What kind of bookmark should I use?

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What kind of bookmark should I use?

1DubiouslyDarling
Giu 3, 2020, 12:44 pm

Since everyone here strives to take as best care of their books as possible, I was wondering what everyone uses as a bookmark. I've been using a postcard my friend sent me, but now I'm afraid the ink will rub off onto the pages or something. All ribbons I have are in dark colors and I wouldn't want any dye to rub off onto the pages either. I'm new to buying FS books, and I want to keep them in the best condition possible.

2SF-72
Giu 3, 2020, 12:49 pm

I use actual bookmarks, a lot of which have a kind of protective layer over the print. I've never had rub off on my books.

3DubiouslyDarling
Giu 3, 2020, 12:54 pm

I think the last time I actually bought a bookmark I was in the 5th grade, hence my problem. I've always just used random bits of paper or sticky notes or something with my other books.

4treereader
Giu 3, 2020, 1:08 pm

I would imagine that any thin laminated bookmark would be alright. I use comparatively thicker wooden ones that are carved from/by a favorite arboretum.

Cheeky answer: None - nobody should ever use one for lack of need (all books started must be finished in one sitting)!

5DubiouslyDarling
Giu 3, 2020, 1:22 pm

>4 treereader: I think what I will do is cross stitch something, and preform DIY lamination with packing tape and an iron. If I line it up carefully there and trim as needed there shouldn't be any sticky bits.

6coynedj
Giu 3, 2020, 1:31 pm

my two bookmarks in current use are: the postcard notification of my voting location (there was a municipal election yesterday), and a postcard for a discount at an oil-change shop.

7jroger1
Giu 3, 2020, 1:36 pm

I pick up leather bookmarks from gift shops when I travel. I’m currently using one from the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. Two that I use a lot contain portraits of Robin Hood, one from Nottingham Castle and the other from the Sherwood Forest Visitor Center. I also have one from Iceland featuring a puffin and one from Costa Rica with a toucan.

8SF-72
Giu 3, 2020, 1:41 pm

>3 DubiouslyDarling:

I bought some in bookshops decades ago and still use / have those. I got another recently in a museum, and being a Terry Pratchett fan I bought some from Discworld Emporium. I rather like a beautiful bookmark.

Bookdepository sends one along with every book order, but those aren't the same quality, naturally. Still, I've never had one of those damage a book.

But yes, laminating one yourself should also do the trick, though it will probably have sharper edges than a bookmark for sale.

9Sorion
Giu 3, 2020, 1:54 pm

I use laminated bookmarks my kids have made for me. They draw pictures on the paper and then laminate them.

10terebinth
Giu 3, 2020, 2:00 pm

I've always avoided leather bookmarks, rightly or wrongly, as too thick for the health of a book, and metal as likely to mark pages at least were the book to be compressed. Bookmarks here can remain in place for decades, and no visible harm has been done either by card bookmarks (booksellers' or souvenirs) or strips of kitchen roll. Very visible harm has been done, in the form of brown rectangles, to at least two or three books where I've found twenty or thirty year old till receipts still between the pages, so I'll be careful not to let that happen again.

11SF-72
Giu 3, 2020, 2:08 pm

>10 terebinth:

Anything that isn't made of acid-free paper would be highly problematic. The same goes with non-acid-free sellotape, which can damage paper considerably.

12jroger1
Giu 3, 2020, 2:15 pm

>10 terebinth:
Long-term use of a thick leather bookmark might leave an indentation on the page, but I remove it as soon as I finish the book.

Perhaps this is an appropriate place to pitch for attached ribbon markers. My Eastons, Franklins, Library of Americas, and Everyman’s Librarys all have convenient markers bound in; Folio Society is the odd man out.

13RRCBS
Giu 3, 2020, 2:35 pm

I use a metal bookmark made by the Peter Pauper Press that I bought from amazon a couple of years ago. The tassel thing is coming off a bit but otherwise does the job. Prior to that I was using a big milestone sticker that came in a pack of stickers my daughter got as a gift when she was born.

