Chris Aldrich

Typewriter Plates for Collectors?

Lately I've been talking to a few people about book plates for book collectors who occasionally loan out their books. After the owner has died, these also become a part of the material culture and are used as provenance for future book collectors, librarians, and researchers. These discussions have overlapped in some recent typosphere events including Sarah Everett asking for photos of repair shop labels, Lucas Dul having printed some repair shop stickers for Typewriter Chicago, and […]

https://boffosocko.com/2026/03/21/typewriter-plates-for-collectors/

Mar 21 at 8:11pmWeb
Show threadEmmanuel WaldMar 22

@chrisaldrich I wouldn't add sticker on the outside. If I like to use typewriters, it's in part because they're a part of an other time, relics from the past; even if they're a part of my actual workflow in 2026, I tend to aesthetically conserve them, not unlike museum pieces.

But I would totally add something on the inside, and I think it's a wonderful idea! I love to find *ex libris* in the old books I buy (but nobody put an *ex libris* on the cover), I think it would be cool to find an *ex thesauro* (I prefer this form over "ex collectione", it feels more classic to me but I'm not a good Latin writer so I may be wrong). It's like a little gift to the people who will own my machines after me, as they would know more about the history of the machine.

Thanks for the idea!