Rambles in Bookland

1922

Private Collection

Whitcombe & Tombs

The Whangarei-based book collector Frank Wild Reed (1874-1953), older brother of A. H. Reed, had two bookplates. One was his ‘Alexandre Dumas’ bookplate, designed by Miss Doreen Price, and created because of his passion for the French Romancer. The other (on display) was an example of a rebus bookplate, one that offers a visual riddle. Reed’s name lent itself to an Egyptian theme and the use of papyrus reeds in the foreground. The bookplate was printed by Ronald Holloway, an Auckland printer, in 1933.