14kermaier
Giu 3, 2020, 2:42 pm

I typically use a small piece of ephemera from a fine press publisher, e.g.:

15DubiouslyDarling
Giu 3, 2020, 2:47 pm

I ended up using packing tape to laminate the post card I was already using LOL. The post card is the right size where I should lose it, and its probably best to laminate it anyway to protect the writing from fading.

16Jayked
Giu 3, 2020, 3:02 pm

FS once provided a thick leather bookmark as a promotional tchotchke. I never used it -- dyed on one side, hairy on the other. If you left it in a book for a month you'd have a disaster. I have a huge collection from BD that have never caused a problem.

17folio_books
Giu 3, 2020, 3:07 pm

We got a long way into the discussion before someone mentioned The Crowbar. Oh, that was me ...

18Twas_Brillig
Giu 3, 2020, 4:06 pm

Folio used to package little offers on cards for introducing friends to the society in with their books - they had tearable bookmarks and I use these; I must have about seven.

19Dr.Fiddy
Giu 3, 2020, 4:21 pm

I’m just using small post-it notes. Works like a dream :)

20ubiquitousuk
Giu 3, 2020, 4:26 pm

I currently use some cardboard bookmarks that came with my last Blackwell's order. But much of the time I don't use a bookmark and just memorise the page (or, even easier, chapter) number where I stopped reading.

22SF-72
Giu 3, 2020, 5:13 pm

>20 ubiquitousuk:

Wow! That wouldn't work for me at all, my memory isn't that good.

23HugoDumas
Giu 3, 2020, 8:24 pm

I am like >12 jroger1:. I have travelled to 34 countries and always look for a nice leather bookmark as a souvenir. Such a joy to go through my leather book mark collection and decide which one to use while reading a book. Since a bookmark is seldom in place more than a day, do not worry about indentations from the thick bookmark. Obviously you should not keep it in a book if you have no intention of completing the book in a reasonable timeframe.

24AnnieMod
Giu 3, 2020, 9:26 pm

I tend to use whatever piece of paper is handy even though I have a few hundred bookmarks - mostly paper ones or the very thin plastic ones. I know people like leather and iron and what's not but I find these too bulky to put in a book... Empty index cards are awesome for that as well (and as they sit on my desk, I always have one handy). So do playing cards from a new deck :)

25EclecticIndulgence
Giu 3, 2020, 11:56 pm

Best bookmarks are acid free and as thin as possible as to not create indentations in paper stock. Anything thick or acidic should not be used.

26terebinth
Modificato: Giu 4, 2020, 2:49 am

>23 HugoDumas: Since a bookmark is seldom in place more than a day, do not worry about indentations from the thick bookmark. Obviously you should not keep it in a book if you have no intention of completing the book in a reasonable timeframe.

Occasionally I read a novel from cover to cover in a day or two, but usually I've at least six on the go at any one time, plus any number of further books indefinitely paused, and here and there an additional marker left in a book to mark some passage of which I want to be reminded. Hence unreasonable timeframes are the order of the day here, and when a leather bookmark comes my way the only certainty is that it won't find its way into a book.

Many of my books are a century or more old, and I've found all manner of paper and thin card left in them by previous readers: on one occasion banknotes, which were a pleasant surprise. Conspicuous ill effects are pretty rare, so the damage occasioned by relatively recent bookshop till receipts has stuck in my mind. Leaves and flowers, while charming, are a little hazardous too.

27housefulofpaper
Giu 4, 2020, 7:29 pm

My grandfather used a newspaper cutting to mark a passage in his Bible. That discoloured the page, but it was in the same place for at least 30 years.

I have accumulated quite a few bookmarks but I tend to use a sheet from a small, square telephone pad/scribble/notepad. There's no glue on it, it's either plain white or colour-fast, and it's fairly thin paper.

