Enrichment · Passion Projects

Every owner
left a mark.

An inscription, a library bookplate, a pencilled lot number: an old book carries its own history, if someone writes it down in order. Record each mark, put the owners in a chain with their evidence, and the gaps worth researching stand out.

Add a bookWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 34 items.

Your books

The worked example is made up around a real title: an 1843 first edition with an inscription, a library bookplate, a sale label and a 32-year gap, and a family Bible passed down unbroken. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A record per book with its title, author, imprint, edition and binding; every mark with its kind, where it is and what it says; the chain of owners with how each acquired it, the years and the evidence; whether it was in Europe from 1933 to 1945; six research checks. Lists the owners in order; flags gaps between owners, unknown acquisitions and a change of hands from 1933 to 1945.
Who it is for
Collectors, family historians, students in book history or archives classes, and volunteers at small libraries and historical societies.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per book. Prints one book’s provenance, every book in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Go through the book page by page and photograph each mark.
  2. Record each mark, then turn the marks into owners.
  3. Put the owners in order with years and evidence.
  4. Research the gaps the page flags.
  5. Print the record and keep it with the book.

Add a book

Where to look

Where owners leave marksplateTITLEFront pastedownbookplates, shelfmarks, booksellers’ ticketsFront free endpaperinscriptions and gift notesTitle pagelibrary stamps, signaturesMarginsannotations in the owners’ handsRear pastedownsale labels, prices in pencilWhere owners leave marksFront pastedownbookplates, shelfmarks, booksellers’ ticketsFront free endpaperinscriptions and gift notesTitle pagelibrary stamps, signaturesMarginsannotations in the owners’ handsRear pastedownsale labels, prices in pencil
A removed bookplate leaves a pale rectangle or a scraped patch. Note it; it is part of the history too.

Writing a provenance note

Libraries and dealers write provenance oldest first, with the evidence in brackets: “Thomas Hale (inscription, 1843); Halford Library (bookplate); Margaret Ellis (sale, lot 212)”. Mark guesses as guesses.

1933 to 1945

Books, like art, were seized from Jewish families and others in Nazi-controlled Europe. Under the 1998 Washington Conference Principles, institutions research changes of ownership in those years; registers such as the Lost Art database list items reported missing.

Sources

  1. Association of College and Research Libraries, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section. Provenance Evidence thesaurus and Guidelines for the Security of Rare Books (rbms.info).
  2. Pearson, D. (1998). Provenance Research in Book History: A Handbook. British Library.
  3. U.S. Department of State. Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art (1998) (state.gov).
  4. International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Stolen books database (ilab.org).

The worked example is made up around a real title. This page organizes research; it does not authenticate or value a book. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.