BY THE SAME WRITER.
SCHOOLS AND MASTERS OF FENCE. George Bell and Sons. New and Revised Edition. 1892. Translated: VEscrime et les Escri?neurs. Paris : P. Ollendorff. 1888.
CONSEQUENCES. A Novel. Richard Bentley and Son. 1 89 1. New York : Appleton and Co.
"LA BELLA" AND OTHERS. Studies of Character and Action. Cassell and Company. 1892. New York : Apple- ton AND CO.
ENGLISH BOOK-PLATES
(EX-LIBRIS).
j^.rBacon eques auratus & magni Jmlli zXngliae Cuftos It brum bunc hi- aliothecae Cantabngdicauit*
XliCl
MW*^*' ■■■
English Book-Plates
Ancient and Modern by
Egerton Castle
M.A.,F.S.A.
London : George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, & New York. Mdcccxciij.
ICMOQl
First edition of 1,000 copies, published December, 1892, New and enlarged edition, November, 1893.
PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.
HE first edition of this book, published in December, 1892, was specially pre- pared to supply the curious in the matter of book-plates with a general account of many interesting facts connected with English Ex-libris. Hitherto there had been no popular book on the subject, and none that touched upon the interest, artistic and personal, of modern examples.
As that edition was exhausted within a few weeks of publication, and the type distributed, no further copies could be issued. In view of the continual demand, it was decided to re-model and re-issue the whole work. In this volume some sixty new examples have been added, including a facsimile of the Bacon gift-plate in colours and thirteen plates printed from the original coppers in place of the six which appeared in the first edition. The Bibliographical Appendix has also, with the kind collaboration of Mr. H. W. Fincham, been expanded and made to include every pub- lished account of, or literary allusion to English Book-plates that might prove of interest to the " Ex-librist."
829768
\
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
ANY are the interesting facts connected with book-plates, known to students and collectors, yet little dreamed of by the greater number even of those who hold themselves curious of everything connected with " The Book." Indeed, the chief difficulty in presenting these facts to the reader is to reduce them to sufficient order, chronologically or other- wise. There is so much multifarious information capable of being " tacked on " to the subject, that every specialist writing about ex-libris is prone to make them vehicles for his own favourite snippets of information. This is more particularly notice- able in those numerous disquisitions on book-plates contributed to antiquarian periodicals.
On the other hand, of the very few works, existing in volume form (half-a-dozen at the most), which deal with the subject at hand, only two treat of English Book-plates. These latter, which have long been out of print, rich mines of information though they be, and indispensable to the regular collector, are for that very reason not sufficiently
xii Preface.
popular in their scope to meet the requirements of the general reader.
In the present volume I have attempted to make a rapid survey of the history of English book-plates qua book-plates ; to trace the origin of these marks of ownership and the gradual spread of their use from the Continent to this country ; to concatenate the successive " styles " in their ornamentations, and the various " classes" of devices that have been most in vogue up to the present time.
This short history, supported by a general record of sundry facts that bear more or less immediately on the study of book-plates, and by reference to the existing literature of the subject, should, I imagine, prove interesting, not only to collectors, but to anyone who owns a book-plate, whether personal or handed down with an ances- tral library. It may also be of use to those who — impressed with the idea that a token destined to record for ever their transient ownership should be both original and artistic in design — may wish to know something of the ex-libris of many distin- guished contemporaries.
Some of the examples here reproduced are very rare, many are very good of their kind, many again are of interest on account of their owner's personality. But most of them have been selected mainly as types ; and for this purpose, whenever possible, several examples of each class have been grouped together, in order that common features might be discriminated by comparison.
It is well to state that, with the exception of a
Preface. xiii
few instances (among which the four ex-libris engraved by Mr. Sherborn, my own and two or three others, which it has been possible to print direct from the copper plate or wood block), the illustrations being reproduced by " process and on modern paper, cannot convey all the charac- teristics of the original engravings. This draw- back, however, is unavoidable in a book where copious illustration is of paramount importance.
Modern specimens have in all cases been given for copy by their owners. For the loan of sundry rare examples, also for valuable advice, I am in- debted to the courteous interest shown in this work by well-known collectors, Miss E. Chamberlayne, Lord de Tabley, the Hon. Gerald Ponsonby, Mr. C. W. Sherborn, (that typical /'little master" of modern days), Mr. Arthur Vicars, Mr. J. R. Brown (the present chairman of the Ex-libris Society), and Mr. J. P. Rylands, in whose genial company I first learned something of the many interests that may lurk about a book-plate.
I must also express my obligation to Mr. Glee- son White (an " eclectic" collector like myself), without whose active help in attending to the numerous details connected with the bringing out of an illustrated book, I do not think I could have completed the present work within the very short time available for its compilation.
E. C.
49, Sloane Gardens, S.W.
DESIGNED BY SIDNEY HEATH.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Introduction i
First Group — Early Armorial 41
The Tudoresque Style (1590-1625) 42
The Carolian Style (1625-1660) ....... 48
The " Restoration " Style 56
Group the Second. Eighteenth Century : —
The Queen Anne and Early Georgian Style (" Jaco- bean") 68
The Middle Georgian, "Chippendale" or "Rococo"
Style 81
The Later Georgian (Festoon) Style 102
Pictorial Plates : —
I. "Literary" (Book-piles and Library In- teriors) 117
II. Portrait Book-plates 130
III. Allegoric Book-plates 133
IV. The "Landscape" Book-plate ... 141
Group the Third — Modern Plates : —
Modern Armorial — Die-Sinker Style 152
Seals and Vesicas 173
Printers' Mark Style 181
Heraldic-allegoric 187
Heraldic-symbolic 202
Pictorial Non-Heraldic Plates 214
The Choice of a Book-plate and Book-plate
Collecting 285
The Book-plate's Petition 316
Bibliography of English Book-plates 331
Index 343
CONSTITUTIONAL CLUB : LIBRARY.
DESIGNED BY HERBERT P. HORNE.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Copper-Plates and Coloured Plates.
To face page
Gift-Plate of Sir Nicholas Bacon to the Univer- sity of Cambridge, 1574. Facsimile in three colours, lithographed by W. Griggs Frontispiece
Book-Plate of William Robinson of Liverpool.
Copper by C. W. Sherborn 1
Book-Plate of Lord de Tabley. Copper by C. W.
Sherborn 16
Book-Plate of Thomas Swanbrook Glazebrook of
Birkenhead. Copper by C. W. Sherborn 24
Book-Plate of Edgerton Smith of Preston. From
the original copper, circa 1725 75
Book-Plate of John Henslow. From the original cop- per, circa 1780 101
Book-Plate Engraved for Captain Cook's son. Pro- bably at the Herald's College, on the occasion of a grant of arms to the family, in 1785 115
Portrait Book-Plate of Samuel Pepys. Facsimile
in photogravure by Walker and Boutall 130
Book-Plate of General Viscount Wolseley. Copper
by C. W. Sherborn 159
Design for a Book-Plate (Helmet, Crest, and
Motto). Copper by G. W. Eve 160
Design for a "Seal" Plate. George Douglas, Duke
of Argyll, k.g., k.t. Copper by G. W. Eve .... 173
Book-Plate of H.M. the Queen, for the Windsor Library. Woodcut, in two colours, by West and Mary Byfleld. (Reproduced by gracious permission.) . . . 181
Book-Plate of Henry Irving. Woodcut, in two colours,
by Bernard Partridge 239
Portrait Book-Plate of H. S. Ashbee, F.S.A. Etch- ing by Paul Avril 278
XV111
List of Illustrations.
To face page
Portrait Book-Plate of Walter Herries Pollock. Photo-etching by Walker and Boutall, from a pen drawing by Agnes Castle 28b
Book-Plate of James Carlton Stitt. Photogravure of
a design by Simon Gribelin, adapted 290
Illustrations in the Text.
RylandsJ.Paul Dedication, 186 Heath, F. R. . . . . Constitutional Club Li
brary
Pepys, Samuel . . . Fincham, H. W. . . . Monastery of Buxheim Pomer, Hector . r . Pinson, Richard ... Fawkes, Richard. . . Scott, John ..... Treshame, Sir Thomas The Bysshe Plate . . The Eynes Plate . . Gwyn, Francis, of Lansa
nor
Wentworth, Thomas .
Brodrick, St. John . .
Campbell, The Hon. Ar
chibald ..,..,. 61
Bath, The Dowager Coun- tess of 62
Simcox, Martha .... 63
Nicholson, Gilbert, of Bal- rath 65
Corpus Christi College, Oxford 70
Somerset, Lady Heniretta 71
Maister, Henry, of Kings- ton-upon-Hull .... 73
John 4th Duke of Bedford 75
Lloyd, The Rev. J. . . . 77
Charles, 5th Baron Corn- wallis 78
Bancks, John .. .. ..... 79
xiv
xvi
7,53 29
33 35 37 38 39 45 49 5i
58 59 60
Wilberforce, William . Nash, Robert .... Sweetman, Henry . . Foote, Benjamin Hatley Walters, Henry . . . Smith, Matthew . . . Frederick, Sir Charles .
Campbell, T
Vere, James, jun. . .
Ord, John
Heriot, Charles . . . Hubbald, , of Stoke
Surrey
Gulston, Elize . . . Hatfield House Library
The
Barrow, The Rev. W. . Dickinson, Charles . . Larking, John . . . Macgregor, General Rogers, Samuel . . . Walton, John . . . Anonymous (Urn fashion Dyer, Charles . . . Beaufort, The Rev. D. A. Hewer, William . . . Bolas, Thomas . . . Wyndham, Wadham . Ashton, H., Esq. . . Gray's Inn Library . . Samwell, T. S. W. . . Avlesford, Earl of . . Bree, The Rev. W. T. . Lumisden, Andrew . Bessborough, Countess of
83 85 88
89 9i 92 93 94 95 96
97
98 99
103 105 106 107 108 109 110 in 112
113 118 120 121 122 123 125 127 129
135 138
List of Illustrations.
xix
Townley, Charles Wilson, J. . . Farr, Samuel, M.D. Broughton, A., M.D Neild, Jas. . . Boteler, William "Strawberry Hill" plat Anderson, John, jun Hawks, George . Bainbridge, G. C. Lane, William Caulfield, Richard Bailey, William, of Belfast Buckle, Henry Thomas Trollope, Anthony . . Dibdin, Thomas Frognall Larking, John Wingfield,
of Lea, Kent Prescott, Dr. . Yeatman,The Rev. Huyshe
Wolcott .... - Lyon King of Arms Clarke, Henry Savile Carlyle, Thomas . Tennyson, Lord . Dickens, Charles Cussans, J. E. Yates, Edmund . Day, Robert . . Eton College Library Althorp Library, The Crawhall, Joseph Archaeological Society
The, Co. Kildare . . Aide", Hamilton . . . Baring-Gould, The Rev. S Evans, Sir John, K.C.B. Middleton - Wake, The
Rev. C. H. . . Loftie, The Rev. W Angell, Samuel . Sykes, Christopher Fitzgerald, Edward Seaman, H. G. . Locker, Frederick 195, 196 Locker- Lampson, Godfrey
J-
PAGE
139 I40
142
143 144
145 146 147 148 149 I50 151 153 154 155 156
158 l6l
I63 165 166 168 I69 ,293 173 174 175 177 178 179
l80 l8l 182 183
184 I85 188 I89 191 193 ■ 197 199
Ewart
Aylorde, Henry . Brierly, Sir Oswald Leighton, John . Russell, John Scott Gladstone, William Corbet, M. R. . . Folkard, Henry . White, Gleeson . Campbell, Mrs. . Meade, L. T. . . Lake, Ernest . . Browning, Oscar Doble, Charles E. Ford, E. Onslow . Sharp, C. . . . Tait, Henry . . Turnbull, A. H. . Crane, Walter . . Shorter, Clement . 2 Besant, Walter . Perris, John . . Warren, The Hon.
Leicester . . Dobson, Austin . Gosse, Edmund . Alma Tadema, Lawrence . Brown, James Roberts Jackson, Robert . . . .
203
204
205
207
209
. 211
. 212
215, 220
. 217
. 218
. 219
. 221
. 222
. 223
. 224
. 225
. 226
. 227
247, 255
. 229
B,
230
231 233 234 237 240 241 242
Wheeler, E. J 243
Slater, Walter Brindley . 244 Winterbotham, James . . 245 Coutts, Money .... 246 Mathews, Charles Elkin . 248 Macdonald, Wm. Rae . . 249 Gray, J. M. ..... 250
Beddard, F. C 251
Somervell, Arthur . . . 252 Brooke, The Rev. A. Stop- ford 253
Cox, Henry Fisher . . . 254 Philpott, The Rev. R. S. . 256 New, Edmund Hort . . 257
Paton, A. V 258
Heath, S. H 259
Holme, Charles .... 260
XX
List of Illustrations.
Evans, F. H
Manning, William . . . Kitchin, George .... Vicars, Arthur .... Castle, Egerton .... Keverstone Library, The . Bell, A. G. and N. . . . Patterson, Jane . ... Hogg, Warrington . . . Goddard, W. Knightley .
Pain, Barry
Pollock, Walter Herries . Haggard, H. Rider . . . Loftie, The Rev. W. J. . Frampton, Christabel, A. . Parsons, The Rev. D. . .
|
PAGE 26l |
Mayo, The Earl of . |
PAGE . 288 |
|
263 |
Ponsonby,TheHon. Gerald 289 |
|
|
264 |
Hamilton, Walter . |
. 291 |
|
265 |
Martin, J. S. . . . |
• 294 |
|
269 |
Home, Herbert P. . |
. 295 |
|
271 |
Keene, Charles . . |
. 296 |
|
273 |
Rylands, Harry . . |
. 297 |
|
274 |
Spokes, Russell . . |
. 298 |
|
275 |
Castle, Egerton . . |
• 3QI |
|
277 |
Davies, F. Trehawke |
. 304 |
|
279 |
Crosby Hall Library, The 309 |
|
|
280 |
Huth, Frederick Henr> |
T . 3IO |
|
28l |
Sweetman, Elinor . |
• 311 |
|
282 |
Vallance, Aymer. . |
• 327 |
|
283 |
Wright, W. H. K. . |
• 330 |
|
287 |
Brackett, W. H. . . |
• 342 |
^ William Robinson
ENGLISH BOOK-PLATES.
(ex libris.)
INTRODUCTION.
[HERE are still men of books (makers, vendors, and buyers, I mean,) who actually do not know the meaning of the word book-plate, or of its jargon equivalent, ex-libris.
" Did I possess a book-plate, as you call it," writes one of the most distinguished men of letters of the day, " it would be much at your service ; but I am so far from being the owner of such a thing that I do not know what it is, nor have I ever heard of it."
More than once, when breaking new ground in book-stall land, intent on discovering ancient and cheap volumes still garnished with valuable but possibly unconsidered ex-libris, have I been referred by a not up-to-date and otherwise unsophisticated bouquiniste to a box of miscellaneous illustrations and engravings, labelled " this lot of plates, from four pence." One particularly testy person of that calling on one occasion even argued the point and, in answer to my unreasonable insistence that
B
2 English Book-plates.
such were not book-plates, in the ex-libris sense, aired unexpected latinity : "they were plates," he asseverated, " and they were out of books ; ergo book-plates ex-libris " thus once more testifying to the etymological inadequacy of the word book- plate ; and in a way also, to that of ex-libris.
For the use of my friends and acquaintances, whom of late I have taken to catechizing with reference to their possession of a personal book- plate, I have found it necessary to have a stereo- typed phrase of explanation.
All this would tend to prove that notwith- standing the increased interest lately shown for " those charming personalities that we find affixed within the covers of books by their owners " (to use Mr. John Leighton's fond description), there are still some men of books, as I said, (and women also), who do not even know of their existence.
As this volume is not set forth for the use, nor I fear for the delectation, of established collec- tors (who no doubt, both in the general and the particular, have a much more complete knowledge of the matter than I can boast of), but rather for the guidance of the average book-lover who may or may not have heard that there are such things as book-plates and that these are occasionally interest- ing, it seems fit to define from the outset what is an ex-libris, what a book-plate.
One of the first cares, as a rule, of the regular book-buyer on returning home of an evening, the
Introduction. 3
pleased possessor of a new volume, or yet after sorting the parcel sent by his bibliopole, is to affix on each recruit some special mark of owner- ship before passing him to the rank and file of his library. This branding may be done in many ways, and for various reasons.
First, concerning the ways. — Many men simply enter their names in ink or pencil on the fly leaf, or more ruthless, on the actual title-page ; or yet again, in school-boy fashion, on the edge. Some have been known to stamp with monogram or crest the verso of a book cover in wax or wafer, scooping out an adequate hollow for the perpetra- tion ; others, of very latter-day philistinism, accom- plish a similar defacement of a fair volume by means of a stencil or a rubber stamp and endors- ing fluid.
A great number, however, with somewhat higher notions of the neatness which befits a printed volume, affix on their books a more or less orna- mental name-ticket ; a certain misguided sub-section of these latter utilise visiting cards for this purpose.
But your real book-lover goes some way beyond these modest means of heralding ownership in his silent yet eloquent, his ever-ready, instructive or amusing, moral-teaching or vice-flattering slaves. He considers that any volume worth preserving, (in the book-pride sense) should have no adjunct but such as can enhance its appearance, increase its value. In his mind the master's badge must be a thing of beauty, a token of satisfaction. This is the man who devises, or causes others more crafty than himself to devise for him, speaking
4 English Book-plates.
labels, works of art, which to the world at large will proclaim something of the owner's position or personality, and in the owner himself will evoke a recurring sense of self-congratulation.
Among the more wealthy or ardent bibliolaters, a mere label, however artistic, is often not held a sufficient token of love for their books ; their mark of possession must form a still more integrate and decorative part of the cherished tomes. Their ex-libris must be embodied in the very ornamenta- tion of a costly binding, must be tooled or stamped on the cover itself. The study of these stcper- libros — as such luxurious marks have been spe- cially termed — is however a subject by itself.1
Now, all tokens of ownership in books, whether they be careless signature, or seal or stencil mark ; whether they be modest printed name-labels, superb heraldic plates, or allegorical compositions signed by some ■ " little master," or yet again gorgeous super-libros as above described, all these are known in the modern bibliophile's jargon as ex-libris.
The accepted English equivalent is "book- plate." It may be pointed out that the two expressions are not really synonymous, for although all book-plates proper enter into the category of ex-libris, all ex-libris, as we have seen, are not necessarily book-plates. But as, of all marks of book possession, printed or engraved labels are not only the most distinctive and numerous but
1 A subject which has been practically exhausted (as far as French books are concerned) by Johannis Guigard, in his "Armorial du Bibliophile," Paris, Bachelin Deflorenne, 1870-73, 4to. : with illustrations in the text.
Introduction.
also, to a certain extent, the most interesting, it is expedient to dismiss the autograph and the armorial stamp on the binding as not belonging to the present subject, and to consider the terms ex-libris and book-plate as practically interchangeable.
Neither the Latin nor the vernacular expression is satisfactory ; but they are both consecrated by usage, and it is obvious that none of the terms that have been suggested to replace them, such as " owner-plate " or " book-label," are more ex- plicit or more elegant.
The Latin words, ex-libris, are of international use, and have been admitted as technical in Larousse's " Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XlXeme siecle : —
"Ex-libris, mots latins qui signifient litteVale- ment : des livres, d'entre les livres, faisant partie des livres, avec le nom du proprietaire. Ces mots s'inscrivent ordinairement en tete de chaque volume d'une bibliotheque, avec la signature du proprietaire."
The definition is not very exact ; or, at least, it is too general.
As to the word book-plate itself, it has been until very lately ignored by English lexicographers. Cassell's " Encyclopaedic Dictionary," 1888, was, I believe, the first to notice it, and as follows : —
" Book-plate, a piece of paper stamped or en- graved with a name or device and pasted in a book to show the ownership."
6 English Book-plates.
"The American Dictionary of Printing and Book-Making" (Part iv., Jan. 1892) published by Howard, Lockwood and Co., New York, takes a little more trouble about the word : —
"Ex-libris — Book-plates; the ornamental de- signs inserted on the inside of the cover of a book, or upon one of the fly-leaves, to indicate possession. They are usually something after the manner of heraldry, but often with the name and residence at full length. The use of book-plates is one of the fashions of the present day, and is likely to continue. Specimens occur in books printed as early as 15 16, but in England, France, and Germany they became very common in the last century. Many eminent engravers were called upon to execute this class of work, and among the examples of that day still extant are a great number which bear evidence of superior skill. In America, owing to the rarity of engravers before the year 1800, we have few ex-libris; but since 1840 they have been tolerably numerous. Several books have lately been written upon this subject, and long series of articles have been written for the magazines upon it."
