V&A Zevgolis
Guide
Two things every new collector and student asks. How to read the code on an exlibris, and how a swap runs from first match to arrival.
FISAE notation
The letter names the printing family, the number the exact technique. A slash adds the colours.
Type a code from the margin or the back of an exlibris, such as X3/2.
| Example | Code | Technique | Family | How to recognise it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No example yet | C1 | Steel engraving | Intaglio | Very fine, even lines cut into steel. |
| No example yet | C2 | Burin engraving on copper | Intaglio | Clean lines that swell and taper, cut with a burin. |
| No example yet | C3 | Etching | Intaglio | Free, drawn lines bitten into the plate with acid. |
| No example yet | C4 | Drypoint | Intaglio | Soft, velvety lines from the burr a needle raises. |
| No example yet | C5 | Aquatint | Intaglio | Grainy tone in flat areas, like a wash. |
| No example yet | C6 | Soft-ground etching | Intaglio | Lines with the grain of pencil or fabric pressed into a soft ground. |
| No example yet | C7 | Mezzotint | Intaglio | Deep, velvety blacks scraped back towards light. |
| No example yet | C8 | Intaglio on lino or plastic | Intaglio | Lines engraved into linoleum or plastic and printed as intaglio. |
| No example yet | X1 | Woodcut | Relief | Bold cuts along the plank, broad black areas, visible grain. |
| No example yet | X2 | Wood engraving | Relief | Fine white lines cut into the end grain of hard wood. |
| No example yet | X3 | Linocut | Relief | Bold shapes with smooth edges and no wood grain. |
| No example yet | L1 | Autolithography | Planographic | Drawn by the artist on stone or plate. Soft crayon texture. |
| No example yet | S1 | Serigraphy | Stencil | Flat, opaque layers of colour pushed through a screen. |
| No example yet | P7 | Offset | Reproduction | A photomechanical copy. A fine dot pattern shows under a glass. |
| No example yet | CGD | Computer-generated design | Digital | Designed on a computer and printed from the file. |
| No example yet | /2 | Number of colours | Colour notation | A number after a slash counts the colours. X3/2 is a linocut in two colours. |
| No example yet | /col | Hand coloured | Colour notation | Colour added by hand after printing. C3/col is a hand coloured etching. |
A number in front of a code counts the plates, so 3X3 means three linoleum blocks. Each example is the newest public exlibris carrying that code. Codes as published in the FISAE technique notation, see the list of abbreviations.
Swapping
Swaps run between two collectors, by post, in rounds. The platform matches and keeps the record. It never buys or sells.
Flag each exlibris you hold in more than one copy and say how many spares you have.
Add the artists, owners, motifs or codes you are looking for.
We pair your spares with another collector’s wants, and their spares with yours.
Each side adds or removes exlibris until both agree. Every round stays in the swap.
Both collectors confirm the post arrived. Then each rates the other.