# Latin question: "ex officina" vs something else for 'from the \[book\]bindery"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-question-ex-officina-vs-something-else-for-from-the-book-bindery/1026728>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 15, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-question-ex-officina-vs-something-else-for-from-the-book-bindery/1026728 "2026-01-15T23:33:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-question-ex-officina-vs-something-else-for-from-the-book-bindery/1026728/1 "2026-01-15T23:33:04Z")

</div>

I’m familiar with labels that you can paste into your books that say “ex libris \_\_\_\_\_\_” to indicate that the book came from your personal library.

But if you’re a bookbinder, what do the labels say? I don’t fully trust Google translate. “Ex officina” seems like ‘from the workshop of’. Perhaps something like ‘ex locus ligandi’?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-question-ex-officina-vs-something-else-for-from-the-book-bindery/1026728/2 "2026-01-16T00:09:06Z")

</div>

I might say “_e ligatore librorum_,” “from the bookbinder.” (_Ex_ is fine instead of _e_; no difference.) There’s a few different words that mean “bookbinder,” but I can’t find anyone that talks about the place, a book-bindery.

I do see an example on Google Books which says \*_emit R[illegible] D[illegible] a magistro Waltero compactore librorum_, “R.D. bought [something] from Master Walter, bookbinder.”

The illegible bits are because it’s Google Snippet View; the top of the line is cut off. What he seems to have bought are planed posts (i.e. lumber) rather than books, but in any case it’s all I can find. The “ā” in place of “ē” is a Latin grammar thing: _ē_ or _ex_ would be what you want on your bookplate.