This explanation, although a trifle more explicit than Larousse's notice, is hardly correct as to facts. I give the two extracts to show that however un- satisfactory as definitions, the two terms are now recognized and must be adhered to.
The Latin expression, it is well to add, is dis- tinctly foreign in origin, and rarely occurs on any but comparatively modern English plates.1
1 The earliest occurrence seems, according to Warren, to be
Introduction. 7
With reference to the English name, the student can only speculate on what such labels may have been called in the early days of their existence. As far as we know at present, the earliest approach to the word book-plate is discoverable in the " Diary of Mr. Samuel Pepys," who, on the 21st
BOOK-PLATE OF SAMUEL PEPYS. 1668.
day of July, 1668, made the following entry in his book : —
" Went to my plate maker's and there spent an
on the book-plate of Richard Towneley, of Towneley, Lancashire, dated 1702. The term never came into common use before this century.
8 English Book-plates.
hour about contriving my little plates for my books of the King's four yards."
" David Loggan," says Mr. Hardy, in the intro- ductory chapter of his work on book-plates, "a German born, and an engraver of some note has, in writing to Sir Thomas Isham in 1676, a no more concise term for I sham's book-plate than 'a print of your cote of arms.' Loggan, as a return for many favours, had sent Sir Thomas a book- plate designed and executed by himself. ' Sir,' he says in the covering letter, ' I send you hier a Print of your Cote of Armes. I have printed 200, wich I will send with the plate by the next return, and bege the favor of your keind excepttans of it as a small Niew yaer's Gift or a aknowledgment in part for all your favors. If anything in it be amies, I shall be glade to mend it. I have taken the Heralds painters derection in it ; it is very much used among persons of Quality to past ther Cotes of Armes befor ther bookes instade of wreithing ther names.' "
I have thought it worth while to give the whole quotation on account of the last sentence, which records, as it were, in situ, the beginning of the then fast-spreading fashion of armorial book- plates.
In his " Anecdotes of Painting," and again in his "Catalogue of Engravers" (177 1), Horace Walpole approximates to the word book-plate ; in the first he adverts to Hogarth's engraved cypher label as " a plate he used for his book ; " and in the second speaks of the allegoric design engraved by George Vertue for Lady Henrietta
Introduction. 9
Cavendish Holies, as "a plate to put in Lady Oxford's books."
The first use of the actual word itself seems to occur in John Ireland's " Hogarth Illustrated," the first volume of which was published in 1.791. Here the biographer gives it as his opinion that " the works of Callot were probably his (Hogarth's) first models, and shop-bills and book-plates his first performances." Again, as Mr. Hardy points out, in 1798 Ireland refers to the "book-plate" for Lambert, the herald painter, which Hogarth had executed. Bartolozzi, giving a receipt for the book-plate he had engraved for the Countess of Bessborough, called it a " name-ticket." But it is just possible that the little engraving wTas originally intended as a visiting card (see the chapter on Allegoric Plates).
And now concerning the reasons for a custom which may be said to be almost as old as the printed book itself, and which is anything but on the wane at the present time. — Books are not consumable goods, but chattels intended to endure; they are at all times invested with definite intrinsic value, often with fanciful preciousness. But, to fulfil their destiny, they must consort with many people, and, during the inevitable changing of hands, may easily lose their way back to the rightful owner. This dread fate may overtake them even without any intermeddling of the tra- ditional malice prepense of book-borrowers, for, after all, almost all books have numerous brethren
io English Book-plates.
singularly like unto themselves. And, having once lost their way, they might lightly find them- selves established in new colonies, were it not for the safeguard of some unmistakable mark of ownership.
Thus it may be said that the primary object of an ex-libris, is precautionary against loss, by accident or through the negligence of borrowers ; (whether a book-plate has ever fulfilled that pur- pose is, however, an open question still). A second, closely connected with the first, is to secure the identification of a valued tome as part of a collec- tion. A third and universal object of the book- plate is, as I have said before, to gratify the sense of possession by giving some kind of personal character to chattels which in themselves are only specimens of more or less copious batches, or (by a curious, though intelligible reversal of the same idea) by giving this character to a work which the present owner believes to be almost unique of its kind.
From this peculiar feeling, difficult to express, but which can be recalled no doubt by all book- lovers, this desire to invest books with some more " personal " character, depends the custom notice- able in so many ex-libris ancient and modern, of dovetailing with the plain statement of ownership some more or less original " sentiment," or some bibliophilic motto which denotes a prevailing taste or bias of thought in the owner.
Albeit the ex-libris, as a bibliognostic institution, can thus be traced in its origin to an appreciation of book property, it must be admitted that, on the
Introduction. 1 1
other hand, many, perhaps the bulk, of the enor- mous number of book-plates already known to the collector undoubtedly owe their character to mere fashion. This applies more particularly to the legion of purely armorial plates.
For some three centuries it has been considered M correct " to have a book-plate for use in the library in very much the same fashion as it was, and is, " correct " to have silver, and livery, and note paper adorned with monogram, crest, or escutcheon. It will be seen that, with the excep- tion of a few persons of specially artistic, scholarly, or otherwise original taste, fashion has, until com- paratively latter days, had as undisputed an influence on the composition and ornamentation of people's ex-libris, as upon the shape of their clothes or the decoration of their silver ware.
The question of fashion's sway upon the character of book-plates, exemplified by the singularly de- finite " styles " into which they can historically be arranged, introduces a fresh consideration. What are the heads of attractiveness discoverable in a study of book-plates ?
These are of varied kinds. In the first place, book-plates have a general interest covering nearly four centuries ; they appeared in some form or other almost as soon as printed books began to be articles of commerce ; they may therefore be studied from the antiquarian-historical point of view.
12 English Book-plates,
Again, insomuch as a great many of them are dis- tinctly things of beauty in themselves, they may be regarded with curiosity and pleasure by purely aesthetic eyes. In a representative collection of these tokens, the student of Art will be able to trace, in an almost regular chain, the development and changes in decorative fashion at various periods ; the evolution of style in " Ornamentik." Ever and anon, also, among the crowd of unsigned specimens, or of specimens signed by names un- known to fame, he may light upon the handiwork of some little master : for in the past such men as Albrecht Diirer and Jost Amman, Cipriani and Bartolozzi, Boucher and Gravelot, Hogarth and Bewick, George Vertue, and Sir Robert Strange, thought the minuscule frame of a book-plate not unworthy of their skill ; and their example is happily imitated by a few modern artists of standing.
The Herald and Genealogist will of course recognize on book-plates the achievements and the pride of connection, at different epochs, of innumerable families of note, expressed in the fashion of successive periods. Indeed many keen ex-librists consider the heraldry of book-plates quite their paramount interest. At any rate, from its very essence, the ex-libris lends itself with singular appropriateness to symbolism and allegory, and is a fit subject of research and study to those who take delight in such " conceits."
Furthermore, from the thickly pressing ranks of armorial labels telling of wealthy and otherwise excellent book-owners who, however, may be
Introduction. 13
utterly unknown to Biography, there will occasion- ally shine forth the book-plate of some famous man or woman — long since dust. Here, then, is a record ; for the ex-libris was personal ; no doubt it was submitted to the owner for approval or criticism before completion ; it was finally accepted, possibly in many instances it was jealously affixed by him, or her, on the covers of a library — long since dispersed. And coming forward after so many years, the book-plate may help to impress on us the ultimate philosophy of Book- pride, nunc mihi, mox aliis f1 And if the book- plate of a man of note in history or literature is out of the common ruck, if it bear quaint mottoes or cunningly devised allegories, if it show us a " library interior" or a " book pile" displaying the names of favourite authors, it remains as a memorial (only known, be it noted, to the " ex- librist") of his private tastes and aspirations.
Many specimens are either dated or signed by recognizable hands, or both. Thus can the study of a number of genuine examples often lead to the discovery of certain criteria of style, based on internal evidence, which can, after a time, be applied to fix the origin of other work, unsigned or undated. In such guise is the study of book- plates distinctly profitable as well as attractive in itself. The would-be " Kernoozer" in matters of virtu can make it a peg upon which to hang much and valuable bye-knowledge.
It might finally be urged that an understanding
1 The motto characteristically chosen by Mr. A. W. Franks (our premier collector of ex-libris), for his own book-plate.
14 English Book-plates.
of book-plates is a branch of general bibliology. The book-plate appertains to books and bookmen, both in the past and the present ; it is therefore worthy of investigation. After all, to use Warren's apt phrase, the " ex-librist is but a humbler class of bibliophile."
The historical interest does not, of course, appertain to quite modern plates except in the case of late examples completing a long list of family ex-libris. I do not, however, share the contempt expressly or tacitly shown for con- temporary book-plates by almost every writer on this subject ; if such devices do not reflect, after the manner of more venerable specimens, the lead- ing fashions or the ruling affectations of their age, their very freedom from conventionality affords scope for more original treatment, for compositions in many cases highly interesting and which will no doubt be peculiarly so to the ex-librist of advancing centuries.
In fine, whatever may be the general opinion con- cerning the amount and the special nature of the interest discoverable in book-plates, it is a matter of fact that they are and have been for many years considered worthy of study by men of recognized culture ; the taste, however, for collecting ex- libris is of comparatively modern growth.1
They were considered worthy of an essay in
1 In the appendix will be found a condensed Bibliographic account of what has been written in England on the subject of Book-plates. For a Bibliography, arranged in chronological order, see the series of articles contributed by Messrs. H. W. Fincham and James Roberts Brown to the "Ex-Libris Journal"
Introduction. 15
the " Gentleman's Magazine," as early as 1822, and they frequently crop up in the pages of " Notes and Queries," " Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica," " The Antiquary," and other periodicals specially devoted to antiquarian and book-lore.
In the year 1837, a certain Rev. Daniel Parsons published an article on this subject in the third annual report of the Oxford University Archaeo- logical and Heraldic Society, and at a later date, in " Notes and Queries," (1st Series, iii. 495), he announced his intention to write a " History of Book-plates." This, unfortunately, he did not live to publish.
So far English writers seem to have been the first in the field of ex-libris. But it was reserved for the French, ever most keen in every matter of Bibliographic interest, to produce the first two actual books on the subject. One is the " Armorial du Bibliophile," above mentioned,1 dealing with super-libros, the other " Les Ex-libris Francais, depuis leur originejusqu a nos jours," by M. Poulet- Malassis, published in 1875, which does the same office practically, but with lesser wealth of illustra- tion, for French book-plates proper.
What M. Poulet-Malassis, with national exclu- siveness, had done for French ex-libris, Mr.
(vol. i. parts 6, 7, and 8, Dec. '91 — Feb. '92), published by A. & C. Black, London, Soho Square. This useful woik has been reprinted, but only for private circulation.
1 See p. 4. M. Guigard has since then issued a " Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile, Guide de l'Amateur des Livres Armories, contenant la reduction de 2,500 Armoiries et riches reliures armoriees. Paris, 2 vols., Emile Rondeau, 1890.
1 6 English Book-plates.
Leicester Warren (now Lord de Tabley), under- took a few years later, with greater breadth of knowledge and appreciation, for ex-libris at large. His work,1 with its pleasantly set forth, dis- criminating survey of the whole subject, was of course hailed with delight by English collectors. From the first it took its place as an accepted and trustworthy book of reference.
Haurit aquam cribris qui vult sine discere lidris, is the motto selected by the author for this fascinating manual,2 one without which it were indeed as futile as ''drawing water in sieves," to hope for real proficiency in ex-libris lore. " Warren's Guide" in fact is, as Mr. Rylands appropriately puts it, " to the lover of ex-libris such a companion as Walton and Cotton's ' Complete Angler' is to the contemplative fisherman."
Warren — to use the popular way of adverting to one whose work has long been acknowledged — will remain princeps among writers on the present subject, were it only for the one fact, that he was the first to classify book-plates in " styles" from which their age can be deducted, and thus to lay the foundation of an intelligible nomenclature. For there is little doubt that, whatever criticisms may be passed on such terms as " Jacobean," " Chippendale," and others patented in " The Guide," they are now accepted and destined to
1 " A Guide to the Study of Book-plates," (ex-libris), by the Hon. J. Leicester Warren, M.A. 8vo. London, John Pearson, 46, Pall Mall, 1880.
2 Culled from the ex-libris, dated 1697, of a certain old Austrian lawyer, J. Seyringer.
Introduction,
17
endure by convention ; they were found useful at a time when none better were brought forward, and by this time all English collectors know pre- cisely what, rightly or otherwise, these words are meant to describe. All the terms, moreover, of subsequently devised classifications have remained based on his general scheme.
A special feature in Warren's book is the series of lists, carefully and almost exhaustively compiled by the author himself, of English and Foreign book-plate engravers. These lists are to a cer- tain extent supplemented by a very precious pam- phlet, printed in 1887 by Mr. A. W. Franks, of the British Museum (now President of the Society of Antiquaries) for private distribution, under the name " Notes in Book-plates. No. 1, English Dated Book-plates, 1 574-1800."
" Warren's Guide " is now unfortunately out of print, and has already become a prize to the book- hunter. Speedy exhaustion, it may be remarked, is a fate which has hitherto overtaken the few English works on Ex-libris, (and therein may per- haps be found sufficient justification for the pre- sent volume) ; it is now even more difficult to dis- cover a copy for sale of Mr. Griggs' " Examples " or of Mr. Rylands' " Notes."
The first of these, " Eighty-three Examples of Armorial Book-plates from various Collections," privately printed and issued (only to the extent of sixty copies) by Mr. W. Griggs in 1887, albeit only an annotated Album of facsimiles, formed a most valuable adjunct to " Warren's Guide," which was no doubt insufficiently illustrated. It is a
c
1 8 English Book-plates.
very excellent reproduction of rare plates, ranging in date from 1574 to the first years of this century, marked preference being given to very early speci- mens.1
The second, under a very unassuming title, and notwithstanding its modest proportions, ranks next only to Warren's work. These " Notes on Book- plates (ex-libris), with special reference to Lanca- shire and Cheshire Examples, and a proposed Nomenclature for the Shapes of Shields," by J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A., were likewise privately printed at Liverpool in 1889; they were repro- duced the following year among the " Transac- tions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire."
While selecting his examples more particularly from the Counties Palatine, Mr. Rylands makes his monograph deal with English ex-libris gene- rally, and follows with great discrimination the development of the various national styles. The work is of course based on Warren's foundations ; but, as might be expected after the lapse of many years not wasted for the study of book-plates, it shows a certain advance in systematic classifica- tion.2
Three more volumes, of great interest to ex- librists, have appeared since the publication of Mr.
1 A Second Series of " Examples of Armorial Book-plates " has lately been published by Mr. Griggs, 1891-92 (see Biblio- graphy Appendix).
2 Since the publication of the first edition of the present work, Mr. W. J. Hardy, F.S.A., has added to Messrs. Kegan Paul and Co.'s excellent series of " Books about Books," a most interesting volume on " Book-plates."
Introduction. 19
Rylands' " Notes," but as they treat mainly of foreign plates, I need only mention them here/^r mdmoire.
The "Svenska Bibliotek och ex-libris auteck- ningar med 84 illustrationer," by M. C. M. Car- lander (Stockholm, Adolf Johnson, 8vo., 1889).
Herr F. Warnecke's " Die Deutschen Biicher- zeichen (ex-libris), von ihren Ursprunge bis zur Gegenwart," containing 21 illustrations in the text, and 20 plates (Berlin), T. V. Stargardt, 8vo., 1890. A most admirable work.
M. Henri Bouchot's " Les Ex-libris et les marques de possession du livre," with 15 plates (Paris, E. Rouveyre, 8vo., 1891). M. Bouchot, a leading authority on bibliognostic matters, has taken the trouble to write this essay in a brilliant style — apparently, however, for the definite pur- pose of disparaging the interest of ancient book- plates.
The appearance of Warren's book undoubtedly gave a general impetus to the study of book-plates. Since then a good deal of learned disputation on the subject of these minor works of art has had ephemeral publicity in newspapers and periodicals, only to remain all buried in the great Necropolis of Back Numbers. Many such valuable contribu- tions by learned specialists, however, such as Mr. W. J. Hardy, Mr. Walter Hamilton, Mr. John Leighton, Mr. Robert Day, Mr. W. H. K. Wright in this country, and Mr. Lawrence Hutton, and Mr. R. C. Lichtenstein, the two best-known autho-
20 English Book-plates.
rities in America, have happily been (or are being) resurrected and collected, so as to make them accessible to the Student, in what has become the recognized organ of English book-plate collectors, the " Journal of the Ex-Libris Society."
The history of this very flourishing Association, (already counting some three hundred members, among whom many of the best "authorities" known, not only in this country, but also in America and on the Continent), is briefly this : —
" The scheme," to use the Hon. Secretary's own wording, " originated with a few ardent collectors who convened a meeting in London on February the ioth, 1 89 1, the initiatory steps being taken by the present honorary secretary of the Society.1
" The chair was taken by Mr. J. R. Brown, who was supported by Mr. John Leighton, F.S.A., Mr. Walter Hamilton, F.R.H.S., Mr. C. W. Sher- born, Mr. W. C. Jackson, Mr. H. W. Fincham, Mr. J. F. Meehan, Mr. Harry Soane, Mr. James Tregaskis, and others."
In this sitting, the constitution of the Society was settled. At a subsequent gathering, Mr. John Leighton was elected Chairman of the Council, Mr. Walter Hamilton, Treasurer, Mr. W. H. K. Wright (of the Public Library, Plymouth), Hono- rary Secretary, as well as general editor of the contemplated Journal. At a later meeting, Mr. Arthur Jewers, F.S.A., was appointed Heraldic Assistant Editor, and within a month of the final
1 Mr. W. H. K. Wright, F.R.H.S., Borough Librarian, Ply- mouth.
Introduction. 21
constitution of the Society the first number of the Journal appeared, and met with a success which has never failed it since.
It is meet, however, to state that a modest look- ing forerunner of the " Ex-Libris Journal," contain- ing a great quantity of interesting information, was at that time in existence, being then in fact more than a year old. But its origin was provincial, and its publication, therefore, was not generally known. It was started as a monthly supplement to the " Western Antiquary," under the style of " The Book-plate Collector's Miscellany," and edited by Mr. Wright. Its last number was issued simultaneously with the first Part of the " Ex- Libris Journal," which, it should be stated, during the period of its infancy undoubtedly derived much nourishment from the defunct parent publication. .
" The Book-plate Collector's Miscellany " is now unobtainable, and the original numbers may in time, when "early book-plate literature" has be- come an antiquarian subject, come to be quoted at preposterous prices.
One of the latest works published on the subject of ex-libris, is a learned monograph by Mr. Walter Hamilton, "French Book-plates (Ex-Libris)," by Walter Hamilton, F.R.G.S., F.R.H.S., London, George Bell and Sons, 1892, imp. i6mo., with about 100 illustrations. This is distinctly the work of a specialist, addressed to specialists, and as far as copiousness and accuracy of information go, is more complete than either that of Bouchot or Poulet-Malassis.
22 English Book-plates.
A " Hand-book on American Book-plates" is announced as forthcoming from the pen of Mr. Charles Dexter Allen, of Hartford, Conn. ; also a selection of Irish book-plates from the late Sir Bernard Burke's collection to be published by his son.
Hand-books on Italian, Spanish, and Nether- landish book-plates are still, presumably, in the lap of the gods.
The plan of the present work is not ambitious ; I have no pretension to lecture upon what so many keen collectors glowingly term the " science " of ex-libris ; in fact I cannot, with my best imagina- tive effort, discover where science comes in in the present subject. As I have stated in the preface, my purpose is simply to give the reader a general idea of the history of the Book-plate, as a mark of possession, in England, with reference especially to the relation of the various " styles " with each other, and to their various " classes " of composi- tion ; to support this by disquisitions on such cognate topics as may be of interest to any one proposing to investigate the subject further by himself, and to complete my account of the subject by means of chosen examples displaying the ten- dency of modern taste in the matter of book- tokens.
The question of foreign ex-libris will therefore only be touched upon in so far as it may introduce that of English plates, or as foreign influence affected English fashions.
I have found it necessary to divide the subject
Introduction.
23
somewhat more minutely than has hitherto been generally done, and to draw a distinction between " styles" and "classes." Neither of these terms, I am aware, are really apt, but I have not been able to excogitate anything better; the former, moreover, is already fixed by prescription.
