George Biddle, Ex Libris

An ex libris is a stamp or sticker placed inside of a book to indicate ownership; many are designed to convey poetic meaning or personal symbolism. Biddle designed his own ex libris with an image of the rider of the apocalypse, which expressed his antiwar sentiments. He also used the image on the cover and title page of his 1957 book, The Yes and No of Contemporary Art. He explained:

The decoration on the title page (and the cover) is from a lithograph by the author expressing the motto, “Nor hatred, nor fear, nor ignorance shall ride our world.” Death riding on a mad horse has been frequently used by the author, in his murals and in his bookplate, to symbolize the unleashed forces of evil and destruction in the world today.