As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the side effects of the Needle and Thread: Stitching for Literacy Bookmark Challenge has been an introduction to the world of bookmark collecting. In 2006, the Guinness Book of World Records named Frank Divendal, from Alkmaar, Holland, as the owner of the largest collection of bookmarks in the world. Who knew? At that time, he had 71,235 bookmarks. As of January 14, 2007 he had 80,115.

I can only guess how many he has as of today, but it’s likely that he knows the precise number. It seems he could also vie for the World Record for organization:

First I sort them by country. Then, within a country, I separate them into special themes like bookshops, libraries, editors, tourism, charity, etc. When I have a lot bookstores in one country, I sort them alphabetically. I do the same with editors. I also have special drawers for woven bookmarks, leather bookmarks, and other materials. Anytime I have more on one subject I make further categories.

Mr. Divendal is partial to paper bookmarks, though. I wonder if there are any bookmark collectors out there specializing in fabric and fiber bookmarks. I’m kinda sorta on a mission to find out, in my free time. I joined the Yahoo! bookmark collecting Group, but I so rarely visit I can’t even call myself a lurker yet. If no one is seriously collecting fabric and fiber bookmarks, I hope someone (not me–how ’bout you, Dena?) will embrace the challenge. If you’re up for it, let me know. I would love to contribute to the collection.

You can read more about Frank Divendal and his bookmark collection on the Mirage Bookmark site.