By " style " we are to understand style of orna- mentation, which, in book-plates, is very generally found to reproduce (somewhat in arrear as to time) the prevailing taste for decoration in such things as manuscript or typographic illuminations, architec- tural details, and furniture, dress, gold- and silver- smith's work, and so forth.
By means of " classes " we can discriminate between the different modes of composition, such as " Library Interiors," "Allegories," " Landscapes," or pure ° Genre," applied to book-plates.
The arbitrary classification of ex-libris in "styles" is convenient (although necessarily not accurate, considering that styles overlapped each other at most periods,) and is happily more practical in the case of English than of foreign examples.
The number of " classes " must be restricted, and cannot of course be made to admit all known varieties with anything like precision ; (one might almost be tempted to erect one especially as a home for the "Sports" that are so numerous in large collections) ; but it will be found that, until the first quarter of this century at least, the regular " classes," enumerated further on, are tolerably adequate for purposes of description. Up to that time both " styles " and " classes " may be held to
24 English Book-plates.
have some kind of chronological meaning — a very important quality.
The nomenclature I propose (in answer to re- peated requests piteously expressed by ex-librists for a revision of technical terms) is based on that of Warren, as expanded by Rylands, but modified and with alternative expressions which may perhaps be found acceptable and may help to bring English classification chronologically in line with that of the Continent.
Heraldry has always been and (fiaceM. Bouchot and his sarcasms on the modern use of blazon) should rightly be an important feature on a book- plate. M. Bouchot, with characteristically national inability to understand anything essentially English, does not realize that family traditions in this country have been preserved where, under similar social conditions, they have been in most cases irretriev- ably lost in his own. From its very essence coat armour must ever be the most speaking personal symbol. As a matter of fact a number of plates, both ancient and modern, display nought but armorial bearings; and indeed there was a time when, as a mark of proprietorship, such a display fulfilled its purpose better than any printed state- ment could have done.
It would, however, perhaps be assuming a little too much to reckon nowadays on unassisted blazon as an unmistakable, indisputable token of owner- ship. And, even in theory, it is a chief drawback to this noble simplicity that marks of cadency not
Introduction. 25
being really practical ad infinitum, a purely heraldic plate, without a more special inscription, could scarcely in the majority of cases be sufficiently personal.
The greater number of ex-libris, previous to the present half-century, being distinctly heraldic in character, it seems fit therefore to consider first : Armorial Plates, that is, plates in which the owner's armorial bearings are the features paramount. These can be best classified with reference to the manner in which the escutcheon is set forth and to the style of its ornamental surroundings.
Armorial Plates.
Group I. Early Armorial (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries).
Group II. Georgian (eighteenth century).
Group III. Modern Armorial (nineteenth century).
The Early Armorial group may conveniently be sub-divided into three styles : —
Tudoresque, covering the sixteenth and the early seventeenth centuries.
Carolian, ranging from about 1625 to the Resto- ration.
Restoration, during the last four Stuart reigns.
The Georgian group includes the three styles
26 English Book-plates.
discriminated by Warren as Jacobean, Chippen- dale, and Festoon, and can historically be divided into Early Georgian, Middle Georgian, Later Georgian.
Early Georgian : (Jacobean) or " Grinling Gib- bons," ranging mainly from the first years to the middle of the century.
Middle Geoi'glan : Rococo (Chippendale).
Later Georgian: " Urn," " Wreath and Ribbon," (Festoon), "Adams."
In the group, Modern Armorial, I place all purely heraldic plates of this century ; they can hardly be classified otherwise than by reference to the shield forms.
The leading characteristics of these " styles " will be separately noticed under their proper headings. It will be remarked that, chronologically, they all more or less overlap each other ; there is no really hard and fast line of demarcation between them, and it was of course always open to engravers to hark back to older-fashioned designs. But still these styles correspond tolerably to the successive decorative fashions that prevailed most popularly during the periods mentioned. As a matter of fact, " Archaic " tastes in decoration are quite of modern growth ; book-plate engravers of old almost invariably followed the prevalent man- nerism in ornamentation of their own days. It is possible to fix approximately the date when a definite fashion came in for decoration, but not when it went out ; for no style that has had any
Introduction. 27
general vogue, can be said to have been abandoned altogether at any particular time.
Many book-plates display, besides the owner's arms, other features more or less conventional or realistic, symbolical or merely picturesque; many again dispense with heraldry altogether. These I shall call Pictorial.
The various " classes " into which Pictorial Plates may be grouped are too eclectic to admit of any satisfactory chronological arrangement. Many, however, were decidedly more popular at certain definite periods than at others, and the following classification may be said to be con- catenated to a certain extent.
" Book-piles."
" Library Interiors."
" Portraits."
" Allegories."
" Landscapes," or " Vignettes."
" Symbolic," or " Emblematic."
" Seals."
" Printer's Marks."
" Genre."
" Adaptations."
All these classes, excepting perhaps the Land- scape, which is hardly known earlier than the last quarter of the last century, and the pure Genre, which is essentially modern, are found in every
28 English Book-plates.
age of the book-plates. The greater number of these make a show of heraldry in some form or another, and many are enhanced by bibliophilic mottoes or personal " sentiments."
Into classes by themselves must be ranged modern non-heraldic pictorial plates, and also printed or engraved, non-heraldic and non-pictorial labels bearing the owner's name, with or without book-loving phrases and admonitions (amiable or the reverse) to book-borrowers. Such labels are also found at all periods ; indeed, some of the very oldest ex-libris known belong to that category.
Before beginning to anatomize the English book- plate more particularly, that is, to describe the leading characteristics of each of the so-called " styles" and " classes," and their mutual relations, it will be necessary to briefly recall the early history of book-plates on the Continent ; for, as far as our present knowledge enables us to see, these personal tokens did not become common in England until long after their regular establishment in foreign libraries.
The hypothesis that what is now meant, broadly speaking, by an ex-libris is as old as the book itself would perhaps not be too bold a one to advance ; we may well imagine that whenever a collection of such valuable chattels as Books was brought together, some definite mark of possession was affixed to them. Concerning Egyptian, Greek and Roman libraries, however, no information of
Introduction.
29
the kind is obtainable nor likely to be brought forward.
Those more immediate predecessors, however, of the modern, that is the printed Book, the
MiJ^mri^tX
6utan\ft(>Uu>iUnoXfco/ m>c*cl>cxxwn*
BOOK-PLATE OF MR. H. W. FINCHAM.
Adapted from an illuminated initial letter in a 14th century missal.1
laborious productions of the mediaeval monastic scriptoria embodied in the character of their illu-
1 The crest, introduced in the cusped top corner of the letter is unfortunately of very modern appearance owing to
30 English Book-plates.
mination every mark necessary to declare their identity, and by implication the name of their rightful owners. It might even be said that im- portant manuscript books of later date in history, especially the gorgeous works of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, bore a formal " ex-libris" on almost every sheet. There, illuminated heraldic devices, ornamented initials and other personal emblems proclaimed with ever- recurrent pomp the owner's family name.
When the invention of movable type had, far and wide, revolutionized the physical nature of books and the character of their ornamentation, the pride of ownership had to assert itself in a different manner. From this necessity were born those special adventitious tokens which it is now agreed to call ex-libris.
" Libraries," says M. Bouchot,1 in one of the happiest pages of his work, "were not then, as now, formed of superposed shelves where books stood upright so as to display their backs only. Round the walls, as a rule, were arranged long desks, whereon the volumes lay flat, showing the side of the binding. The idea of decorating this ex- posed part with special magnificence seems to have occurred to the Italians very early. From them it passed to the French, who in a short time asserted themselves as masters in that style. The substitution of personal arms and mottoes and
the conventional wreath of latter-day heraldic draughtsmen. The words are the "doggerel version of two monkish latin hexameters" quoted by Coleridge in the preface to "Christabel." 1 " Lex Ex-Libris et les marques de possession du Livre," (see Biblio).
Introduction. 31
monograms to foliage and flowers, and all the commonplace artistic economy of primitive bind- ing, was effected within a very brief period. From the inside the symbol of ownership passed to the outside and assumed a recognized status.
" Conceived in such a spirit the ex-libris was an unlooked-for good fortune ; it helped to foster an inimitable art in which men such as Geoffroy Tory and Roffett tried their power, an art which found connoisseurs such as Grolier and Francis I. in France, and Maioli in Italy, ready to appreciate and promote it.
" Everything that could enhance their work was drawn upon by these artists. They interlaced cunning strap patterns with the title of the book and the name of the owner, combined these with his badges and mottoes ; in fact they ' realized the ideal ' of a perfect fanciful decoration, at the same time asserting with precision the owner's rights."
To such aristocratic conceptions of possessive marks does M. Bouchot attribute the compara- tively late appearance in France of the book-plate proper, which in the birth-land of printing arts had come into existence almost as soon as books began to be freely disseminated.
" In Germany," asseverates the French expert, (under the pulse, no doubt, of merely bibliophilic antipathy), " where the binding art was tram- melled by a ponderous, ungraceful taste, utterly commonplace and lacking in personality, the want was early felt of some internal mark of proprietor- ship. Reasons of economy pure and simple pro- moted the invention of the German ex-libris."
32 English Book-plates.
This was possibly one of the causes at work ; but it might with perhaps better reason be sug- gested that book-buying (and therefore book- collecting) was earlier and more generally practised in the country where the earliest and most nume- rous printers were at work ; and that therefore the advantages of a practical and not too ruinous mark of possession were sooner realized in Germany than elsewhere. For, after all, magnificent biblio- philes of the Grolier and Maioli type can hardly be held out as representative of the community of book buyers even in their respective countries.
Be all this as it may, the book-plate, as we understand it now, — that is the label, printed or engraved, heraldic or otherwise, intended to pro- claim the ownership of a book when affixed to its board or fly leaf — undoubtedly made its first appearance in Germany.
" The oldest ex-libris of this kind known," writes Herr Warnecke,1 "is that of one Johannes Kna- bensperg, alias Jgler. Its date, on various conside- rations, has been fixed at about 1450. It is a rough woodcut showing a hedgehog engaged in disporting itself with a flower in its mouth, among strewn leaves. Above the picture is the punning note of warning to would-be borrowers, Hans Jgler das dick ein J gel kuss."
According to the same authority, the oldest ex-libris actually connected with a printed book, is a small woodcut dating from 1480 or there- abouts. It shows an angel bearing a shield,
1 " Die Deutschen Biicherzeichen " (see Bibliography).
Introduction.
33
(azure charged with an ox argent, ringed sable). Whether this was actually designed as a book- plate, may be an open question ; but that it was used as such (or at least as a " gift-plate," which is the same thing in essence) is proved by a manuscript inscription in Latin recording that Brother Hildebrand Brandenburg of Biberach had
GIFT-PLATE OF HILDEBRAND BRANDENBURG OF BIBERACH TO THE MONASTERY OF BUXHEIM. Circa 1480.
presented the books in which this plate is found to the Carthusian Monastery at Buxheim.
Curiously enough, some of the earliest known examples in England are also gift-plates. It is quite allowable to suppose that the desire of establishing a record of a donor's generosity in the
D
34 English Book-plates.
books themselves, may have been one of the most active factors in the evolution of the label ex-libris.
By the beginning of the sixteenth century, the German book-plate seems to have attained a singularly complete development ; to have, in fact, become already fully accoutred to meet all the re- quirements, artistic and practical, of a good mark of possession.
There can be no doubt, for instance, about the purpose of the two early plates of this kind which experts have attributed to Albert Dtirer. They are book-plates, explicitly ; they can be nothing else. Both of these are worthy of careful study, especially the larger of the two, likewise the earliest, which was designed by Dtirer for his friend Bilibald Pirckheimer, the Nuremberg jurist.
This woodcut (to which Herr Warnecke ascribes the date 1503) combines almost all the conven- tional elements of ex-libris composition into one effective picture. It is boldly Armorial, and even without the legend, Liber Bilibaldi Pirckheimer, would proclaim the owner's name at a glance. It is ornamented in a style typical of the age and country. Its pleasing appearance is heightened by an amiable motto : Sibi et Amicis, and by an unimpeachable " sentiment " (repeated in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, for Bilibald was a scholar of the first class) to the effect that, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom}
1 Diirer also engraved a likeness of Pirckheimer which (we have it on the authority of Mr. Wheatley), was also used as a book-plate. This is an interesting example of the "portrait" class.
Introduction.
35
The second, which bears the inscription, Liber Hieronymi Ebner, whilst less eloquent in treat- ment, is of special interest as being the first dated ex-libris on record, 15 16. Both these designs
Try Sa a^TtH "
FANTA KA0APA "1012 KA0APOIX'* OMNIA MVN DA MVND15 D.IUCTOR POMER PRtFCft & LAVR«
BOOK-PLATE OF HECTOR PuMER, LAST PRIOR OF ST. LAWRENCE, NUREMBERG.
Designed by Albert Diirer, engraved by R. A., 1521.1
1 For the loan of this plate, which is reduced from the original, about four times the size of this page, I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Elliot Stock, publisher of "The Antiquary," in which it originally appeared.
36 English Book-plates.
having already been reproduced in standard works,1 I have selected as a model of early sixteenth- century book ownership device, the plate designed by Durer for Doctor Hector Pomer (last Prior of St. Lawrence in Nuremberg) engraved on wood by one R. A., in 1521.
The learned repetition in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin of St. Paul's maxim : to the pure all things are pure, is worthy of notice ; it recalls at once the composition of the Pirckheimer ex-libris. This is the oldest specimen known which is both dated and signed.
Durer is supposed to have designed at least some twenty book-plates. He most decidedly set a definite fashion in the composition of these tokens, one that has had a lasting influence. Nor was he singular in his estimation of an ex-libris as a fit subject for the artists graver. Holbein did not disdain it altogether ; Lucas Cranach, Hans Sebald Beham, Virgil Solis, Jost Amman, and many other " little masters " have left their marks on numerous authenticated book-plates, and in this department have firmly established that " old German style," curvetting yet heavy, at times overcharged, but always magnificently heraldic, which is felt in German work to this day.
It seems now clearly established that the use of ex-libris was already adopted almost every- where by German book-collectors before it found
1 The first appears as a frontispiece in Warren's " Guide"; the second occurs among M. Bouchot's illustrations j both are given in Herr Warnecke's work (see Bibliography).
Introduction.
37
its way to any perceptible extent in other coun- tries.
In France, for instance, the first indubitable book-label of this kind that has yet been discovered dates from 1 574. And this is but a modest printed ticket, bearing in conjunction with a personal "sen- timent" the name of Charles d'Alboise d'Autun. " Ex bibliotheca Car 0 It Albosii Eduensis. Ex labore quies. 1574." 1
THE MARK (REDUCED) OF RICHARD PINSON,
Naturalized in this country in 1493. Appointed King's Printer in 1503, died about 1529.
In spite of his contempt for this German inven- tion " these little rags of paper, so easy to displace
1 This date, it is curious to notice, is also that of the oldest dated English example at present known. No doubt, however, there have been earlier English book-plates, which may be brought to light in due course of time.
38
English Book-plates.
and replace,"1 M. Bouchot feels bound to record that, in France, a goodly number of very fine heraldic plates, known to belong to the sixteenth century, and the existence of which never has been quite clearly accounted for, may have really been designed as ex-libris. This is a very likely hypothesis which may some day be borne out.
THE MARK OF RICHARD FAWKES. Circa 1521.
Italy, it would appear, did not take kindly to the book-plate before the seventeenth century.
1 It ought to be pointed out that a great number of early German book-plates, besides being the work of great artists, are of noble proportions, having been devised for the broad boards of folios and quartos.
Introduction.
39
As for poor Inquisition-ridden Spain, notwith- standing her close German connections, she never had much chance of developing a national curio- sity for literary and typographical matters. At any rate the subject of Spanish ex-libris is still fallow.
With reference to the early history of book-
THE MARK OF JOHN SCOTT,
Printer, whose work ranges from 1521 to 1537.
plates, it must again be remarked that almost from the first they seem to have been singularly perfect and definite. M. Bouchot fancies he sees the prototype of the French Armorial book-plate in the heraldic illuminations of the " dloges mor- tuaires," an institution which was in vogue during the latter part of the sixteenth century. These
40 English Book-plates.
mortuary panegyrics of great men (that is, men of rank) came into very general fashion just before the time when the French heraldic book-plates are observed to have made their first appearance. The connection very likely existed ; at any rate, M. Bouchot's hypothesis is but in accordance with the noticeable fact that at any definite period heraldic composition remains the same on whatso- ever object it be applied for ornamental purposes.
But I should point out that there were models of much earlier date than these armorial head- ings to deeds and other calligraphic rolls, which may very likely have had a direct influence on the composition of personal book-plates, armorial or otherwise. I mean the Printers Marks.
The subject is worthy of further investigation.
The early printer was, as a rule, also an editor ; in other words a scholar, a man of parts. He was fond and jealous of his work, and stamped it with a mark meant to be as personal and as unmis- takable as possible. Now the greater number of these marks show all the leading characteristics of the first German book-plates ; they are emble- matic, they are treated in a definitely heraldic manner, they bear a personal name, and as often as not a "sentiment." or a scholarly motto. Thus, in spirit and intention, they are similar, cceteris paribus, to the most typical ex-libris. The examples here reproduced in support of this suggestion are selected from the earliest English printers.
ENGLISH BOOK-PLATES, FIRST GROUP.
EARLY ARMORIAL.
HE term, Early Armorial, was fixed by Lord de Tabley. and Mr. Rylands, but it was really meant by them to apply to that " style " which in this work will be more particularly described under the head Restoration.
Under this broad heading must, however, be considered all English plates of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and a certain number ex- tending in date as late as the second quarter of the eighteenth.
This at first flush may seem a very long period for a single group ; but, long as it is, until a greater number of early examples have been brought to light, it can only be made to include, as a matter of fact, a comparatively small number of plates.
Critical analysis of the leading features of such early plates has shown, as I have said, that, " for ex-libris purposes," this lengthy span of time can be subdivided into three periods, corresponding to
42 English Book-plates.
three " styles," the characteristics of which (although not very sharply defined) are perceptibly distinct. These are :
The Tudoresquc, which, with tolerable closeness, covers the interval between the establishment of our first English printing presses and the second quarter of the seventeenth century.
The Carolian, which applies to the remainder of the century previous to the return of the King to England, and
The Restoration, which is practically limited to the last four Stuarts.
THE TUDORESQUE STYLE (159O- 1 62 5).
Future searches for early English examples will, no doubt, bring to light, at least, a small number of genuine book-plates older than that of Nicholas Bacon. Hand-painted blazons and illuminated initials proclaiming ownership of course abound in MSS., but, although such emblems may be looked upon as ex-libris after a manner, they do not rightly come within the scope of the present study. One of the most magnificent examples of this kind, however, deserves passing notice, namely, that which was designed for Cardinal Wolsey, still attached to a folio volume that once belonged to Henry VIII., and now re- poses in the King's Library, British Museum.1 As might be expected in anything that ever ap- pertained to the pompous Primate, it is a very
1 This plate is reproduced in Mr. Griggs' "Second Series of Armorial Examples." See Biblio.
The Ttidoresque Style. 43
gorgeous affair indeed. It is, however, as I have said, not a book-plate in the ordinary sense, but an illuminated armorial composition, displaying the Cardinal's arms, duly supported, under the tasselled hat.
It is difficult to believe that our early printers, who, as a rule, had such very excellent personal works of their own, singularly Teutonic in charac- ter, should not, in some manner or other, have imported the wide-spread German custom of movable ex-libris for the printed book. But, with the exception of one dated 15 18, said to have been discovered in the Bodleian Library, the sixteenth century is only known at present to have produced two specimens, which both belong to the latter half of Elizabeth's reign. One, dated 1574, is the above-mentioned gift-plate of Sir Nicholas Bacon to the University of Cambridge, a facsimile repro- duction of which forms the frontispiece of the present volume.