I don't suppose it's pH neutral, so leaving it in the same place for years just may have a similar effect as the newspaper cutting on the Bible (but it's surely better quality paper than the pulp used for newspapers).

I've found few treasures in second-hand books. A trolley-bus ticket in a paperback of Horse Under Water is all I can recall - oh, and a few of those Folio cards with a tear-off bookmark.

28Graham69
Giu 4, 2020, 8:11 pm

Using a bookmark that was included in an order from Blackwells. Has a nice sketch of Trinity College on it along with the description “Vintage edition bookmark. Originally designed and distributed circa 1939”.

29hamletscamaro
Modificato: Giu 5, 2020, 1:05 am

Some of my favorite bookmarks:
1. Airline boarding passes - they also help date my read and tie them to a pleasant trip (although I never travel with my nicer books)
2. The Folio "packed by" cards sent with my shipments
3. "ex Libris" cards I never wind up attaching to any of my books
4. And for simple functional bookmarks: magazine blow-in cards or unused tissues. I have these stuck in various books.

The cheaper functional solutions are usually for my standard books. For nice books I usually grab an acid free strip of unprinted paper.

30Macumbeira
Giu 5, 2020, 1:16 am

I purchased second hand books where letters were used as bookmarks. Sometimes this has pleasant consequences. I wrote about one such case in my blog.

http://www.macumbeira.com/2010/12/americo-bertuccioli.html

31HugoDumas
Giu 5, 2020, 11:01 am

>29 hamletscamaro: you are right to not travel with your nicer books. I always thought I was being smart when I traveled protecting my leather books with zip-up bible cases. One day on United Airlines as I was reading my leatherbound Durant’s Age of Faith the flight attendant came by with her service cart serving drinks. She splashed liquid all over the top gilt of the book, ruining it. In another incident I was reading a leather book on a subway in Chicago with the window open. As the train pull away from the station a disenfranchised youth spit some really nasty stuff on my open book.

32hamletscamaro
Giu 6, 2020, 11:20 am

>30 Macumbeira: Yes, that would be quite distressing. Especially when it is part of a set, as is your Durant. I took a few leather books with me on my trips during early collecting, but then was distressed when the cover boards would warp temporarily due to the drastic changes in humity levels. I decided back then it wasn't worth the extra wear and tear and usually purchase an ebook version if I wish to continue reading during my trip.

33HugoDumas
Giu 6, 2020, 3:42 pm

>32 hamletscamaro: I sold the damaged Durant and and bought a new sealed one on Abe’s, which is notorious for lack of information and pictures. Unfortunately I received a second generation Durant which has slightly different color tan and labeling; they added volume number. Oh well it does not match!

34jveezer
Giu 6, 2020, 3:50 pm

Bookdarts. https://www.bookdarts.com/
I use them in all my books, even private press books, while I'm reading. Sometimes I find them in books years later and they don't leave a mark or impression on paper. Sometimes there are 50 of them marking passages when I'm through...I can't say enough about them.

35wcarter
Giu 6, 2020, 5:57 pm

Then there is the FSD bookmark that was specifically designed for members of this forum some years ago. Download here and print on any desired paper.

36jroger1
Giu 6, 2020, 6:55 pm

>35 wcarter:
With a 3-D printer we could print tassels!

37narbgr01
Giu 6, 2020, 11:55 pm

I use laminated worthless money like Bolivianos (just try to exchange them if you leave Bolivia with any in your pocket), a 100 trillion dollar bill from Zimbabwe, and my favorite: an old French Franc with Antoine de Saint-Exupery (the Little Prince is even on it in full color!). Now that I can't travel I guess I better not lose these!

38ArchStanton
Giu 7, 2020, 3:20 pm

39ubiquitousuk
Giu 12, 2020, 3:42 pm

>28 Graham69: I am using the same bookmark currently to mark my spot in the 1966 Zuleika Dobson. This is quite fun because the bookmark shows the East end of Broad Street, complete with the Sheldonian's stone heads that Beerbohm uses as a repeated motif throughout the book. Based on the fact that the protagonist can see those heads from his room, I'd guess his room to be above Blackwell's (or perhaps the White Horse pub), meaning it can also be seen on the bookmark.

