A strange thing to be writing about I know. Endpapers are fairly obviously the paper at the end of a book (but also the beginning!) that connects the cover to the rest of the book. Sometimes they are completely plain or just solid colour but occasionally you open a book and are offered a real treat. There may be a family tree or a lovely marbled paper or better still a map, real or imaginary.
I have just bought two books from the Persephone Press, of which possibly more later, and the endpapers are a joy. Rather delightfully the publishers have put considerable thought into this and have chosen prints (one used by Libertys and one by Heals) that match the period when the book was written. The Liberty print was designed in the 1970s by the design team of Collier and Campbell, who were sisters Sarah and Susan … and there is a bookmark in the same print. Small things please me!
Rather idly I googled endpapers to see if there was anything interesting I could learn about them. I found many sites that were selling beautiful papers for those involved in any sort of bookbinding. The paper is usually slightly heavier that the paper used for the rest of the book and then I found a site called: We love endpapers. Who knew! It was a fun read for a few minutes but I won’t be joining their society as it is really aimed at antiquarian booksellers who are interested more in books as objects than as something to read. The internet never ceases to amaze me.