As the traditional school-boy knows, Nicholas Bacon, the "father of his country and of Francis Bacon," an attorney of the Court of Wards and a Cambridge man, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her reign, and made Lord Keeper. Pie died in 1579. The very handsome device he had engraved on wood for the books presented to his Alma Mater is hand-coloured, and displays on a square-pointed shield the arms of Bacon quartering Quaplode (Quaplade ?), with a crescent at the Fess Point for a difference (Nicholas was a second son of Robert Bacon of Drinkston). The Mantlet, denticulated in
44 English Book-plates.
acanthus-leaf fashion, but in a strong and sober style, with rather heavy tassels, is symmetrical ; a scroll beneath, close to the escutcheon, bears the motto Mediocriias firma. Under all is the legend :
N. Bacon eqnes attratus et magni sigilli Anglice Custos librum hunc bibliotheccz Cantabrig dicavit.
*574-
This plate is also known in another form, that is, without the date and the inscription recording the gift, and uncoloured. A facsimile of this variety, found in the Bagford collection, is given by Mr. Hardy in his learned and interesting work on book-plates. "A close comparison," says the writer, " shows that both shields of arms are struck from the same block ; can it be that the latter is the book-plate of Bacon himself, to which, on the copies used for the books that he gave to Cam- bridge was added the donatory inscription?" This is most likely.
This gift-plate is extremely interesting in itself, and also because it bears an early and authentic date. The other Elizabethan plate (which, I be- lieve, was discovered by Mr. James Tregaskis, the well-known bibliopole of the Caxton's Head, Holborn), was devised for Sir Thomas Treshame in 1585.
The Treshams, explains Mr. Arthur Jewers, F.S.A., in " The Book-plate Collectors Miscel- lany," were an old Northamptonshire family who, in Reformation times, strenuously adhered to the ancient faith. The particular Tresham-for whom this plate was engraved, was knighted at Kenil-
THE TRESHAME BOOK-PLATE. 1585.
The Tudoresque Style. 47
worth on the 18th of July, 1585. He married Muriel, daughter of Sir Robert Throckmorton, of Coughton. His eldest son, Sir Francis, was impli- cated in the Gunpowder Plot ; the second son, Sir Lewis, was created Baronet ; with the son of the latter, Sir William, 2nd Bart., the line ended.
Concerning the motto Fecit mihi magna qui potens est, Mr. Jewers suggests this ingenious com- mentary : " the est shows that the 'doer of great things ' was then living, and the qui that it was a man and not Queen Elizabeth. In 1585 the Earl of Leicester was occupying a high position, and the motto may perhaps allude to him." It seems, however, much more probable that this portion of a verse from the Vulgate (Luke, chap. i. 49 ; in the authorized version : He that is mighty hath done to me great things), was purely and simply a pious "sentiment."
This can be taken as a representative example of the Tudoresque plates, all of which present the same characteristics, as far as heraldic arrange- ments are concerned, as a certain type of private seal belonging to that period. These arrange- ments are generally as follows : a plain shield (that is, one without adventitious ornament) sur- mounted by the wreathed, crested and mantled helmet, the mantlet being comparatively slender, deeply cut, acanthus-edged and blown about sym- metrically ; a scroll underneath for the motto, and sometimes (as in the present case) another for names and qualification. Very often, however, the legend is simply underscribed without a scroll. In plates of this style, previous to about 1640, a
48 English Book-plates.
date after which they become very rare, tinctures are not shown in the engraving.
Closely similar to this is the well-known plate belonging to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, on which figures the legend :
Ex dono Willielmi Willmer de Syivell in Com : Northamptonice Armigeri, quondam pencionarij in ista domo. Viz, in Anno Domini 1599 sed dedit in An0. Dm. 1613.1
To the same type also belongs the plate of Edward Lyttelton (who became Lord Keeper in 1 641) ; the first book-plate signed by William Marshall, indeed, the first English example with an engraver's name, and also one of the earliest showing the tinctures by the conventional lines and dots, alleged to have been invented by the celebrated Father Sylvester Petra Santa.
This so-called Tudoresque style remained appa- rently in some favour until the early days of the Restoration, and indeed, at first inspection, does not differ very materially from the style more par- ticularly ascribed to that period ; the chief diffe- rence between the two lies in the amplitude of the mantling, which in " Restoration" heraldry assumed a much more massive and imposing waviness.
THE CAROLIAN STYLE (1625-1660.)
In a certain number of ex-libris, however, which,
1 This plate is reproduced in Mr. Griggs' " Eighty-three Armorial Examples"; also in "Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica," N.S., vol. iv. p. 238. See Biblio.
THE BYSSHE HOOK-PLATE.
E
The Carolian Style.
5i
curiously enough, seem all to belong to the middle third of the seventeenth century, there is a notice- able tendency to depart, for a time, from this old- established conventionality, from this correctness of heraldic arrangement ; to assume, in fact, an
THE EYNES BOOK-PLATE.
outlandish originality and independence of design. As these really appear to belong to a definite period, they may be examined separately.
Here the shield is no longer plain, sometimes it is not even symmetrical, but of the cut-and- scrolled "cartouche" order. In many cases the
52 English Book-plates.
ragged, waving mantlet is actually discarded, and the escutcheon is encompassed by wreaths or palms, with festoons and ribbands which, but for the workmanship of the seventeenth century en- graver which is unmistakable, might, at first sight, suggest a late eighteenth-century date.
Such, for instance, are the book-plates of Mar- sham, circa 1650 (a cusped " Stuart" shield within a circular wreath of bays); of Sheldon (a " French" shield on a cut-and-scrolled cartouche) ; of Bysshe? 1655 (an indented, cusped and slightly scrolled shield, encompassed by palms tied together, wreath- like, by ribbands that interlace with the motto scroll, the whole contained within a line frame) ; of Gore (similar in treatment to the Marsham plate) ; of Southwell and of Eynes (Elizabethan shields between two broad dentellated and curly acanthus-like sprays tied under the base by knots of ribbands).
The workmanship of all such plates is distinctly foreign in character, and recalls more particularly certain French ex-libris of the Louis XIII. period. And in this connection it is worth re- cording that the fashion of enclosing escutcheons with chaplets and wreaths or palm-branches is re- ferred to as characteristically French by Menestrier (" Origine des ornements des Armoiries," Paris,
1 Quarterly dimidiated, showing two quarterings, first, Bysshe, second, Clare, impaling Greene. These are the arms of Edward Bysshe, afterwards Sir Edward Bysshe, Garter King- at-Arms, as borne by him before his father's death in 1655. He died in 1679. CFrom Griggs' "Examples.")
Scunvued P&pifs of 3 rajmfrton in Muntirwtimshre, Ejtf. Secretary of the Jfonirafa/to htf Ma^/Kina Charles the SecmdiDescended "afij ' curhentfamily ofPejniftfCatwnham inCamkidgsfure,-
THE BOOK-PLATE OF SAMUEL PEPYS.
Circa 1680.
The Carolian Style. 55
1680), who points out that the double palm is "an agreeable ornament, and, moreover, a symbol of conjugal love."
Book-plates previous in date to the last quarter of the seventeenth century are certainly not numerous. I may quote here, as being much to the point, a few words written by Lord de Tabley, in answer to my inquiry about early national examples in his collection.
"It is curious, but, I think, perfectly certain, that the fashion of having book-plates in private libraries was singularly late in reaching England. And many of the earliest specimens which we have,1 show to my mind a foreign influence, and are very likely the work of foreign engravers. An ancestor of my own, a certain Sir Peter Leicester, a most exact and laborious antiquary and a thorough bookworm, lived in the time of the Civil Wars and on till past the Restoration. I have all his library and all his MSS. He was the man of all others quite certain to have had a book-plate if such a thing had been fairly known. But there is not a trace of one, though all his books are inscribed most elaborately with his name and their proper number in his library. I think this can be taken as fair evidence that the book-plate of a living man was at that time an exotic custom to an English man of letters. The custom seems to have come in first for the purpose of recording book legacies to colleges and such institutions."
1 This refers mainly to those "styled" Carolian in this book.
56 English Book-plates.
THE " RESTORATION" STYLE.
It was long supposed by collectors that the very oldest English ex-libris dated from the early days of the Restoration. As a matter of fact, and as I have just pointed out, English plates anterior to that period have not been discovered in great number, nor are we likely to come across many more. No doubt the Parliamentary wars caused the destruction of many books and thus of many book-plates : and moreover the canting days of the Commonwealth were hardly propitious to book- collecting or ex-libris devising.
But on the return of the old order of things there seems to have been a very abundant sprout- ing of personal devices among the leaves of Eng- lish books, suggestive of a general revival of interest in library matters.
Plates of that period are now known in large numbers ; they present in almost every instance very definite characteristics. In heraldic arrange- ment and general appearance they are evidently close kin to the Tudo7'esque, showing as a rule the plain, square, pointed or angular shield with the crested, wreathed and mantled helmet, and a scroll for the motto. Very often the legend is inscribed on a broad cut-and-curled label beneath the whole.
But their "physiognomy" is decidedly different from the older members of the Early Armorial group.
The armorial book-plate of Samuel Pepys may be looked upon as transitional in style between the two periods.
The Restoration Style. 57
In the first place the tinctures are invariably shown in dots and lines (this is, of course, quite exceptional in plates of Tudoresque style, and only occurs in a few specimens of later date than 1640.)1 Furthermore, the mantling has now assumed a form and a behaviour which evoke, not, as of old, ideas of lambrequins hacked and torn in hot battle, but rather a vision of the contemporary towering, tumbling, curly Versailles peruke. In fact I have been tempted to suggest the expression " Periwig Style" as appropriate. Comparison with French ex-libris of the seventeenth century will show that this excessive and formal amplitude, this very fine cutting and crisp curling of lambre- quins, was quite the fashion in France somewhat earlier than in England, and, as we know, French fashion at that time took the lead in all things. It can be safely asserted that the typical triple rolls of denticulated mantling, encompassing a shield in the same manner as the periwig of the period encompassed the face of a man of rank, is distinctly French in its origin. And in this con- nection it is rather curious to remark how the " Restoration " mantlings continued to flow in
1 The modern and universally accepted methods of indicating metals and tinctures by means of lines and dots is supposed to have been devised and first set forth by one Father Sylvester Petra Santa, author of " Tesserae Gentilitise," published at Rome in 1638. The French heraldic writer, de Genouillac, ascribes its invention to the annalist Christophe Butken, at the end of the sixteenth century. It was certainly popularised in France by the works of Vulson de la Colombiere, about 1639. In any case this system does not appear to have been generally adopted by English engravers till almost twenty years later.
58
English Book-plates.
foaming cascades round the escutcheon of book- plates, so long as the " monstrous periwig " re- mained in fashion as a masculine headdress. In other words, the Restoration style in ex-libris
THE BOOK-PLATE OF FRANCIS GWYN OF LANSANOR. 1698.
endured (although at later times overshadowed by the so-called "Jacobean") until early Georgian days.
Very typical, in two " manners " of this very definite style are the plates of Gwyn of Lansanor
The Restoration Style.
59
and Lord Raby on the one hand, and of St. John Brodrick and Archibald Campbell on] the other.
The number of book-plates treated more or less
BOOK-PLATE OF THOMAS WENTWORTH,
Baron of Raby, 1698.
after these two fashions, ranging in date between 1 665 and 1 7 1 5, is considerable. They all show the legend inscribed on a broad scroll (precursor of the "napkin" of later days) generally cut-and-eared ; the plain shield, square sided ; the crested, torced, and mantletted helm. In the case of arms unac-
6o
English Book-plates.
companied by supporters, the deeply foliated, denticulated and elaborately curled mantlings are ample, and embrace three sides of the shield, sometimes even meeting under the base ; when.
BOOK-PLATE OF ST. JOHN BRODRICK. I703.
however, supporters are in attendance, the mant- lings assume necessarily somewhat lesser propor- tions, and spread themselves aloft on either side of the helm.1
1 These two types of the Restoration style (e.g., Gwyn and
The Restoration Style.
61
The " Lining" (as the shading within the mantlet edges has been called) in the Brodrick plate, and also the legend scroll in all these examples, should
BOOK-PLATE OF THE HON. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL.
Grandson of Archibald, eighth Earl of Argyle. Made Bishop of Aberdeen in 1721.
be noticed, as these characteristics are precursors
Brodrick), have more than once been reproduced in modern adaptations. Compare the first with that of the Rev. D. Parsons, and the latter with the ex-libris drawn by the Countess of Mayo for her husband.
62
English Book-plates.
of some of the factors in the coming " Jacobean " manner.
On account of its early date, 1671, although not really typical of the style now under considera- tion, being in fact rather Carolian in character (all
GIFT-PLATE OF THE DOWAGER COUNTESS OF BATH. 1671.
The original is 4^- by 5^ inches.
the more so as the tinctures are not shown), I have added here an example of a feminine plate. In such a case, correct heraldry does not, of course, admit of the manly helm, nor of its paraphernalia, torce, crest, or mantlings. In this gift-plate of Rachel, Dowager Countess of Bath, the arms of Bath, empaling Fane are simply surmounted by
The Restoration Style,
63
a coronet of somewhat outlandish form. On an endless scroll are spread the four mottoes : Non est mortale quod opto ; Bon temps viendra ; Ne vile fano ; Semper eadem, together with the legend : M Ex dono Rachael Comitissae Bathon Dotariae. An. Dom. MDCLXXI."
I have not been able to ascertain who was the recipient of this plate, which, I should state, in the original is of very large size, and no doubt intended for quartos or folios.
BOOK-PLATE OF MARTHA SIMCOX. 1670.
The size of the original is about 5 by 3 inches.
Another very large ex-libris of the same period, is the printed label of one Martha Simcox, with whom the thirtieth of August, 1670, seems to have been a red letter day with reference to book ownership. With reference, however, to printed inscriptions of this kind which occur, cut down to the shape of labels, in many collections, but which have rarely, if ever, been discovered genuinely in sitti, it is more than probable that they are not
64 English Book-plates.
book-plates, in the sense, at least, of movable ex-libris. It seems to have been the fashion with booksellers in Stuart and early Georgian days, as a compliment to the worthy purchasers of Bibles and other pious books, to print in a somewhat decorative manner the name of their client and the date of the good transaction on the fly-leaf.
The Restoration type had a certain simplicity, withal a stateliness of its own, which kept it long in fasion. It endured, in fact, to some extent, as I have said, until the second third of the eighteenth century.
It seems to have been at the height of favour with engravers during the last ) ears of the dying, and the first of the new century. After the reign of Queen Anne specimens of this style become exceptional. I give here the ex-libris of Gilbert Nicholson of Balrath, as an example, first, of what the Restoration style had become in early Georgian days, and secondly, as an instance of a misleading date, rendered all the more misleading by the style of the plate itself.
Considered as a " Restoration" design it is un- usual in character; the escutcheon itself with its foliated edges differs from the general type. This ornamentation, however, as well as the meaning- less roses under the helm and the scrolling of the gorget and beavor might pass for " Carolian ; " but as a matter of fact, the probable date of the plate is somewhere about 1722. Mr. Franks, after criti-
THE BOOK-PLATE OF GILBERT NICHOLSON OF BALRATH.
Probable date, 1722. F
Later Restoration Style. 67
cal comparison with other ex-libris of Georgian date, has come to the conclusion that Gilbert Nicholson simply recorded the date at which the Balrath property was acquired ; the book-plate} which is identical in arrangement with that of one Thomas Carter (1722), was evidently engraved by the same hand.
Another very celebrated plate, really of Georgian times, yet bearing a misleading Restoration date, is that of Sir Francis Fust, who fancifully claimed to be a descendant of Schoeffer's associate at Mainz. Although dated 1662, the Fust ex-libris can be shown not to have been engraved earlier than 1728 ; this latter being the date at which its owner succeeded to the Baronetcy.
GROUP THE SECOND. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
queen anne and early georgian style (" Jacobean").
jE have now arrived at a period in the history of the English Book-plate, the style of which is, by common deference to Lord de Tabley's special authority, designated as " Jacobean."
Notwithstanding its singularly inappropriate derivation (almost, it might be said, of the lucus a non lucendo order,) the word has become sanc- tioned, by prescription as it were ; I only suggest the above alternative terms as an attempt to in- troduce some kind of historical symmetry in our nomenclature. But it is difficult to understand exactly how Warren came to choose as applicable to that period an adjective which cannot fail to suggest the age of Inigo Jones rather than that of Christopher Wren.
" The artistic style of English ex-libris decora- tion," says the author of " A Guide to the study of Book-Plates," " which we propose to distinguish as
The Queen Anne Style. 69
Jacobean, is first found, so far as our present materials carry us, accompanied by a date on certain college book-plates of a.d. 1700. Like ornaments recur in the ex-libris of Dame Anna Margaretta Mason, relict of Sir Richard Mason, KK, late Clerke Corntroler (sic) of the Green C loath to King Charles and King James the Second, 1 70 1.1 Now it sounds natural enough to stamp as Jacobean the book-plate of a lady whose husband served the last James, yet this style of Jacobean decoration continued to appear on book-plates until about 1745, long after the name ceased to be strictly applicable. Still, as the art of the Mason book-plate in 1701 is practically the same with that of Francis Winnington's ex-libris in 1732, we presume it will be allowable to call the last, no less than the first, Jacobean, although de- signed during the reign of George II. To affix any fresh name to the Winnington plate would be to assume a solution of continuity between the art of the two specimens which does not exist."
For such reasons, it seems, came a very definite style to be called by a most indefinite name. The purpose, however, of a word is fulfilled when it is generally accepted as applying to certain things, and these certain things only. Now there is no vagueness about the style to which the term "Jacobean" has hitherto been applied, and for which I suggest the name " Early Georgian."
1 Given in Griggs' "Armorial Examples," ist Series. (See Biblio.)
7o
English Book-plates,
It is exemplified by the five characteristic plates I have chosen, and which correspond, up to a certain point, to those selected by Warren.
The ex-libris of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, albeit undated, bears internal evidence of belonging to the same period as the " certain College Book-
BOOK-PLATE OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD.
Circa 1700.
plates of a.d. 1700." At any rate, it is repre- sentative of the class.
Again, the ex-libris of Lady Heniretta Somerset, although of later date than that chosen as typical by Warren, shows a very close imitation in all essentials of the Margaret Mason design.
The Queen Anne Style.
7i
The book-plate of Henry Maister, of Kingston- upon-Hull is a good instance of " Jacobean " treat- ment in its more gorgeous manifestations ; whilst that of Edgerton Smith (of Preston, Lancashire, one of my own forefathers, a great lover of well-
BOOK-PLATE OF LADY HENIRETTA SOMERSET. 1712.
ordered libraries) is very characteristic of the style in its quieter mode. The latter is here printed from the original copper plate which was cut, it would seem, in 1725, somewhat roughly, but not without vigour, by a local engraver.
72 English Book-plates.
The Bedford plate, dated 1736, may, in a similar manner, be taken (although less complete than the Winnington ex-libris quoted by Warren) as tolerably typical of the Jacobean treatment towards the end of that special period.
As Warren was the original expositor of this style, I think it better, for the purpose of describing its main characteristics, to quote that author's own words :
" In the beginning of the eighteenth century occur dated ex-libris of certain colleges who placed above their escutcheon neither helmet or crest, and who, consequently, had no mantling wherewith to decorate the bare flanks of the shield. To supply this void in decoration, a distinct frame was placed round their escutcheons, and this frame- work was ornamented with ribbons, palm-branches, or festoons. The prominent or high relief portions of this frame were not set close to the edges of the escutcheon, but between it and them an interval of flat-patterned surface nearly always intervened, in which, as upon a wall, the actual shield was im- bedded. This we shall call the " lining" of the armorial frame, and we shall find this lining usually imbricated into a pattern of fish scales one upon the other. This scaled-covered or latticed or hatched interval of lining is characteristic of the
style More rarely simple horizontal lines
replace the cross-barred pattern : and on the latest and roughest specimens the lining simulates the bricks upon a wall Now the earlier book- plates of Anne1 have merely the Jacobean frame. 1 [Not being of the Restoration type. — E. C]
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BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY MAISTER, OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL. • 1719.
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Early Georgian Style,
IS
But another step in the external decoration was to add a bracket distinct from the frame upon which the shield with the frame is supposed to rest."
THE BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN 4TH DUKE OF BEDFORD.
This description, examined with reference to actual examples, is sufficiently definite. It may be summed up thus : — The main characteristic of the Queen Anne and early Georgian style is an ornamental frame, suggestive of carved-work, rest-
76 English Book-plates.
ing as often as not upon some kind of conventional support ; the ornamentation of both frame and support being of the interior architectural order, making frequent use of fish scales and trellis or diaper patterns for the decoration of plane surface. Indeed the style of some of the more imposing Jacobean compositions might aptly be called M Grinling Gibbons " (in the same manner as it has become usual to speak of " Chippendale"), after the carver and designer of those decorated door- frames, brackets, mantel-pieces, and wall-panels, so well appreciated by Sir Christopher. In short, in the same way as as the " Early Armorial " styles recall the heraldic arrangements of seventeenth century seals and parchment emblazoning, in the same way as the so-called " Chippendale " and "Festoon" styles of later days reproduced the then prevalent taste in furniture and silversmith work, so the "Jacobean" style recalls the wood- work and florid mouldings, the heraldic carved panel wall-tablets and " compartments," the heavy mirror frames, festooned and " scolloped," of Queen Anne and George I. domestic architec- ture.
