Asim Maner is a consultant and the producer of bookmarks under the brand Mirage Bookmark. His website is the most comprehensive reference site on bookmarks featuring a large bookmark exhibition with interesting ephemera, a short history of bookmarks, essays and quotes on bookmarks and a large link collection. I spoke with Asim, who lives in Switzerland, about his passion for bookmarks.
ephemera: When did you become interested in bookmarks?
Maner: It began back in 1998, as I had the idea to produce etched steel bookmarks with art motifs. I began to study bookmarks just to see what sort of bookmarks were available on the market, but I was only interested in new bookmarks at that time. The production commenced in 1999, and the feedback on the Frankfurt book fair in 2000 was rather promising, prompting me to create a website. I thought that a website showing only my own products would be rather boring and came to the decision to present a beautiful and colorful exhibition of bookmarks of all types and ages on this website to make it interesting to a broader segment of surfers. To this end, I began collecting bookmarks and in February 2001, my website showing a bookmark exhibition was online.
ephemera: The exhibit and the history makes provides rich details that I think add tremendous interest. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter in collecting? How do you overcome these challenges?
Maner: As I started, I realized very soon that collecting bookmarks was not an easy job because hardly anybody in Switzerland or in the adjacent countries knew about bookmarks as a collector’s item. Most of the antiquarian bookstores told me that they would not care about bookmarks found old books, others would collect these odd pieces for themselves. Finally, I discovered that on eBay , especially in US and UK, many old, rare, and breathtaking bookmarks could be purchased
for reasonable prices.
ephemera: Ah, eBay--the great savior of obscure collectibles. What are the favorite items in your collection and how do they inspire you?
Maner: I have three favorite categories in my collection: One of them are the Victorian bookmarks which I love because of the elaborate and colorful prints or the very finely woven silk bookmarks of that era, especially the so called Stevengraphs, woven silk bookmarks produced by Thomas Stevens in Coventry, UK. Some samples of these uniquely beautiful bookmarks can be seen on the bookmark exhibition on my website. A second category is the ethnic bookmarks produced in different cultural areas of the world, which show an authentic design behavior of the people influenced by their history and culture. It is exciting to see how North American natives, Indonesians artisans, Swiss people, African people in Kenya, Slowakian craftspeople, and inhabitants of Nepal produced different types of bookmarks under the influence of their culture just to sell them to tourists. The third category I’m inspired by are the home-made bookmarks. This is a category which produces surprising bookmarks time and again, while the mainstream is busy with crocheted embroidered bookmarks.
ephemera: I'm sure that many collectors were unaware that there were so many different types of bookmarks. What’s your advice for achieving success as a collector?
Maner: I think the most important condition is to find a fitting specialization for oneself. To collect without an interesting topic may be a good pastime, but would not result in a remarkable collection at the end.
As the collecting of bookmarks is a rather new discipline there are only very few books and catalogs available. One of the frequent questions asked by bookmark collectors is how to store and display bookmarks. There is not a standard solution according to the preferences of the person, and in different countries different archival aids are available. On my website, there is a page with descriptions of individual collectors how they cope with the problem of storing and displaying bookmarks. Also, for the information of the bookmark collectors, there are lists of clubs and societies, books and publications, online and real exhibitions, and a large list of bookmark collectors from more than 100 countries wishing to exchange bookmarks and information with other collectors.
ephemera: Thanks, Asim. Bookmarks are wonderful area of ephemera. I'm sure a lot of book collectors and others interested in old paper will want to consider adding bookmarks to their collections after reading about your amazing items.
Hello,
I found this competition and thought of the SpotMe bookmark!
You should see this bookmark. It has been a hit in Idaho with the kids (helping them read). It’s a special new design know one has thought of before.
Check it out at spotmebookmark.com
I think schools can get some free….
Have a good one,
Michele
Posted by: michele | October 30, 2007 at 11:50 PM