Fred Anthoensen (Bowdoin hon.1947), it was continued by each subsequent owner until its demise in the mid-1980s.

Designed by wood engraver and print historian Rudolph Ruzicka in 1967, this is a general-use plate.

This early 19th-century gift plate bears the name of Thomas Wallcut (1758- 1840), a major book collector. His library was originally given to the short-lived Dartmouth University. When it closed and its president, William Allen, became president of Bowdoin, the collection came with him.

"Ex-libris Richard Harwell," with its quotation from England's first printer, William Caxton, identifies those books given to the library by Harwell, Librarian of the College, 1961-1968.

Children's writer Kate Douglas Wiggin Riggs, the second woman to receive an honorary degree at Bowdoin (1904) and founder of the Society of Bowdoin Women, gave the college her collection of books, which includes many volumes inscribed to her by their authors or illustrators.

A theater book fund was established in 1956 in memory of C.R. Crowell (Bowdoin 1913), bookman, actor, agent, and founding member of the Port Washington [New York] Play Troupe.

This fund in memory of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Harold Hitz Burton (Bowdoin 1909) was established 1959 by his former law clerks and secretary. It is an unrestricted fund.

The bequest of James Bowdoin III included lands, scientific instruments, works of art, and books. The last of these are identified by this bookplate bearing the heraldic device of the Bowdoin family.

Harvard graduate William Cross Williamson donated books in memory of his brother, Joseph Williamson (Bowdoin 1849), a judge in Belfast, Maine. Judge Williamson is remembered as the author of the Bibliography of the State of Maine.

This memorial fund was started with donations from members of the class of 1950 which, because of the return of World War II veterans, was for many years the largest graduating class. It was presented to the College as part of its 25th reunion celebration.

The Theological Society, founded in the College's first decade, was one of the earliest student groups on campus. It's original library was destroyed in the 1836 Maine Hall fire, but was later rebuilt with books bearing this plate.