Warren mentions the very frequent presence of escallop shells in the ornamentation of shield frames and brackets as typical of the style. The " shell," no doubt, (although, in point of fact, fre- quently absent from the Queen Anne and Early Georgian design,) was a very special feature in the wood- work and stone-carving of the period. Its combination with the bombi and roll-mouldings of the special decorative style, known as " Louis
Characteristics of Early Georgian. 77
Quatorze " gives a strong foretaste of the coming " Rococo."
It must be pointed out that some of the charac- teristics of what we call in England " Queen Anne,"
THE BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. J. LLOYD. 1730.
Engraved by Bickam.
(among others the frame cartouche and the bracket as supports for the escutcheon) are observable in sundry French plates belonging to the latter part
78
English Book-plates.
of the seventeenth century, notably those of Sebas- tien le Clerc.
Among the multifarious decorative elements drawn upon to make up a " Jacobean" design, con-
THE BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES, 5TH BARON CORNWALLIS,
of Eye, Suffolk.
Circa 1730.
ventional figures are of frequent occurrence, amo- rini, term-gods, angels, " fames," " victories," and such like. In the latter days of the style these figures will often assume increasing importance in the composition of book-plates, which will then be-
Transition to Rococo.
79
come somewhat irregular in disposition and more especially " Allegorical "
The ex-libris, for instance, designed by Bickham for the Reverend John Lloyd, A.M., displays some of the main features of this later " Jacobean " style, already infected by Louis XV. mannerism. The oval escutcheon on its bombi cartouche, the fanciful shells, the cupids already semi-allegorically
THE BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN BANCKS.
Engraved by G. Bickham.
1740.
occupied with books, are characteristic ; indeed, this particular example might almost belong to the " Allegoric" class.
The Cornwallis book-plate is unfortunately not dated, but it is presumably nearly of the same age as the above, and may be taken as a good in- stance of the transition style between " Jacobean " and " Chippendale ; " in other words, between the Early and Middle Georgian. It was devised for
80 English Book-plates.
Charles, fifth Lord Cornwallis, who came to the title in 1722, and was created Earl in 1753. It displays the purest early R6ge7ice style, and was probably drawn by some French artist, in which case its date might quite well be as early as 1725. In England, the general expanding of the escallop- shell into a shelly border, and its combination with bombS wood-work curves after the early French "rocaille" manner, never came much in vogue before the " forties " of the century. The tolerably symmetrical decorative arrangement, however, in this case, would point to a somewhat earlier date. The name-label of John Bancks, engraved by Bickham, is a good example, with its simple " curled endive" ornamentation, of the spreading influence of the " Rococo" mannerism about that period.
/
THE MIDDLE GEORGIAN, "CHIPPEN- DALE" OR "ROCOCO" STYLE.
T must be borne in mind that all leading styles in decorative art from the middle of the seventeenth century until the beginning of this one have had their origin in France, an inevitable result of the cen- tralized splendour of the French courts. It was, therefore, but natural that the next definite style in book-plate ornamentation, the Rocaille or Rococo, should find its way to England within a few years of its universal adoption in France.
The Rocaille, so long as it was dealt with by tactful hands, has never been excelled for decora- tive purposes.
Warren remarks that we may regard this style {i.e. the Chippendale, which is by some people supposed to be synonymous with Rococo) as " thoroughly national." On this point, I take it, it is hardly possible not to differ, even from so respected an authority. As a matter of fact the style is essentially French in all its stages. True, the leading ideas of this ornamental conception came originally from Italy, being based on the pierced scroll, volute-head work of Renascence character. But it is in France, during the years
G
82 English Book-plates.
of Louis XIV.'s most flamboyant ostentation, that we find the first manifestation of a general ten- dency towards that peculiar mood which in early Louis XV. days developed into the full-blown Rococo.
Many are the French artists who, during the second quarter of the century, vied with each other to evolve out of " rock and shell" elements the most surprising and fascinating combinations. Designers like Toro and Oppenort ; architects like Blonde I, Cottes, Cuvillier ; painters like Watteau and Boucher; " vignettists" like Babel, Eisen, Bellay, Choffard, Perotte, Gravelot, found in them endless materials for original designs. But the great masters of this decorative system were un- doubtedly le Sieur de la Joue, and Jttste Aurdle Meissonier, both " Painters and Architects to the King," the latter, moreover, being " Official Gold- smith and Designer."
Now, the earliest English work dealing system- atically with the rock-and-shell manner is an album of " 33 Sheilds {sic) and Compartments," published by James Gibbs (the architect of St. Martin-in-the- Fields, St. Mary-le-Strand, and of the Radcliffe Library, Oxford), about the year 1 73 1 , that is, several years after the appearance of the leading French works on the same topic. Similar collec- tions of designs by A. Heckell, andy. Collins (all more or less open adaptations of La joue and Meissonier's creations), were engraved by H. Roberts and J. S. Miller about 1750. But the man who no doubt most contributed to bring what he himself is careful to call u the new French style"
Chippendale. 83
in vogue on this side of the channel was Thomas Chippendale.
As applied to the ornamentation of Middle Georgian Ex-libris the word " Chippendale" is hardly legitimate ; it is English and more eupho-
rniumt^
BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, THE ABOLITIONIST.
Presumably designed for his grandfather,
W. Wilberforce, about 1750.
nious than Rococo, but it is not exact. Thomas Chippendale created a certain style of furniture and decoration that was very charming and original ; but that style, which was particularly his own, with its symmetrical light fret-work, and its Chinese cloissonne arrangements, is as different as anything
84 E7tglish Book-plates.
can be from the curly Rococo. Nevertheless, in ex-libris parlance, Chippendale is and will no doubt remain the popular name for the style that pre- vailed most between 1740 and 1770.
The physiognomy of a Chippendale or Rococo plate is unmistakable. Its chief characteristic is a fanciful, unrestrained treatment of scroll-work, which became, very early in the history of the style, studiously asymmetrical (no doubt, in order to give freer scope for variety of counter-curves). Another " mark and stamp of the Chippendale ex-libris," again to make use of a graphic descrip- tion in Warren's Guide, "is a frilling or border of open shell-work set close to the rounded outer margin of the escutcheon. This seems to be a modification of the scallop-shell so normal at the base of frame or bracket on a Jacobean plate. It is, in fact, a border imitating the pectinated curves and grooves on the margin of the scollop- shell."
A Rococo frame, in fact, is always a medley of these shell edges fancifully combined with acan- thus or "curled endive" leaves and bombe scrolls. Straight or concentric lines, and all appearance of a flat surface, are carefully avoided. From the numerous nooks and ears created by such an arrangement sprout flowerets and spriglets, depend festoons, wreaths, and ribbands. In later ex- amples the composition is often complicated by the introduction, as ornamental elements, of cupids, doves and hoc genus omne ; and, in more than usually dishevelled specimens, of hispid beasts, such as dragons, wyverns, and similarly congruous
BOOK-PLATE OF ROBERT NASH. 1 735.
Early "Rococo." 87
objects. This accumulation of adventitious factors in the decoration, belongs, however, rather to the days of decadence in " Chippendalism," to use yet another jargon term introduced by students of ex-libris.
At the beginning there is a great preponderance in book-plates of that less extravagant design in which the bombe and volute work, somewhat heavy, predominates over the lighter, ragged, rock-and- shell, tenuous flower arrangement of 1750.
The ex-libris of William Wilberforce is typical of the early and purer style.1
It must never be forgotten, however, that in ex- libris engraving, as well as in every department of decorative art, styles and fashions not only overlap each other for some considerable time, but by borrowing from each other's elements form a tran- sition mode. Typical of this transition kind, yet more kin to Jacobean than to Chippendale, was the Cornwallis plate I noticed on p. 68.
The ex-libris of Robert Nash, (the probable date of which is 1735,) on the other hand, is more Rococo in character, but it still retains something of the previous taste in the trellis work, and the " lining" of its outer frame, as well as in the broad detached scroll on which figures its legend.
1 Although this plate belonged to the great philanthropist and abolitionist, and consequently was used for his books during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, it was un- doubtedly engraved early in the second, and, in all probability, for his grandfather, William Wilberforce (of Kingston-upon- Hull). See a notice of this plate by Mr. J. R. Brown, Ex-libris Journal, vol. ii. p. 62.
88
English Book-plates.
There seems hitherto to have been a general tendency among book-plate collectors to ascribe rather too late a date to " Chippendalism." Now
o'Zd^
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY SWEETMAN. Circa 1745.
almost every element of pure early Chippendale style can be found in the plate of Benjamin Hatley Foote (a very perfect and typical example) ; in those of Henry Sweetman and of Henry Walters,
V/?yas??7Ari/ cTuzutyu, t/^w/<
BOOK-PLATE OF BENJAMIN HATLEY FOOTE. 1 743.
Early Rococo.
9i
— all of which are anterior in execution to the middle of the century.
The ex-libris of Matthew Smith, which, on
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY WALTERS.
Engraved by J. Skinner, in Bath. 1747-
account of its substantial appearance I also as- cribe to that period, is interesting as an original combination of natural shells with conventional " scollop edging." Possibly this Mr. Matthew Smith had conchological tastes which he liked
92 English Book-plates.
to have recorded in this improved rock-and-shell decoration.
Helms and mantlings, as a general rule, are
BOOK-PLATE OF MATTHEW SMITH.
Circa 1750.
absent from pure rococo heraldic arrangements. It is from the " rocaille " period that dates the long prevalent custom of representing the crest as resting upon a simple and conventional wreath
Early Rococo.
93
or "torce."1 The book-plate, therefore, of Sir Charles Frederick, K.B., has a somewhat unusual physiognomy. I give it here as an instance (on
(•Mains 2)ftt/t
BOOK-PLATE OF SIR CHARLES FREDERICK,
Surveyor-General of Ordnance. Circa 1750.
the whole rare in English ex-libris) of the " Trophy" class : Sir Charles was at one time Surveyor- General of Ordnance. It must be admitted that
1 The helm alone, however, occurs in sundry Scottish plates of " Chippendale " character, such as the token of T. Camp- bell, A.B.
94
English Book-plates.
the uncompromising straight lines and the unami- able, fishbone-like array of military implements, are little in harmony with Chippendale graces.
T. Campbell AJ5. ijs<p
BOOK-PLATE OF T. CAMPBELL.
1756.
(This is perhaps too early a date for the engraving.)
During the third quarter of the century, a culti- vated lightness came into fashion, which consider- ably modified the physiognomy of Rococo plates.
This excessive tenuity of build in good examples remained graceful, but in many cases became singu-
Later Rococo.
95
larly weak-looking. The T. Campbell plate (which to judge from its character would seem to have been engraved later than its professed date) is a
im.
ID
BOOK-PLATE OF JAMES VERE. 1760.
case in point. I have selected it partly on account of the spiny dragon — considered an ornamental sort of beast at that time — partly in order to afford a wide-spanning and interesting comparison be- tween two book-plates in the same family, one
96
English Book-plates,
designed in early Queen Anne, the other in late George II. manner.1
In decorative art the Rococo is always quite
LmcoLns Inn \j6i.^
BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN ORD. 1761.
Showing transition to the " landscape " manner.
unmistakable at the very first glance. Yet it un- doubtedly admits of many different modes of treatment (witness, for instance, the strong con-
1 See the Archibald Campbell plate.
Later Rococo.
97
trast between early and late specimens of the style), which it would be exceedingly difficult to classify. But there is one particular " variety " in
BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES HERIOT.
which the ornamental factors (unlike those of the common ruck, which have a definitely brisk and upward tendency,) have a singular drooping look,
H
98
English Book-plates.
as though the rock-work were dripping wet, and among the adjuncts were limp, dangling weeds. As; this treatment (artistically very effective) is
BOOK-PLATE OF HUBBALD OF STOKE, SURREY.
Showing transition to the " landscape " and "architectural" manner. Circa 1760.
frequently met with on Scotch plates of the Middle Georgian period, many collectors class the latter under the rubric "Scotch Chippendale." The book-plate of Chas. Heriot is tolerably typical of this manner in Rococo.
Later Rococo.
99
I have pointed out that one of the most care- fully cultivated characteristics of the genus Rococo
BOOK-PLATE OF ELIZE GULSTON. Circa 1765.
in art, was asymmetry on opposite sides of the main axes. Perfection was most nearly approached
ioo English Book-plates.
when, with the most complete dissimilarity on op- posite corresponding sides, there was the closest approach to regular balance of apparent masses.
As an exceptional instance (which accentuates the generality of this rule,) I have selected the ex- libris of James Vere, Junr., engraved at a period when " Chippendalism " in book-plates was at the height of fashion. Here there is almost absolute symmetry on both sides of the vertical axis, and although the work is good, even refined, it can- not be said to bring out the best potentialities of the style. Compared with the cunningly unsym- metrical, yet accurately poised frames of the Ord or the Hubbald plates, it is decidedly tame and meaningless.
These two latter, besides being artistic and otherwise pleasing in themselves, may serve as good examples of the natural transition from the Floral-Rococo to the Heraldic-Bucolic, the Heraldic- Ruinous and such varieties of the " land- scape " class.
But, before dealing at greater length with this coming fashion in ex-libris, one so essentially English, it is necessary, in order to adhere, as far as the subject admits it, to some kind of chrono- logical sequence, to examine another very definite style of heraldic treatment, now usually known as the " Festoon." It will also be advisable to say a few words concerning certain other classes of ex- libris which, at least in their early instances, are older than the " landscape" proper.
The ex-libris of Elize Gulston may be taken as a good instance of a feminine plate in the purely
Later Rococo, 101
heraldic style of latter Chippendalism. Its date is probably circa 1765.
To conclude this cursory account of a style, the examples of which are exceedingly numerous, it may be said that it began to be cultivated in the " thirties," (when it was cotemporary with a lighter kind of Jacobean) ; that it was quite the vogue in the "fifties;" at its height in the "sixties;" and that it fell in rapid decadence, about 1770.
This particular mode of decorative treatment, however, which in our own days is being revived by popular favour, never completely died out during the remainder of the century. As a very late example may be taken the book-plate of John Henslow, a naval architect, who, among other good ships, designed in 1 798 the very " Foudroyant " about which public interest was lately excited. This book device was composed, by the owner himself, probably between the years 1780 and 1790; he was knighted in 1794.
The plate (printed from the original copper, kindly lent by Captain Spencer Henslow) may be classed, like the military ex-libris of Sir Charles Frederick, as emblematic of the owner's calling: Sir John Henslow was Chief Surveyor of His Majesty's navy. On the dexter side of the shield is seen a three-decker on stocks, ready for launch- ing, with Jack (before the Union) on foremast, Standard (quartering France) on main, Admiralty flag on mizzen and White Ensign on stern staff. On the sinister side are shown sails, masts, tackle and other naval emblems, among which a sail, used as a scroll to display the owner's name.
102 . 1 English Book-plates.
THE LATER GEORGIAN (FESTOON) STYLE.
HIS style, also denominated by various people as " Wreath and Ribbon," " Wreath and Spray," might as appro- priately be termed " Urn," or " Spade," or better still, (to balance the "Chippendale" ap- pellation,1) "Adams" style. It is a "neat and chaste " decorative mode which came in, no doubt, as a reaction from the extravagance, the tormented dishevelment into which Rococo art had drifted in its moribund days. To a certain extent it corre- sponds with the Louis XVI. style in France, which is also simpler, and again admits symmetry and straight lines. Its essence is simplicity, elegant slenderness, and low relief.
In book-plates of this style, whether the orna- mentation consist of festoons or sprays, wreaths of ribbons, depending from wall-pins or rings, or any combination of such elements ; whether it display simply a shield of " urn " or " spade" pattern, or an oval outer frame, it has invariably a physiog- nomy which at once recalls the special style of architectural decoration of furniture brought into fashion during the latter half of the century by architects and designers such as Sir W. Chambers,
1 Also to be symmetrical with "Grinling Gibbons" should ever this term be accepted as synonymous with " Jacobean."
A
BOOK-PLATE OF THE HATFIELD HOUSE LIBRARY
Engraved circa 1790.
The Spade Shield.
105
Robert Adams, Josiah Wedgwood, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. In the pseudo- classic designs which under the influence of these men took a firm hold of public taste, urns and urn-like shapes,
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. W. BARROW, LL.D.
Engraved by Thornthwaite, 17S9.
are'ubiquitous elements and play a singularly im- portant part in ornamentation.
The so-called Georgian shield itself, when simply "cusped," and more especially when " wedged," is unmistakably based on the urn outline.
106 English Book-plates.
" Adams " ! or " Festoon " plates, began to make their appearance about 1770, and the style en-
sr?
BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES DICKINSON, ESQ.
Circa 1785.
dured until the beginning- of this century. The greater number belong to the 1780-90 decade.
1 I prefer "Adams" to "Sheraton" (which has been suggested by some) as the more descriptive appellation. Sheraton's name is quite as much associated with the later (and very different) so-called "Empire " fashion in furniture, as with the early style he cultivated in common with Adams, Chambers and others.
The Spade Shield. 107
The leading characteristic of the " later Geor- gian " is really not the festoons or the wreath, but rather the shape of the shield (hence my sugges- tion of " spade " as a suitable designation), which
J&mv^^/Ki7i<Z/ £^0"
BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN LARKING,
Of Clare House, East Mailing. Circa 1794.
in heraldic designs of that period is almost always of the plain Georgian pattern, as above described. The classicality of the style does not well admit of helmet or mantling ; with rare exceptions (the Salisbury plate for example), the crest is supported
108 English Book-plates.
by a plain torce after the fashion which had already gradually asserted itself with later Chip- pendalism.
The ornamental concomitants may be hanging festoons sustained by rings or wall-pins, or en-
*<U> CHOll^
BOOK-PLATE OF GENERAL MACGREGOR. Circa 1795.
closing wreaths, or palms, sprays and " slipped " branches, crossing under the base, generally tied with a knot of fluttering ribbon, and rising sym- metrically on either side of the shield.
The door-panel arrangement selected, with some show ofclassical taste, by the Rev. W. Barrow, LL.D., S.A.S., the earliest in date among my examples,
Festoons and Sprays,
109
displays the urn shield, the festoon, the ribbon and the sprays in a very typical, Adams-like manner.
The book-plate of Charles Dickinson, on the other hand, is a charming example of the simple
BOOK-PLATE OF SAMUEL ROGERS.
Circa 1795.
festoon and spray combination : and of the plain palm or spray arrangement the next four figures are typical.
The first, that of John Larking, cannot be earlier than 1793, the year in which this particular Larking (of Clare House, East Mailing, Kent)
1 10 English Book-plates.
married Dorothy Styles, and was thus able to em- pale her arms on his escutcheon.
In the second it is quaint and pleasing to recog- nize, blazoned on so peaceable a token as a book- plate, the arrogant charges once borne by civili-
John Walton . Be ding ton.
EOOK-PLATE OF JOHN WALTON.
Circa 1790.
zation-despising Rob Roy, quartered with the achievements of MacDonald.
The third, designed for Samuel Rogers, is pre- sumably contemporary with that epoch in the poet's life which was marked by the appearance of the " Pleasures of Memory ; " in other words, with the last ten years of the century.
The Decorative Urn. 1 1 1
I have selected the fourth, which was the token of John Walton of Bedington,. albeit a meagre and otheiwise poor design, on account of its very typical display of the wall-pin in its two chief varieties, oval and circular, as it so happens that all my other examples excepting the Barrow plate do not include that important element of Chambers- Adams decoration.
ANONYMOUS BOOK-PLATE TYPICAL OF THE URN FASHION. Circa 1795.
As for the anonymous little plate, which seems, judging from the coat, to have belonged to one James Tyers, I have not been able to ascertain its exact date ; but it is very characteristic of the general taste in the last decade of the century. There we see what is really a "festoon" frame on which is displayed the favourite shield of the times, but meant to suggest at first flush the inevitable urn. I have selected this example and the next to show how the beauteous utensil seems
112
English Book-plates.
to have been impressed on the minds of later Georgian engravers.
The ex-libris of Charles Dyer, with its blasted tree (representing the spray) growing out of a gravestone ; with its inane weeping willows (no
BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES DYER.