40BionicJim
Giu 12, 2020, 6:41 pm

I've been using these Dickens character cards from 97 year- old cigarette packs. Hey- if they can survive in a pack of cigarettes they should be safe. They feel like they are wax-coated, at least.

41dar.lynk
Apr 4, 2021, 4:36 pm

Book darts are extremely thin, don't leave marks I have a box of them and use them often.

In addition, I have these metal cuties in 3 colors:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GZ9BC6R

And i recently found this shop on Etsy and could not help myself , bought several
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheUKBookGuy
Hope he makes more!

42thisGuy33
Apr 4, 2021, 5:18 pm

>40 BionicJim: those are awesome ... where did you get those?

43jveezer
Apr 4, 2021, 8:31 pm

Book darts for me. I trust them even in my most prized limited editions.

44folio_books
Apr 5, 2021, 5:22 am

>42 thisGuy33: where did you get those?

I just did a quick search on eBay and found lots of them, surprisingly cheap.

45BionicJim
Apr 5, 2021, 12:49 pm

>42 thisGuy33: >44 folio_books:

Yup, EBay and I got the complete set for less than $20. If I held onto a “complete set” of a collectible for 97 years and could only get $20 for it, I’d reassess my collection. It certainly has made me more realistic about believing anything is really “an investment.”

46folio_books
Apr 5, 2021, 12:59 pm

>45 BionicJim: It certainly has made me more realistic about believing anything is really “an investment.”

Including Folio books!

47BionicJim
Apr 5, 2021, 1:00 pm

There is always this perspective:

48warehouseisbare
Apr 5, 2021, 1:10 pm

>47 BionicJim: Nice post! Thanks for the recommendations everyone!

49jhicks62
Apr 5, 2021, 3:09 pm

I recently ordered a set of custom bookmarks from Vista Print -- the people who specialize in business cards. The bookmarks are on the same card stock as business cards, but also have a nice sheen to them. I customized them by putting a picture I love on the front ("The Bookworm" by Carl Spitzweg) and added "Ex Libris" and my name! I didn't know if I'd like them, so I only ordered 50 to start. (They, of course, get left in all kinds of books, so I go through a lot of them.)

50thisGuy33
Apr 5, 2021, 5:43 pm

>47 BionicJim: u win the internet!

51thisGuy33
Apr 5, 2021, 5:44 pm

>44 folio_books: >45 BionicJim: thank you ... i will do some looking around. They look so cool.

52thisGuy33
Apr 5, 2021, 5:52 pm

>40 BionicJim: I see there are multiple printings of these 1912 and 1923 and 1939. Someone listed one from 1912 and mentions 2nd series. Any thoughts on your research or time spent 'collecting' these? I am not looking to collect these ... but I do want to make a good choice in purchasing them. Thanks in advance for any guidence.

53BionicJim
Apr 5, 2021, 11:04 pm

>52 thisGuy33:
It was purely an impulse buy for me. I was looking for some period decorations to set next to my “complete set” of the Folio Society Dickens I had just finished acquiring. I’ve looked at the cigarette cards closely, but don’t see any mention of a print date or series revision. It is a series of 50 and, unless the other ones you’ve seen have some differentiation, I don’t know. Sorry I couldn’t be more help, but if I found out they were all counterfeit and printed on someone’s laser printer, I wouldn’t be upset because I purchased them for decoration only and they look great on the shelf in front of the books...

54thisGuy33
Apr 7, 2021, 10:44 pm

>53 BionicJim: thx for introducing me to these cards. I just grabbed the complete 50 card set on ebay. It looks like the 1923 set has 50 total cards in it. The 1912 set seems to have less (and I couldn't find a complete set of the 1912 version for a decent price so I grabbed the 1923). Like you ... i'm not too concerned with the collectability factor ... just think they look so cool!