Book rhyme explained

A book rhyme is a short poem or rhyme that was formerly printed inside the front of a book or on the flyleaf to discourage theft (similar to a book curse) or to indicate ownership.

Book rhymes were fairly common in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries, but the printing of bookplates pushed them out of use.^[1]

Anti-theft warnings

See also: book curse. One of the most common is:

Identification rhyme

An example of a common style of identification rhyme is:

The end line has several variations:

An example of an identification rhyme found in James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) is:^[2]

The title of Thornton Wilder's novel Heaven's My Destination (1935) and Alfred Bester's novel The Stars My Destination (1956) play on the final line.

A typical example of an identification book rhyme features prominently in M.R. James' 1925 ghost story A Warning to the Curious:

Sources

• Book: Funk & Wagnall's Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology & Legend . hardcover . 1972 . 156–57 . 0-308-40090-9. .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Meier. Allison. 2014-11-18. 19th and 20th–Century Bookplates as Deeply Personal Brands of the Home Library. 2020-08-05. Hyperallergic. en-US.
2. Book: Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. 1916.