Circa 1800.
doubt in lieu of festoon) ; with its funeral urn of hideous proportions, actually stamped with a mark of cadency, and its spade shield in the act of col- lapsing, may be held up as a " dreadful example." l
1 I can put no exact date to this, but would ascribe it to the very first years of this century, a time when national taste was at a most deplorable ebb.
The Decorative Urn,
ii3
It is difficult to understand what it was that in those days so often suggested tombstone arrange- ments as suitable for insertion amono- books. This
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. D. A. BEAUFORT.
Circa 1790.
Mr. Dyer was, perhaps, devoid enough of decency to think that his book-plate was appropriate to his name ; but this is no rare example ; as a matter of fact, funereal ex-libris are almost numerous enough to fill a class by themselves.
1
1 14 English Book-plates.
Of spade shape are the shields that figure in heraldic " landscape " or otherwise pictorial plates belonging to the last quarter of the century.
It must also be noted that in many cases shields of this pattern are found, unattended by sprays or festoons, but surrounded by an elliptical frame, beaded at the edge, sometimes shaded, as in the present example, but generally plain.1
In the simple escutcheon of urn pattern, which also occurs on book-plate of late Georgian days, utterly unadorned, left in severe nakedness, we are to see the immediate predecessor of that very uninteresting book-plate for which I have sug- gested the term " Modern Die-sinker.
To the late Georgian " Spade" style belongs a most interesting plate which for some time was supposed to have been that of Captain James Cook, of discovery and circumnavigation fame, but which was most likely devised for his son (likewise James Cook). This ex-libris is most interesting on many accounts although it seems never to have been used. I owe it to the courtesy of the Rev. Canon Bennett, of Shrewton, Wilts, to be able to print it in my volume from the original copper-plate.
The history of this plate itself is obscure. Captain Cook was killed at Hawaii, February 14th, 1779. On September 3rd, 1785, a coat of arms was granted to the family of which the following is
1 This "silver tray" arrangement was specially cultivated by an engraver (1780-95) who signed S. ATee/e, Sculp1.
The Decorative Urn. 1 1 5
a blazoning, very typical of the degraded heraldry which the College tolerated at that period.
"Azure, between two Polar Stars Or, a sphere on the plane of the meridian. North pole elevated circles of latitude for every ten degrees, and of longitude for every fifteen, showing the Pacific Ocean between 6o° and 2400 west, bounded on one side by America and on the other by Asia and New Holland, in memory of the discoveries made by him in that ocean, so very far beyond all former navigators. His track thereon is marked with red lines, and for crest on a wreath of the colours is an arm imbowed vested in the uniform of a captain in the Royal Navy. In the hand is a Union Jack on a Staff proper. The arm is encircled by a wreath of palm and laurel."
The crest motto is " Circa orbem " and the motto below the shield on the original is " Nil intentatew reliquit." The error is corrected in the book-plate. The original grant of arms is now with other Cook relics in the Colonial Govern- ment Museum at Sydney.
No " Captain Cook," however, was living at the time of the grant, and consequently the plate could never have been used by the Cook of navigation fame. But his eldest son, James, a young naval officer of high promise, was appointed in the autumn of 1793 to the command of the " Spitfire " sloop of war.
There was then a " Captain Cook " and it is assumed that the plate was made for him. The general style of the design belongs to that period. The young commander never lived to use the
1 1 6 English Book-plates.
plate ; in January, 1 794, his body was discovered on the beach of the Isle of Wight, under circumstances which pointed strongly to the suspicion of murder, and the original copper passed through various hands, with family papers and heirlooms, until it came into the possession of the Rev. Canon Bennett.
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PICTORIAL PLATES.
I. "literary" (book-piles and library interiors).
GAVE it as a broad fact that with the exception of mere name-labels and recent times, book-plates have
un
til
generally been more or less heraldic in character. In short, the number of plates in which Armorial Devices do not figure in some guise or other is comparatively small. Hence the advisa- bility of distinguishing first, as far as such a thing is feasible, the different modes of heraldic treat- ment. This was all the more requisite, as to a great extent the so-called styles must be referred to, to qualify the classes, such as the " Literary," "Allegorical," " Landscape," and "Architectural." We may, for instance, have a "Literary" book- plate ornamentally treated in Rococo or in later Georgian style, and so forth.
Perhaps the oldest definite class of pictorial book-plates is the " Book-pile" (the special mean- ing of the word is now consecrated).
Some kind of arrangement of books for decora- tive or symbolic purposes is, of course, a most obvious element in the composition of a book- plate. The word "book-pile" having been applied
u8
English Book-plates.
to a certain well-known conventional display of volumes, it is necessary to " distinguish and divide" among literary ex-libris, between Book-piles proper and piles of books otherwise disposed.
BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM HEWER.
Showing the typical " book-pile " arrangement. 1699.
The Book-pile is a very specially English device. The oldest dated example known is that of Sir William St. Quintin, Bart. ; but the date it bears (1641) is misleading, and records, in fact, the
The "Book-Pile." 119
creation of the baronetcy, not the year of the en- graving which was, in all probability, executed at least a, score of years later.
Next in date are the plates of Sir Philip Syden- ham and of William Hewer (Samuel Pepys' friend and secretary, at whose house in Clapham the im- mortal gossiper drew his last breath in 1703). Both these plates bear the date 1699. : That of William Hewer, albeit non heraldic, is in every other sense typical. The man who designed it adopted an arrangement which, in all essentials, has endured unchanged; three tiers of bound volumes ' rising one on the other in the fashion of a modern overmantel, adorned with a bundle of documents and other articles of stationery a-top, pediment-wise, forming a kind of frame for a scroll which may bear heraldic charges, cyphers, or merely wise mottoes. William Hewer, en don bourgeois, was satisfied with a very excellent mono- gram of his name.
Book-plates of this pattern, varying but in the most trifling details, but made personal by heraldry or legend, occur sporadically throughout two cen- turies. One of our keenest and most learned collectors, the Honble. Gerald Ponsonby, has adopted the regulation book-pile as his mark.
The expression " piles of books " is applied to a display of volumes more freely disposed.1 When the books are represented in their proper habitat,
1 The term is certainly awkward and otherwise unsatis- factory ; but it is certainly better than that of " loose-books " which some collectors propose, and which is, to say the least, ambiguous and unsuited to this grave subject.
120
English Book-plates.
that is, indoors (not, like those of Mr. Samwell for instance, resting damply and unprotected on heather), such devices, however, may be classed
among
Library Interiors."
{Jl^umtaJ \Jlv#tcu.
BOOK-PLATE OF THOMAS BOLAS.
Copied from a design by Gravelot. Circa 1740.
The " Literary " device, notwithstanding all its pleasing and artistic potentialities, has not, until recent times, found as much favour in England as in other countries. More is the pity, for there
"Library Interior!'
121
are charming elements of quaintness and personal adaptability available for such compositions, as, indeed, a great number of French and German plates testify.
BOOK-PLATE OF WADHAM WYNDHAM, ESQ.
Adapted from a design by Gravelot, engraved by Pine. Circa 1740.
The earliest examples belong to the eighteenth century, and are, as a rule, rather foreign in cha- racter; the national taste was for more purely armorial devices. As mere ornamental adjuncts books are often present in Chippendale, even in Jacobean plates, but there certainly was a want of
122
English Book-plates.
fertility in the conception of such designs by English engravers. There is hardly more than a score or so of "Library Interiors" previous in date to this century known in England, and
'(MUt^r^F
BOOK-PLATE OF H. ASHTON, ESQ.
Engraved by Billinge. Circa 1760.
curiously enough many of these are mere adap- tations of earlier or contemporary compositions by foreign artists.
Such is the case, for instance, with the ex-libris of Thomas Bolas, which shows us a singularly un-
BOOK-PLATE OF GRAY'S INN LIBRARY.
Engraved by J. Pine, 1750.
1 ' Library Interior" 1 25
stable erection of volumes (on the cover of one being a literary motto) as a basis for an escutcheon with scroll. This plate (says Mr. Vicars, a collec- tor who has made the study of "library interiors " a speciality) is copied from one signed and en- graved by Gravelot for Charles Bolingbroke, sur- geon, and the probable date of which is 1 740.
r^mm^
BOOK-PLATE OF T. S. W. SAMWELL, ESQ.
Circa 1810.
, In the same manner the Wadham Wyndham plate is a copy (adapted as to heraldry) of another plate signed by Gravelot, engraved by J. Pine for J. Burton, D.D.
Again, there are extant at least two plates which are adapted copies of the Ashton ex-libris, signed by Billinge.
The book-plate of Gray's Inn Library is a fine
1 26 English Book-plates.
example of rampant Rococo, possibly also de- signed by Gravelot, who certainly was active in propagating French mannerism in this minor de- partment of British art. The records of Gray's Inn inform us that the label was " ordered of Pine the engraver, 24th November, 1750."1
A celebrated example of the ''Literary" class is the Packington library plate. This rather striking piece of bold engraving — which, notwith- standing its qualities, is a trifle indistinct as to meaning and not easily described — is commonly attributed to Piranesi. There is that, no doubt, in the feeling of the drawing which at once recalls the toucher gras of that prolific artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. On the other hand, it has been recorded that the Earl of Aylesford, whose book- mark this was, piqued himself on his talents as an engraver, in which particular capacity he received instruction from Piranesi. It is there- fore quite possible that, as it is held by some, this plate may have been the work of the Earl himself.
I have not been able to ascertain the date of the Sam well book-plate ; but, to judge from the character of its escutcheon, it must have been engraved during the first decade of this century.
The plate of the Rev. W. T. Bree is still a more modern instance, and a pleasing one, of the con- ventional " Pile of books" device. It belonged
1 Gray's Inn now uses a smaller modern copy of this plate, done by A. Moring, London.
THE AYLESFORD BOOK-PLATE.
Attributed to Piranesi. Circa 1770.
11 Pile of Books."
129
(says Mr. Vicars) to the father of the present Archdeacon Bree, and was drawn by his grand- father.
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. W. T. BREE.
Circa 1830.
K
130 English Book-plates.
II. PORTRAIT BOOK-PLATES.
HE idea of using a likeness of the owner as a personal mark in books is, on the whole, very obvious. We have seen that Dtirer's friend, Bilibald Pirck- heimer, is known to have had a plate of this kind, which he pasted on the back covers of his books. Portraits also occur on sundry printer's marks ; on that of our own Richard Fawkes for instance. But portrait examples, anterior to modern times, are rare ; it may even be said they can be counted on the fingers.
The oldest known instance of an English por- trait ex-libris, is the gift plate1 of John Hacket, engraved by W. Faithorne in 1670. The donor's likeness appears in an oval frame with the inscrip- tions: " Inservi Deo et l^tare" and Ex dono J oannis Hacket Lichfieldens et Coventrjens Episcopi, 16 jo. W. Faithorne, Sculp.
It is, perhaps, allowable to include in this class a certain handsome plate found in sundry MSS. volumes of the Ashmolean library. This engrav- ing, which measures seven inches by five, repre- sents a niche in a wall, in front of which a bust, inscribed Elias Ashmole, stands, resting upon a number of books symmetrically piled to form a
1 Reproduced in Mr. Hardy's volume on " Book-plates."
Portrait Plates.
131
sort of plinth. On one of the volumes to the left figures the Ashmole crest, whilst on another, cor- respondingly placed to the right, is displayed the coat, which, being tinctured in the conventional dots and lines, would alone suffice to fix the date as posterior to 1640. Over the central pile hangs a " napkin," left blank, apparently for manuscript numbering.
It must be admitted that this is a very book- plate-like arrangement, yet it hardly seems to have been used as such, but rather as a frontispiece or title-page to the MSS. Elias Ashmole used, as a regular book-plate, a plain typographic label, dated 1635.
The most notable examples of this kind in the eighteenth century are the two ex-libris engraved by Robt. White, reproducing a portrait of Samuel Pepys himself, after Kneller. They are of diffe- rent sizes.1 In the larger one the portrait appears in an oval frame bearing the words : Sam Pepys Car. et Jac. Ang. Regib A. Secretis Admiralicz. Under the picture is the motto : Mens cujusque is est quisque. This seems to have been originally engraved as a frontispiece to Pepys' privately printed edition of " Memoires relating to the State of the Navy of England for ten years, determined 1688," which appeared in 1690. But there can be no doubt about Pepys having used the plate at a later period as an ex-libris. Both the portrait plates are found pasted in his books at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
1 The larger was reproduced in the original edition of the present work.
132 English Book-plates.
The smaller plate displays the portrait on a scroll of paper in an oval medallion, with the same singular motto overhead.1
In Mr. J. P. Rylands' " Notes" is given an ac- count of certain hand-painted ex-libris by Thomas Barritt, the saddler-antiquary, and of etched copies of the same, dated 1794. Barritt is represented in the midst of "antiquarian" surroundings — old armour, parchment rolls, coins and clasped books — his arms are displayed on a shield, and there is a motto in Old English characters : PtOfCtt SltltlQUa
m apricum*
Portrait plates are few and far between. Among modem instances I may quote the book-plates of Mr. W. T. Thorns, the founder of " Notes and Queries," of Mr. Joseph Knight, by William Bell Scott, and Mr. Ashbee, which, through the owners' courtesy, I am able to include among my examples (see Modern Examples). From every point of view it is regrettable that more English men and women of note should not have adopted this form of token, which is of all kinds the most personal, and there- fore the most interesting to posterity.
1 Two other plates engraved for Mr. Pepys are known to collectors. One has the initials S. P., combined with the Admiralty crossed anchors : this is the one to which he refers in his diary (July 21, 1668) : the other is heraldic, and displays Pepys' quartering Talbot of Cottenham with the legend : Samuel Pepys, of Brampton in Huntingdonshire, Esq., Secretary of the Admiralty to his Majesty King Charles the Second. Descended of ye ancient family of Pepys of Cottenham in Cambridgeshire. The first of these is reproduced in the Introduction, and the second under the head " Restoration " Style.
133
III. ALLEGORIC BOOK-PLATES.
N the more pretentious book-plates of "Jacobean" style, in addition to the usual decorative factors, festoons, scol- lops, and wreath mouldings, cornucopias and pilasters, we often meet with others of a more statuesque kind, such as masks, term figures, satyr heads, cherubs, and similar creations of artistic fancy. These form the irregular element which is sometimes introduced to enhance an otherwise symmetrical decoration. In the same manner we see cupids or fairies, or short-skirted shepherdesses a la Watteau on " Chippendale " frames.
The translation of these figures from mere sub- ordinate into leading characters is easy to trace. The artist had only to adopt the realistic treatment instead of the conventional, and to give ostensible life to his figures by ascribing to them some appo- site action with reference to the escutcheon they support : the result was an "allegoric " plate.
The ex-libris of the Rev. John Lloyd, which as to " style " was included among the Jacobean, may in this sense be classed among Allegoric plates.
Animus si aequus quod petis hie est, says the inscription on the bracket, whilst attendant on the shield are two lively cupids ready to present the book required. Allegoric plates, it may be stated, are as a rule rather ridiculous. In this particular
134 English Book-plates.
case, it were difficult to conceive a composition more inappropriate to the library of an equable- minded divine, although it might, perhaps, have suited well enough the more frolicsome volumes of some erotic collection. In a similar manner the book-plate of Wadham Wyndham, with it cherubs discussing some point of literary lore, might be (and is indeed, by some collectors,) classed among ''Allegories " instead of " Library Interiors."
On the whole, Allegoric plates are not numerous in England, Warren holds them to represent an obvious, yet never very widely popular deviation of the more precious "Jacobean" mode, which gradually lost all apparent connection with the parent style ; but the same may be said of those emblematic arrangements that are affiliated with the Chippendale designs.
" Whether we take," says he (the first to define this class and'trace its connections), " the Allegoric plate of the period of Hogarth, Pine, and George Vertue, or consider the later groups of mythologi- cal engravers such as Bartolozzi and his scholars, Sherwin, Henshaw and the like, it must be con- ceded that in England during the eighteenth century, Allegoric book-plates were never a nume- rous class. In France, however, during the same period, such ex-libris were, on the contrary, pro- fusely abundant."
I have already pointed out that the appearance of a given ornamental style in book-plates is always, and naturally so, somewhat in arrear of its prevalence in general decoration. Such was certainly the case with the " Jacobean " and the
Allegoric Plates.
135
" Chippendale," and we have seen how either of these lent themselves to modification in the direc- tion of " Allegory."
Now about the year 1 730, " acres of ceiling
BOOK-PLATE OF ANDREW LUMISDEN.
Engraved by Robert Strange. Circa 1746.
frescoes were being done, by the yard, and Allegory began to sprawl in all its dizzy con- tortions and aerial foreshortenings on many palaces and public buildings of the period. Sir James Thornhill had just received forty
1 36 English Book-plates.
shillings a yard for the Cupola of St. Paul's and Greenwich Hospital, and twenty-five shil- lings a yard for the staircase of the Southsea House at Blenheim, besides embellishing the Princess's apartment at Hampton Court at a rate not recorded. Vanderbank, Laguerre and a dozen others had been daubing away in all directions with much public applause and private emolument. That Allegory should, therefore, reach even the British Book-plate was inevit- able."1 One may add to this, that Allegory had likewise already run riot on the engraved title- page of the period, and that designers would naturally feel tempted to adapt the manner to private book-plates.
Prominent among engravers who cultivated this style, stands George Vertue, who cut the celebrated plate of Henrietta Cavendish Holies, Countess of Oxford, in 1733; John Pine, who executed the gift plate, inscribed Munificentia Regia, for the use of the books presented by King George I. to the University of Cambridge (both of which interesting specimens are repro- duced in " Warren's Guide" and in Hardy's " Book-plates ") ; William Hogarth, who worked in both Jacobean and Chippendale style ; Cipriani and Bartolozzi, whose manner is more of " spade and urn " description.
Robert Strange, the noted line engraver and Jacobite life-guardsman, who designed pay-notes for the young Pretender, yet accepted a knight-
1 Warren.
Visiting Cards. 137
hood from the third George, engraved at least two book-plates, both of the Allegorical descrip- tion. One was executed from a design by T. Wall for Dr. Thomas Drummond and shows us the doctors library and various musical instru- ments, over which, in accordance with Thomas Drummond's motto Aurora est apta musts, an allegorical figure of Dawn hovers with a ruddy torch in her hand. The composition, for which Strange was not responsible, is on the whole poor and tolerably priggish.
The other, probably engraved in 1746 or 1747, which in design recalls Gravelot's manner, was made for Strangers brother-in-law, Andrew Lumis- den, secretary to the young Pretender. It shows us a conventional interior, with a marble console supporting on brackets a pair of busts, Cicero and Craig ; the latter presumably the Sir Thomas Craig, of Riccarton — a countryman of both the owner and the engraver — who wrote learned treatises on Feudal Laws and on Royal Succes- sions. In the foreground a cupid, holding a manuscript in his hand, sits in an orating attitude among books, rolls, scales, compasses and other emblems of judicial tendencies, whilst the Lumis- den coat is displayed on a Rococo cartouche. The crest figures above the owner's name on a diminutive frame at the base of the whole com- position. v
It is to be regretted that the " relief" process of reproduction should do so little justice to this very interesting plate. The original is signed " R. Strange, Sculp1."
138 English Book-plates.
The plate of Henrietta Frances, Countess of Bessborough, is here given not only as an exam- ple of Cipriani and Bartolozzi allegorical work, but also as an instance of a pictorial visiting card (an
Lendon,rui>JDte'30.l71f6.li,EBa.Ttol<***;
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRIETTA FRANCES, COUNTESS
OF BESSBOROUGH.
Designed by Cipriani. Engraved by Bartolozzi, 1796.
article then in fashion among people of taste) adapted to serve as an ex-libris.
Mr. Ponsonby, of whom Lady Bessborough was an ancestress, informs me that this device was really used as a book-plate. The design is to be thus interpreted : a Roman interior (according to
Visiting Cards.
J 39
the classic lights of the last century); Venus seated and holding a dove in one hand, the em- blem of love, and in the other a flambant heart. It was designed by Cipriani, engraved by Barto- lozzi, and " published"1 by the latter in 1796. This is the plate which Bartolozzi called a " ticket
VISITING CARD OF CHARLES TOWNLEY, USED AS A BOOK-PLATE.
'Engraved by Skelton. Circa 1790.
plate" when acknowledging the receipt of ^20 as the price of the same, the day before " publi- cation."
