author
Wilbur Macey Stone
1862–1941
Best known for his books on bookplates and early children's literature, this curious collector brought a rare mix of design history and literary enthusiasm to his writing. His work opens a window onto the tastes, books, and visual culture of an earlier age.
1 Audiobook
About the author
A mechanical engineer from East Orange, New Jersey, he also became a serious collector, writer, and editor with a deep interest in bookplates, children's books, and related visual ephemera. His surviving papers describe him as a collector of children's books and toys, and note that a collection of his paper dolls was exhibited at the Newark Museum in 1931.
He wrote and edited books including Book-plates of To-day, Women Designers of Book-Plates, Some Children's Book-Plates, Books That Never Grew Up, and catalogs drawn from his own collection of early children's books. These works helped document both the decorative art of bookplates and the history of children's reading.
He was also connected with the American Antiquarian Society, where his contributions included writing on early children's books. Today he is remembered less as a novelist than as a lively historian of small printed things—bookplates, chapbooks, toy books, and other treasures that many readers might otherwise overlook.