The following volumes provide a rich source of background material on bookplates and the culture of book-collecting, and can be found in the library collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society:
Bowdoin, W.G. (April, 1940) "Emma Toedteberg and her Bookplates," The Long Island Historical Society Quarterly, April, 1940, no. 2. (Brooklyn Historical Society Main Collection, F116 .L875 Non-circulating)
Fincham, H.W. (1897) The Artists and Engravers of British and American Book Plates. Private printing. (Uncatalogued)
Rawls, Walton H. (1964) The Century Book. The Long Island Historical Society. See chapter 4, "The Society's Bookplates," by North, Edgerton G. (Brooklyn Historical Society Reference - Desk, F116.L66 C46 1964 c.2 Non-circulating)
Scott, Temple (1902) "The Artistic Book-Plate," in Bookplates of Today, Stone, W.M. (ed.) NY: Tonnelle & Co. (Uncatalogued)
Stone, Wilbur Macey (1902) Women Designers of Book-Plates. NY: The Triptych. (Brooklyn Historical Society Main Collection, Z993 .S89 1902 Non-circulating)
Teall, Gardner (1921) Bookplates by Sidney L. Smith. Kansas City: Alfred Fowler. (Uncatalogued)
Ward, Harry Parker (1915) Some American College Bookplates. Columbus, OH: The Champlin Press. (Uncatalogued)
Also useful is the library's collection of journals and periodicals devoted to bookplates, which includes The Bookplate Chronicle (1922-1925), and Ex Libris (circa 1890s). (Uncatalogued)
In addition, numerous resources can be found online. The following sites were last accessed Aug. 30, 2011:
http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookplate.org/
http://uvamagazine.org/only_online/article/ex_libris/
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/related.html
http://www.sharpweb.org/en/resources/series-journals.html
http://www.bibsocamer.org/BibSite/bibsite.htm
http://www.thebookcollector.co.uk/index.html
http://www.bibsocamer.org/BibSite/Pearson/Pearson.pdf
http://www.bookplatesociety.org/resources.htm
http://www.bookplatesociety.org/styles.html
http://www.pietafineart.com/sherborn.htm
http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Findingaids/sidney_lawton_smith.pdf