The plate designed by William Skelton for his early patron Charles Townley, the antiquary and
1 This last refers to the protective Act of Parliament passed in 1735 (chiefly at Hogarth's instigation).
140
English Book-plates.
collector to whom the British Museum is indebted for the " Townley marbles," is another instance of a visiting card which has done duty as an alle- gorical ex-libris.
Whether on the other hand the book-plate of J. Wilson, Professor of Phrenology, was originally devised as a business card, is a matter for conjec- ture. It is reproduced here as one more example of the class, although its date is undoubtedly much later than the eighteenth century.
-^W^U/^T" &/^S%Z67Z&t!<?&p/
i4i
IV. THE " LANDSCAPE " BOOK-PLATE.
HE taste for a restful landscape as a personal symbol of book-ownership be- gan to assert itself about the year 1770, and remained long in favour. A notable feature in the more decadent plates of the Chippendale period is, as I have already pointed out, a tendency to combine heterogeneous elements of decoration, apparently in the hope of producing fresh and startling effects in a style of design already well-nigh exhausted ; exaggerated floral growths, boughs of trees, waterfalls from shelly rocks, bridges and ruins and, now and again, peeps of distant landscape. Approximating to this description are the two last examples of the style, Ord and Hubbald.
In many designs of later period the vignette element assumes preponderance. A good speci- men, although, in itself, not a transitional instance, (being of a date posterior to many of the pure landscape kind) is a certain school ex-libris, pretty commonly met with to this day, inscribed Tanrego, in the county ofSligo, 1 786 (engraved by J. Taylor) ; a singular " compo " of the Chippendale-Armorial, of the Allegorical and the Landscape in tolerably equal proportions.
In many of this class, however, heraldry retains
142 English Book-plates.
a definite place ; and, in such cases, the " style " is generally of the Urn or Spade order.
The book-plate of Samuel Farr, M.D., is an early instance, if so it be that the date is correct. This is a distinctly sepulchral ex-libris for a medical man's library. Hardly more cheerful, but perhaps more appropriate in treatment (seeing
— - — -ij6q
BOOK-PLATE OF SAMUEL FARR, 1 769.
that it was designed for a bequest), is the plate commemorative of a Dr. Broughton, who appa- rently died^ in foreign climes about the year 1 796, and left his ashes under a pineapple urn cover, amid the palm groves where the python bites his tail— emblem alike of the deceased's late calling, and of his presumably restful eternity. This is *a good example of an heraldic emblematic landscape
Landscape Plates.
H3
ex-libris, artistically treated. It was devised by J. Taylor, and engraved by one Cook.
A great number of very charming armorial land- scape plates are arranged on the plan displayed in that of James Neild. In these the personal element
BEQUEST PLATE OF A. BROUGHTON, M.D., 1 796.
Designed by J. Taylor.
is represented by an escutcheon (almost invariably of Georgian pattern) leaning against some tree- stump or rock, or quite as often depending from a bough (as shown, for instance, in the Strawberry Hill plate) ; the artistic or pictorial by a glade, a brook, or a plain bounded by distant hills, a peace-
144
English Book-plates.
ful country church, or a coast scene with sails in the offing. This class, albeit too often sadly marred by the presence of impossible and other- wise ridiculous " properties," such as the spear
<2£s<Ji£&<3j>
*>~>
BOOK-PLATE OF JAS. NEILD.
Circa 1790.
and the crested morion in the Neild vignette, is generally pleasing ; it is essentially English.
An excellent specimen is the ex-libris engraved by Barlow for William Boteler, which gives a view of Eastry Church in Kent, whilst the arms on a conventional shield (Boteler empaling Harvey) proclaim the owner s name.
Armorial Landscapes.
145
In some cases the armorial element is alto- gether absent from the landscape plate. In such instances, the owner's name (for after all an ex- libris must record book-ownership somehow or other) may be engraved on a rock (as in the plates of John Anderson, Junior, and of C. E.
BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM BOTELER.
By Barlow. Circa 1800.
Bainbridge), or writ in the clouds after the fashion of a latter day advertisement. This, however, is not more incongruous than the introduction of tilting lances and targes in a quiet fishing scene where an angler in 1 790 attire, is placidly lifting a stout perch out of the water ; but, as Warren remarks with reference more especially to the charming Bewick vignettes, the owners, not the
L
146
English Book-plates.
designers of landscape plates, were responsible for the intrusion of these jarring elements.
In the design supposed to have been used by Horace Walpole as a book-plate, and which shows
THE "STRAWBERRY HILL" BOOK-PLATE.
a distant and rather artificially aged view of Straw- berry Hill, heraldry is not so obtrusive, and there is a certain conventionality about the arrangement of trees in the foreground which suits the style of a book-plate. This plate has been attributed to Bewick, but, as Mr. Austin Dobson has pointed
Non-armorial Landscapes. 147
out to me, if any of the Strawberry Hill plates were executed by the Northumbrian engraver, they are simply exact copies of the vignette copper which appears on the title-page of Gray's " Odes," (the first book issued from the Strawberry Hill Press) in 1757. In that year Bewick was only four years old. Horace Walpole died in 1797, at a
BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN ANDERSON, JUN.
By Thomas Bewick. Circa 1800.
time when Bewick was most busy about this sort of work, but it is not likely that this original draughts- man should have copied an old device.
The ex-libris of John Anderson, Junr., and of George Hawks, which are representative of the non-armorial class and give us Bewick at his best, are charming little pictures. In the first of these, however, it is difficult to recognize any great suit-
148
English Book-plates.
ability as a mark of possession, unless, indeed, it were destined to a library of specially piscatorial lore. The treatment of G. Hawks' token, on the other hand, in the hands of the delineator of " Bewick's Birds," is as natural as it is obvious in suggestion.
Be this as it may, the pure landscape ex-libris of the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first of this, formed a very definite category,
BOOK-PLATE OF GEORGE HAWKS.
By Thomas Bewick.
one of which examples are not only numerous, but in many cases particularly pleasing. The vignette plate of C. Bainbridge, by Howitt (a loving designer of sporting subjects) with its keen-nosed setter coming round a boulder on a moor, is also an in- stance of the kind. We are, indeed, far from the Book-pile and the Rococo frame !
This style frequently took the character of ruins (symbol of the instability of human affairs ii general, and of book possession in particular)
in
Non-armorial Landscapes. 149
The taste for deserted temples, frowning mediaeval remains, broken arches and overturned columns endured even longer than that for forest glades and rustic scenes. All these structures, it is well
BOOK-PLATE OF G. C. BAINBRIDGE.
By S. Howitt. Circa 1810.
to note, offered surfaces temptingly inviting in- scription, and it may be said that " Ruin " book- plates are almost a class in themselves. The Townley card is tolerably typical of the genus ; so is the William Lane ex-libris, which, no doubt, was also used as a visiting card. It is very
i5o
English Book-plates.
characteristic, and peculiarly atrocious in composi- tion. The Trajan column-like structure, flanked by the ruins on one side of a Corinthian colonnade, and on the other of some Romanesque building, would look incongruous enough within such a frame. But at the period which was graced by Mr. William Lane a label of this kind would not
mwumwvxiuww
BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM LANE.
have been quite complete without a cinerary urn ; and here we have it, pertinently utilized as a shield of arms, whilst the cover knob is fashioned into a wreathed crest and the plinth is cunningly adapted to the requirements of the owner's motto.
The Caulfield ex-libris is another and less ridi- culous example of this class. " This plate," says Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., in a paper on Book- plates engraved by Cork artists, " when first used
"Ruin" Plates.
151
by Dr. Caulfield was signed Augustus Colthurst, and dated 1820. I have some early examples of it in books purchased at the sale of the Caulfield library, and have no doubt about the accuracy of the date, which has since for some cause been obliterated."
BOOK-PLATE OF RICHARD CAULFIELD, LL.D.
By A. Colthurst, 1820.
GROUP THE THIRD.
MODERN ARMORIAL.
|T is almost impossible to divide this group into very definite styles, for on the one hand, a chief characteristic of the piwely Armorial Modern plate is a singular absence of adventitious ornamentation, and on the other, the different methods of setting forth armorial bearings adopted by different die- sinkers and engravers are too numerous to classify to any useful purpose.
Again, in the majority of modern plates com- bining heraldry with other artistic elements, there is such wide eclecticism in composition, the tran- sitional forms between " mainly heraldic " and " mainly pictorial " designs are so infinite that it is almost useless to attempt any chronological specification of styles and classes.
Of nineteenth-century plates, the pure and simple Armorial label (by which I mean that very correct, very arid, quite unmistakable work of the modern " die-sinker and engraver,") however inte- resting it may sometimes prove to the genealogist,
Modern Die- Sin key Style. 153
is a perfect nuisance to the ex-librist who looks for more in a book-plate than merely correct blazoning. Unfortunately its name is legion. It floods ex-libris albums and drawers ; it clogs the wheels of classifi-
UWtrS EX LiZBEZS
(Smlitlmt 6aikg
UM2 £Msiiens£s /*23
-Jh&
BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM BAILEY OF BELFAST, 1 823.
cation ; the collector has often to issue a warning that it will not be acceptable in exchange for artistic specimens. Still it is a book-plate, and no doubt, if not otherwise interesting, it fulfils its purpose with great precision.
I propose, for want of better imagination, to
154
English Book-plates.
christen this style " Modern Die-sinker." This may sound frivolous, but it is tolerably descriptive. A short inspection of any respectable stationer's stock of specimens will suffice to fix its main characteristics in the mind.
" Modern Die-sinker" plates, then, can only be
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE.
Circa 1850.
classified, when they display a whole escutcheon, by reference to the shapes of the latter.1 To a certain extent there has been some kind of chrono- logical succession in the vogue enjoyed by parti- cular shapes ; but as each of these has endured in
1 See the "Types of Shields" plates at the end of this book.
Modern Die-Sinker Style.
155
some manner contemporaneously with subsequent designs, the classification is almost futile.
The shield which succeeded the later Georgian spade in the general favour of heraldic engravers was that square-sided, eared, scribed or angular based escutcheon which occurs so plentifully on book-plates between the years 1810-30. It is a
BOOK-PLATE OF ANTHONY TROLLOPE.
Circa i860.
shape which, whilst it was most common during the first third of this century, has retained some favour till now. Such, for instance, was that which Mr. William Bailey of Belfast adopted for his ex-libris in 1823. I have, however, chosen this example more particularly as one of a tolerably definite genus (that might, perhaps, be termed
•56
English Book-plates.
"Aerial") in which family pretensions are always raised to the skies and heralded among the clouds. No doubt the very many stars quartered by Mr. Bailey suggested the appropriateness of the arrangement to his case ; but Aerial book-plates are on the whole fairly numerous.
BOOK-PLATE OF THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN.
Circa 1812.
The escutcheon of Henry Thomas Buckle, the historian of Civilization ; of Anthony Trollope, the novelist ; of Thomas Frognall Dibdin, the Biblio- grapher, belong to that numerous tribe of square eared shapes, hundreds of which are turned out yearly in our own days. No doubt the historian and the novelist, busy men more curious of book- matter than of book-form, relied upon their cus-
Modern Die-Sinker Style. 157
tomary stationer to supply them With fitting per- sonal tokens for their volumes. But not so the author of " Bibliomania." His coat is a quaint specimen of mock heraldry, meant to record his own well-known tastes.
It is not easy to blazon, but here is at least an attempt towards so doing.
Quarterly. \st Azure, a lion rampant debruised by a bendlet argent, a label of three points of the same ; 2nd Gules, a Chapman passant, proper, vested or ; 3rd Argent, the colophon mark of Fust and Schoeffer in f esse ; \th the printer s mark of William Caxton cove7'ing the field. — Crest, a cubit arm, vested azure, cuffed or, the hand proper grasping an early illuminated book with clasps, also proper.
This bogus blazonry was not, of course, in- tended to deceive anyone ; and, under this very " Modern Armorial " form, the great Bibliomaniac's ex-libris was really personal in the highest degree.
A very great variety of shapes of shield-forms were more or less in fashion at different periods (many of them imitated from ancient examples), among which the "Victorian," the " College of Arms," modified forms of " Stuart," of " Queen Anne," even of " Gothic," and of foreign shapes.
The helm and mantling made a general reap- pearance, but with much loss of heraldic feeling. To select one instance only — during its long seces- sion from the helmet, since early Georgian days, the torce or wreath had assumed unto itself such importance as sole supporter of the crest on English plates, that when we find it again reinstated in its proper place it seems to have lost all sense of
i58
English Book-plates.
fitness. This is very perceptible in the Wingfield Larking Plate, (tolerably representative of much " Modern Die-sinker" work), where the torce, dry as a chip, is balanced meaninglessly stiff and rod- like atop of the helm, which it should really
<y&fisn//hn6
BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN WINGFIELD LARKING,
of Lea, Kent.
crown — like a wreath in fact. Besides these technical mistakes, the Modern Die-sinker plate is generally graceless. Compare this with one of the older Larking plates and see what havoc a short lapse of some fifty years has made in the taste of book-plate engravers.
All modern purely-armorial plates are not, how-
Designs by C. IV. S her born. 159
ever, so bad. Some indeed, but they are the exceptions, are particularly fine in conception and execution.
Among engravers who have devoted care to decorative heraldic compositions, Mr. C. W. Sherborn occupies a leading position. This artist, whose work with the graver has never been sur- passed, has an unmistakable style of his own. It is not too much to say that his book-plates are valued by connoisseurs and collectors as highly as any chef d' ceuvre of the kind belonging to past and present. He is jealous of his work, and rightly so, and has a strong objection to " process " reproduc- tions, which can never do justice to the delicacy, the depth, and the firmness of the originals.
I have, however, happily obtained leave from the owners to print four of his plates direct from the original copper. Two of these, that of General Lord Wolseley and that of Lord de Tabley, are among the best Armorial designs of the age. The first is especially remarkable for the wonderfully strong and clear manner in which the endless details of the general's numerous badges of honour are preserved in one harmonious composition. Lord de Tabley's armorial bearings are not easy to handle in a manner very pleasing to the eye ; the constant repetition of the unavoidably hard, cheeky device on coat, supporters and crest was a great stumbling-block in the way of graceful treat- ment ; Mr. Sherborn seems, however, to have overcome the difficulty to good purpose.
The ex-libris of Mr. Swanbrook Glazebrook, of
160 English Book-plates.
Liverpool, is an " adaptation " from some Early- Armorial design, and is not therefore so charac- teristic of the " Sherborn style." It is, neverthe- less, a singularly bold piece of engraving.
But in Mr. William Robinson's book-plate we see the best work, perhaps, yet produced by Mr. Sherborns graver. It may be mentioned here, albeit altogether non-armorial, as one of the most pleasing examples of this artist's " flowery " designs. There is a depth, a richness in the tone of this little piece of engraving which is absolutely unsurpassed.
In dealing with this particular style of copper work another engraver must be mentioned as oc- cupying a prominent place — Mr. G. W. Eve, an artist who does excellent work for the Herald's Col- lege, as did his father before him, and to whose in- fluence is no doubt due much of the present revival of taste in the ornamental treatment of Heraldry.
The two devices selected as examples of Mr. Eve's style for this volume are meant to be illus- trative more specially, one of the artist's method in composition, the other of the quality of his graver, which ranks next only to that of Mr. Sherborn.
The first of these is a study for a seal-plate of the Duke of Argyll. The detail in this well-balanced composition is very great. The Arms, surrounded by the Garter, are accom- panied by the collars of the Order and also of the Thistle; the Duke of Argyll being the only person not of the blood royal who is a knight of both orders. Behind the shield appear the sword of the shrievalty of Argyll, and the baton, sur- mounted by the Royal Scottish Crest of the
Designs by G. W. Eve,
161
Heritable Master of the Household in Scotland, both offices which are hereditary in his Grace's
J.E.PRESCOTT,D.D. ARCHDEACON- OF-CARLISLE
BOOK-PLATE OF DR. PRESCOTT. By J. Forbes Nixon.
family. Beneath the motto is a sprig of the family plant, the bog myrtle.
The second, with the scroll displaying the motto, Metuenda corolla draconis, is a fine example of spirited heraldic drawing and bold engraving.
M
1 62 English Book-plates.
Mr. Eve is particularly fortunate in his suggestion of hardness and brilliancy in burnished steel.
Among the best Modern Armorial plates we may reckon the ex-libris of Mr. J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A., which figures above the dedication of the present book. It was designed and drawn on the block by Father Anselm, a monk of Mount St. Bernard's Cistercian Abbey, Leicestershire,1 of whom an obituary notice in the " Academy," (21st Feb., 1885), truly said, " As a heraldic artist he has had no equal in our age. About two-thirds of the coats of arms in ' Foster's Peerage ' were by him. Many calendars, books of hours and other liturgical books, brought out either by the late Mr. Philp, or by firms at Mechlin and Tour- nay, bear witness to his inventive genius."
Indeed it may be said that Father Anselm possessed the real mediaeval spirit in heraldic art ; his work was equal to that of the fifteenth century at its best.2
In connection with the heraldic works of Joseph Foster must also be mentioned another well-known heraldic artist, Mr. J. Forbes Nixon, several of whose book-plates I am able to include in this volume. Besides his great experience as draughts- man and engraver, acquired through a long con- nection with the publishing firm of Routledge and
1 His name was Anselm Baker. He died nth January, 1885, aged 52.
2 It will be noticed that Mr. Rylands' plate, being composed in this fifteenth century style, does not display the conven- tional marks of tinctures, as do too many modern plates designed after mediaeval models.
HV75HBW0LC0TWEfflffl®
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. HUYSHE WOLCOTT YEATMAN.
By J. Forbes Nixon.
Designs by J. Forbes Nixon. 165
indefatigable work for " Foster's Peerage "in days when " process " had yet to be invented and every relief block had of course to be engraved on wood,
BOOK-PLATE OF LYON KING OF ARMS. By J. Forbes Nixon.
Mr. Nixon has a special acquaintance with archi- tectural ornamentation, having had occasion to assist Mr. Charles Ferguson in decorating heraldi- cally many great country mansions.
1 66
English Book-plates.
It is, no doubt, owing to this particular practice, which of course gives a freer scope for artistic treatment of blazonry, that the design of his
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY SAVILE CLARKE. By J. Forbes Nixon.
book-plates so frequently take the character of mural tablets and heraldic panels.
Three of the plates I am able to give as in- stances of Mr. Nixon's manner, namely those of
Designs by J. Forbes Nixon. 167
the present Bishop of South wark,1 of Lyon King of Arms, and of the late Mr. Savile Clarke, author, playwright, artistic and dramatic critic, might perhaps be classed under the rubric " printers' marks.'' They certainly bear the general character of the " pounced" style. But the criblS back- ground can also be made to represent a dull background in stone- work, and the Nixon designs have much the physiognomy of decorative com- partments in stone or wood-work.
This is especially the case with the book-plate of the Archdeacon of Carlisle, which recalls the strong and sober fourteenth century manner of Father Anselm.
It will be noted that here also, the decorative treatment being decidedly of archaic character, there is no attempt at tincturing by means of the conventional dots and lines. The dull black of sable charges and ordinaries cannot be considered as coming under the head of conventional tincts ; it was often so represented in engravings long before the days of Petra Santa and of Vulson de la Colombiere.
Other modern engravers have produced good work, even on the most conventional purely-ar- morial lines. But it must be admitted that, as a rule, the only interest of ex-libris of this kind de- pends on the personality of their owners. The coat of arms appertaining to our late Laureate, for instance, is certainly not in itself a thing of
1 (Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman, who was at the time when the ex-libris was designed, 1882, vicar of Sydenham.)
1 68
English Book-plates.
beauty, yet what value must be attached to it by the most casual collector, even in the absence of the autograph motto, Prospiciens, respiciens, and the signature, Alfred Tennyson. A mere crest resting on a simple torce, but with a well-known name under it, assumes, at once, a startling im- portance. How sharply would even such jejune designs as those of Thomas Carlyle and of Charles
..., . .■~~7.. : ^mmi :, _.jj
BOOK-PLATE OF THOMAS CARLYLE.
Dickens' ex-libris elicit attention when discovered
on the cover of a book.
Despite the hopelessness of the task, I have
attempted some classification of plates belonging
to the Modern Armorial Group :
" Die-sinker style " (purely-armorial)—
Plain Shield (with or without crests resting on
plain torces) to be again distinguished according
to shape of escutcheon.
AipuL It**yfiL
BOOK-PLATE OF THK LATE LORD TENNYSON.
(Motto and signature autograph.)
Modern Armorial Plates. 1 7 1
Shields with Supporters.
