Many people buy books as gifts for their loved ones, friends, colleagues, etc., and why not? A book is a great gift! Especially when you know what the person wants or what genre they like. Also you won’t find a gift that’s easier to wrap, and that’s definitely a bonus that’s worth it!
But what makes a book a completely unique gift that the person will have an emotional connection to regardless of the book’s content is the dedication. Every time I get a book, I immediately start leafing through it and looking to see if the donor has written a dedication, because then the book takes on a completely new dimension.
A dedication can be a great way to “remember” who gave you a particular book and possibly for what occasion. But it can also have a much deeper meaning.
There are several ways to write a dedication. Below I list the individual types and how to do them.
1) General dedication
The most general, but also the simplest, dedication is one that states who the book is being gifted to, from whom, or for what, and the date. A typical example would be:
To Elise for birthday
– From Tomas, 2022
It’s nothing special, but for me it’s still better than nothing. If I get a book and it doesn’t say anything about it, I’ll write on the front page with a regular pencil who I got it from, what it was for, and when.
2) Slightly more personal dedication
In a slightly more personal dedication, you state the same thing as in the case of a general dedication, i.e. to whom the book is being donated, from whom, or for what, the date, and beyond that, for example, a short note or wish that may or may not be related to the book, for example:
To Dan,
farewell from colleagues. Hope you’ll like this book.
– 2022
3) Dedication in the form of a quote
If you can’t think of what to write to the person in question, but don’t want to go only with option 1) or 2), you can add an interesting quote to the above. The quote can be about books in general, or even something related to, for example, the event for which the book is being donated. The dedication could then look like this:
To Teresa,
Happy 18th birthday from mom and dad.
“An adult is someone who can be happy with themselves.” – Osho
– 11. 11. 2022
4) Dedication related to the content of the book
Great are dedications that somehow work with the theme of the book that is the subject of the gift. If you intend to give a gift of a book that you have not read yourself and do not know exactly what it is about, just read the annotation, which is usually on the cover or on the Internet. For example, if you are giving the book The Queen’s Gambit, which deals with the theme of chess, the following dedication is considered:
To my great friend Adam,
who is unbeatable at chess, and yet I always enjoy playing with him.
– Michal Novák, 2022
5) The most personal dedication
The most valuable and at the same time the most demanding are truly personal dedications. These dedications give you the opportunity to tell the recipient what you value most about them, why you admire them, what you think they are like, how you feel about them, etc. It may not always be easy to tell someone something face to face, so a book is the ideal tool to make it a little easier. For example:
To Ann,
who was there for me whenever I needed her and who immediately transfers her unwavering optimism to everyone around her.
Thank you for everything you have done for me, I appreciate it very much.
With love, Barb V.
– May 2022
6) Combination
You can of course combine the individual types of dedications, so it is possible, for example, to write a very personal dedication that also refers to the title of the book. So, for example, if you buy your friend a book by Elena Ferrante called The Brilliant Friend, the dedication could look like this:
To my beloved Agnes,
who is the most brilliant girlfriend I could ever wish for.
Happy Anniversary!
With love, Your Nicholas
– 31. 3. 2022
If you are still hesitant and are not sure whether you are ready for such a big step as writing in a book, or you are not sure how the person in question would react to such an intervention, you can write the dedication on paper and insert it into the book.
Dedication is a wonderful thing that can sometimes make a book the most valuable thing we have, especially if the person who wrote it for us later left us. So go ahead and do it!