Shields with Helm and Mantling (with helm alone or with mantling alone). Mantles of Estate. Crests or Coronets, without arms. Garter Ribbons (round arms, round crest alone).
Other Armorial " styles " might be thus sub- divided :
" Seals or Vesicas." " Printers Marks!' "Adaptations."
^s^*^v> ^5!%^s
BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES DICKENS.
A further selection made :
Heraldic and Allegoric.
Heraldic and Symbolic or " Rebus."
The latter styles and classes, unlike the "purely heraldic," admit of any amount of artistic fancy in composition, and include many of the most charm- ing designs in existence.
It seems hitherto to have been the habit among those few English writers who have taken up the subject, to consider that most of the interest in
172 English Book-plates.
book-plates ceases with the close of the last cen- tury. I venture, however, to submit that not a few of the designs I have been able to collect in these pages to illustrate modern types would only re- quire the glamour of age to enable them to com- pare favourably with the best examples of bygone days.
• . : •
173
SEALS AND VESICAS.
T is expedient to class under this head most book-plates of vesica or of circular outline (others, of course, than conven- tional garters) ; they may not be al- ways ostensibly designed as seals, but in most
BOOK-PLATE OF J. E. CUSSANS, ESQ. By Robinson.
cases their general physiognomy recalls at once the heavy seals of mediaeval days.
174
English Book-plates.
This style is eminently adapted to book-plate Its very essence is heraldic. It
composition.
BOOK-PLATE OF EDMUND YATES.
By J. Vinycomb.
admits of much and nice discrimination in the ordering of ornamental elements and affords suit-
BOOK-PLATE OF ROBERT DAY, F.S.A.
By J. Vinycomb.
Seals.
177
able room for inscription. Among the best examples extant are the ex-libris of Mr. J. E. Cussans, the distinguished writer on heraldry and cognate subjects, engraved by Robinson, and that of Mr. Robert Day, signed J. Vinycomb. In the same manner, but perhaps not so masterly in
BOOK-PLATE OF ETON COLLEGE LIBRARY
treatment, is the vesica used by Mr. Edmund Yates.
The plate bearing the inscription Liber Col- legii Regalis Beate Marie de Etona, a handsome specimen, is of the gothic tracery type ; as for the unpretending seal-plate of the late Althorpe
N
178 English Book-plates.
Library books, M. Bouchot would no doubt see in it a corroboration of his satirical and sweeping statement that, "the greater the bibliophile the plainer is the book-plate." There can be no doubt that were it not that this insignificant little label is the mark chosen for the finest private collec- tion of books in the world it would attract little attention.
I imagine that the rough and studiously archaic
BOOK-PLATE OF THE ALTHORP LIBRARY.
device supported by the onomatopoetic motto Nee careo nee euro (which is obviously suggested by the crows on the Crawhall coat) ought to be regarded more or less as a seal. It may not be held up as being in itself a thing of beauty by every beholder, but it is very typical of the work of the well-known designer of "Impresses quaint" and other works of " revival " character.
The last specimen of this kind, interesting as a Collegiate composition, is the plate of the Archaeo-
Stamped Leather Plates.
179
logical Society of the County Kildare. The three coats therein displayed show, firstly, the arms of the town of Naas, Co. Kildare, secondly, those of the Duke of Leinster, first President of the Society, and thirdly, those of the Earl of Mayo, who is virtually the founder of the Society.
In the seal class may, perhaps, best be included
SOB"
BOOK-PLATE OF JOSEPH CRAWHALL.
By the owner.
that somewhat uncommon kind of ex-libris, the " leather label," stamped (generally in gold or silver, but sometimes blind-blocked) with armorial compositions or other devices, the colour of the leather generally being (as it should always be) selected so as to suit that of the cover lining. This sort of personal token, which is sometimes
i8o
English Book-plates.
exceedingly beautiful, and which recalls in almost every characteristic, except its mobility, thejztper-
BOOK-PLATE OF THE ARCH/EOLOGICAL SOCIETY, CO. KILDARE.
libros patronized by more ostentatious bibliophiles, belongs to a very distinct category, and is only applicable to the covers of more or less gorgeously bound volumes.
m mEmmMmmmmm
;»>^^«^.^^^^i^>^.^»'^.^.N»N;..x
LTEZI
mrvvy
Her Majesty's Book-plate for the Windsor Library.
{Reproduced by Gracious Permission.)
i8i
PRINTERS' MARK STYLE.
IKE the foregoing, this style, which I propose to name with reference to a very frequent type of early printers' mark, is chiefly Armorial. In general composition, plates of this kind recall both the mark
BOOK-PLATE OF HAMILTON AIDE.
of Richard Fawkes, with " pounced " or pointille background, and that of John Scott, with escut- cheon,^crested helmet, and name, filling a square
1 82
English Book-plates,
panel. To this class belongs, in general charac- ter, notwithstanding its noble dimensions, Her Majesty's plate for the Windsor Library, designed by West and engraved by Mary Byfield.
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. S. BARING-GOULD.
The four smaller examples I have chosen as representative were executed by Mr. Harry Soane, the well-known heraldic engraver of Han way Street. The ex-libris of Dr. Evans, (now Sir John Evans, K.C.B.), LL.D., D.C.L., whilom
The Pounced Style.
183
President of the Society of Antiquaries, and Secretary of the Royal Society, might, however, almost as appropriately be classed as emblematic.
BOOK-PLATE OF SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B. By Harry Soane.
For, in addition to the achievements and scrolls and pounced background common to the printers' mark, are displayed ancient coins, stone and bronze implements, symbolic of some of this great savant's '
1 84
English Book-plates.
special works of research. It is a poor device, both in composition and execution, but full of interest on account of the singular distinction of its owner in so many branches of learning.
The three others, all belonging to men of letters
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. C. H. MIDDLETON-WAKE.
Designed by the Rev. J. Loftie.
Engraved by Soane.
— Mr. Hamilton Aide, the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, and the Rev. C. H. Middleton-Wake, are more typical examples. The latter (designed by the Rev. J. Loftie, the historian of London), with its escut- cheon hanging to a bole of the Tree of Knowledge
The Tree of Literature.
185
after a very typical printers' mark manner, and the " Wake Knot " as main badge cunningly utilized for the owner's initials, is a singularly well-balanced composition.
The Tree symbol, typical of growing, spreading
mm
■/■-">_V««i
«»»
•fvf
PREND>/\OY^TEL
3iSOB£2ES
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. W. J. LOFTIE, F.S.A. Designed by Robert Bateman.
and fruitful knowledge, and therefore, by associa- tion, of literature in general, is adopted also by Mr. Loftie for his own book-plate. Here we see three escutcheons ; the larger shield bears the family arms ; that on the dexter side displays argent, a cross sable, symbolical of the owner's
1 86
English Book-plates.
sacred calling ; whilst on the sinister the owners initials are introduced in a Caxton-like manner well suited to the general spirit of the design.
This composition was originally devised for the title-page of Mr. Loftie's " Latin Year," by Robert Bate man.
Another ex-libris, belonging to Mr. J. P. Rylands, albeit not strictly armorial, is included as a final example. The symbol displayed on the escut- cheon is a merchant's mark eneraved on a fifteenth century seal used by one Nicholas del Rylands, an ancestor of the present owner.
I:PAVL:RyLflNDS:FSil:
BOOK-PLATE OF J. PAUL RYLANDS, F.S.A.
1 8'
HERALDIC-ALLEGORIC AND HERALDIC- SYMBOLIC.
T is impossible to draw any really logical line of demarcation between "Allegoric" AO and " Symbolic " or " Emblematic " com- 8 positions. For the purpose of book-plate
definition, however, I propose to class as "Alle- goric" all designs where the attendants on the shield are human or celestial beings acting some part with reference to the owners personality, name, tastes, or pursuits. This would place the modern class somewhat in line with that already similarly defined by Warren. It seems, however, necessary to use the double terms with reference to modern examples, as of course there are many plates that are allegoric without being in any way armorial.
When, on the other hand, the emblematic con- comitants are simply animal or material objects, the term " symbolic " has seemed to me more suitable. In any case a division on these lines is to some extent practical.
HERALDIC-ALLEGORIC.
One of the most interesting specimens of this class is the plate designed by Mr. (now Sir John) Millais, for the present Mr. Christopher Sykes.
1 88 English Book-plates.
The allegory bears on the owner's Christian name, and illustrates the legend of St. Christopher ferry- ing Christ through the waters, whilst the arms on the unconventional escutcheon (argent, a chevron sable between three sykes or fountains) are suffi- ciently canting to proclaim the patronymic. Mr.
BOOK-PLATE OF SAMUEL ANGELL
By Sir W. Boxali, R.A.
Sykes is happy in the possession of a plate which, at once personal and eminently artistic, seems to fulfil all the requirements of the perfect ex-libris, and the future collector will consider himself in luck who comes across this original piece, and recognizes the well-known Millais type in the delicious head of the Infant Saviour, and en the rim of the seal-like frame the unmistakable initial. The plates of Samuel Angell and of Edward
BOOK-PLATE OF MR. By Sir J.
CHRISTOPHER SYKES.
E. Millais.
Design by IV. M. Thackeray. 191
Fitzgerald are very similar in composition. In the first, the angelic supporter of the shield, (de- signed by Sir W. Boxall, R.A.), is easily inter- preted. The second, however, bears no obvious meaning. But this unpretending device, which might so easily fail at first glance to attract atten- tion, is nevertheless as interesting as any in exis-
BOOK-PLATE OF EDWARD FITZGERALD. By W. M. Thackeray.1
tence. In the first place, it was drawn by William Makepeace Thackeray, and in the second it was designed for his friend, Edward Fitzgerald, the poet and translator, who introduced to the Western World a work still held by sundry enthusiasts to be worth a hundred volumes of verse, the Rubaiyat,
1 For the loan of the original block I am indebted to Mr. Bain, the well- known bibliopolist in the Haymarket.
1 92 English Book-plates.
of Omar Khaiyam. It is supposed that in the Angel Thackeray intended to pourtray Mrs. Brook- field.1
Another unique plate is one designed in 1881 by Randolph Caldecott. Says Mr. Blackburn in his recollections of that most delightful of humourists and draughtsmen : —
11 The book-plate was drawn for an old and in- timate friend in Manchester [Mr. H. G. Seaman, of Chelford, Crewe], and it is curious to note how closely the style of the family crest is followed in its various details. If it were not for certain satirical touches, this ingenious design might easily pass for the work of other hands ; the touch and treatment have little in common with Caldecott as he is known ; the artistic completeness of the little book-plate is another evidence of his power as a designer."
It is, I think, quite allowable to place this quaint composition in the present class — a pious seaman apparently preparing himself, in accordance with his motto, by diligent reading of the Book of Psalms, for the watery grave to which his frail craft will presently abandon him, is no doubt a speaking allegory.
On the subject of this very interesting piece, (which was originally drawn on the back of a post-
1 On the subject of this ex-libris Mr. Edmund Gosse has sent me the following interesting detail : —
" I have just come across a note I copied out of a letter by Edward Fitzgerald, dated March 19th, 1878, referring to the book-plate.
' Done by Thackeray one day in Coram (Joram) Street in 1842. All wrong on her feet, so he said — I can see him nowl — E.F.G."
BOOK-PLATE OF MR. SEAMAN OF MANCHESTER.
By Randolph Caldecott. O
Design by Randolph Caldecott. 195
card), Mr. Seaman, writing to a friend, remarked : " Regarding Caldecott's drawing, I have just been reading the letter in which he sent it with the print from the block cut by his friend Mr. J.
mil Fii^"«aaKafeEHi.
BOOK-PLATE OF FREDERICK LOCKER.
By Walter Crane.
D. Cooper. In this he expressed himself much pleased with the excellence of the engraving, which he had himself seen carried out. He had intended, with several artists, friends of his and men of note, to make a study of this pretty art — book-plate de-
196
English Book-plates.
signing — for its worthy revival. But, alas ! his hands were full and his life was so short, that I think mine was the only specimen he completed."
The author of " London Lyrics," Mr. Frederick Locker- Lampson, has had a variety of book-plates
BOOK-PLATE OF FREDERICK LOCKER.
By Kate Greenaway.
drawn by well-known hands at different times for himself and his family. In the first of the four which I have the privilege of reproducing, Mr. Stacy Marks, R.A.,1 has selected for allegorical
1 Mr. Marks has designed some forty book-plates. It were a boon to many lovers of art if his example were followed by more limners of similar standing.
^FREDERICK;*
£
^i Lockers
BOOK-PLATE OF FREDERICK LOCKER.
By H. Stacy Marks, R.A.
GODFREY
LOCKER-LAMPSON
BOOK-PLATE OF GODFREY LOCKER-LAMPSON.
By Kate Greenaway.
Designs by Stacy Marks, 201
purposes a favourite subject of his — the professional 11 Fool" absorbed in thoughts of melancholy wisdom. The second, in which a muse-like young woman watches over a rather roughly set forth achieve- ment with a motherly gaze, is not signed, but bears all the characteristics of Mr. Walter Crane's manner. The two juvenile ex-libris destined to proclaim the book ownership of Frederick Locker and Godfrey Locker-Lampson, are designed by that recognized specialist, Kate Greenaway. The variations in the heraldry of these four plates are no doubt due to grants and a change of name.
202 English Book-plates.
HERALDIC-SYMBOLIC.
JYPICAL of the book-plate arrangement intended to record personal tastes and occupations is the design made by W. Bell Scott, poet and painter, for Henry Aylorde. We are at once made aware, by the open muniment chest, the big folios and clasped books, the seals and parchments, the classical lamp, the chalice and the background of ruined romanesque architecture, that Henry Aylorde was an Antiquary.
Among the most copious and imaginative de- signers of the present time is Mr. John Leighton, F.S.A.,1 — " Luke Limner," — one of our keenest ex-librists. Mr. Leighton has composed a number of book-plates both for himself and his friends. I am able to reproduce here one perhaps less well- known than many others, in which an artist's palette, slightly coicchie, is used to fit (after the manner of some old-fashioned German shields) the proportions of a vigorously heraldic lion. The "sentiments" on the border are terse English adaptations of Spanish proverbs.
1 The student of book-plates will derive much benefit from, and find great general interest in, the perusal of one of Mr. Leighton's works, " Suggestions in Design," with descriptive and historical letter-press by J. K. Collings. (Blazon, Heraldry, Rebuses, plates 50-54.) London. Blackie and Son. 4to. 1880.
Design by IV. Bell Scott.
203
The palette is of course a very sufficient symbol of a limner's avocation. It again appears suitably in another of Mr. Leighton's compositions, the book- plate, to wit, of Sir Oswald Brierly, marine painter to Her Majesty. Here the symbolisation of the owner's pursuits is pushed further, and the palette
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY AYLORDE, F.S.A.
By William Bell Scott.
is cunningly used as a background to an admirably conventional ship, one mast of which passes, in maul-stick fashion, through the thumb-hole, flying a scrolled pennant charged with a motto (on the reverse with a date), whilst the mainsail of the other serves as a field argent for Sir Oswald's
204 English Book-plates.
cross-potent and fleur-de-lys. The crest graces the " top-garland" mast, the garland appositely playing the part of torce. " Here," as Mr. Leigh- ton says in his paper on " Ship Ex-Libris," 1 M the
BOOK-PLATE OF SIR OSWALD BRIERLY. By John Leighton.
porpoise plays on its own waverley sea whilst a lanthorn-lighted prow cleaves the course."
The Brierly plate is a singularly improved version of the idea embodied in an older symbolic ship-device, thus described by Mr. Leighton, in
1 Journal of the Ex-Libris Society, vol. i. part 5.
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BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN LEIGHTON — " LUKE LIMNER."
By the owner.
Designs by "Luke Limner!1 207
the same paper, as " The ex-libris of John Scott Russell, F.R.S., the naval architect who con- structed the Leviathan, afterwards the Great Eastern (now no more). In this you will per-
BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN SCOTT RUSSELL.
ceive an old style of barque mediaevally treated, the sails being reefed, whilst the shield — out of all proportion — is hoisted on the mast ; the motto flying from a pennon on the prow, whilst on the poop is painted a monogram, J.S.R., a spouting
208 English Book-plates.
dolphin blowing away on the waves that are made to float the owner's name in full."
A very distinct genus of the Heraldic-Em- blematic class of design, is that which deals in Rebus on names or heraldic charges, and the artist who has perhaps achieved the greatest success in this description of book-plate is Mr. Thomas Erat Harrison. Mr. Harrison has created, in this minor department of his artistic pursuits, a style which is essentially his own. His theory on the composition of a book-plate is very definite : a token of this kind should be as " unmistakable as a trade mark," and should bear some distinctive reference, armorial or personal, to the owner. Such ends are best secured in his opinion by decorative and conventional rather than pictorial and realistic treatment. The three plates I am able to repro- duce, interpreted by Mr. Harrison himself, will fully illustrate his method and style, which is as characteristic, in its way, as that of Mr. Sherborn.
"The first is a gift of Lord Northbourne to Mr. Gladstone on the occasion of that statesman's golden wedding; it bears the dates, 23rd July 1839, 23rd July 1889. The Kites and Stones are a rebus on Gledstanes, the original form of the name (gled = kite) ; and it will be observed that the shield hangs on a holly bush, the reason for this being that the griffin of the crest issues from a wreath of holly leaves. The helmet is rather prominent to show that Mr. Gladstone is still a commoner."
The second, belonging to Mr. Matthew Ridley Corbett, is thus explained : " The Angel is em-
BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.
By T. Erat Harrison. P
Designs by Erat Harrison. 2 1 1
blematic of Matthew ; the squirrels show that one was formerly used as a crest ; the ravens allude to the motto, * Deus pascit Corvos! The space on
BOOK-PLATE OF M. R. CORBET. By T. Erat Harrison.
the stone under the shield is for the date on which the book was procured."
The book-plate of Mr. Henry Folkard, Libra-
2 1 2 English Book-plates.
rian of the Wigan Free Library, is open to much interpretation, chiefly, it must be said, of the dismal order. It was designed by Mr. Gordon Browne, son of the immortal " Phiz," and known
Ufitry ®- 3folkar&.
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY FOLKARD. By Gordon Browne.
besides by much excellent work of his own. Here we have, in company with a closed book, the spectacles of advancing age and withering flowers, what is presumably meant to represent the bitter cup of life (under the form of a German
Design by Gordon Browne, 2 1 3
Romer). As a support to this bowl which bears the melancholy philosophical inscription : " Teh habe gelebt und geliebet" are various emblems of life and death, graceful feminine forms, with the symbol of their soul — the psychic butterfly — over their brows, enslaved by the Implacable Fiend, who lies half hidden behind them in gruesome, bony company, whilst round the base the serpent biting his tail emphasizes an endless allegory.
This is indeed a book-plate offering congenial" food for reflection to those dSsabuses in whom M. Bouchot sees a special category of book-lovers.
PICTORIAL NON-HERALDIC PLATES.
' EMBLEMATIC " AND " GENRE/
ROADLY speaking, the great majority of Non-Heraldic book-plates are Em- blematic (that is, Allegorical or Sym- bolic) in some way or another. In fact, they could hardly be "personal" without some kind of representative device. The numerous modern examples I give of this category contain specimens of almost every class, Allegoric, Sym- bolic, Library- Interior, Landscape, etc., which, as they have already been descanted upon in con- nection with Armorial Styles, need not be further distinguished.
In Mr. Eolkard's Cup-and-Book device we had a good instance of wide-reaching symbolism. I imagine, however, that the extraordinary- looking design made by Mr. Charles Ricketts for Mr. Gleeson White claims quite the most universal scope of any in existence.
" The tree of Creation (Igdrasil)," says Mr. Ricketts in explanation of his mystic picture,
Design by Charles Ricketts.
215
" springs from a swirl of water and flame which breaks into little gems ; the flame, continuing, flows through the trunk of the tree, which branches on each side into composite boughs suggesting the different plant kingdoms. This central flame en-
E*UWM GlFePN VvkiTE©
BOOK-PLATE OF GLEESON WHITE. By Charles Ricketts.
velopes the figure of man, placed in the midst of the tree in the act of awakening. The fruit on the eastern end of each bough represent in embryo the fish and water fowl, the reptile and creeping insects, the larger animals, and finally the creatures
2 1 6 English Book-plates.
with wings. The rainbow shooting through the centre composition signifies the atmosphere ; the two figures under one cloak in the lower part of the design represent night and day, i.e., the planets."
Now, at first flush, one might well wonder what all this cosmogonic symbolism can possibly have to do with a book-plate, and feel inclined to com- pare the designer to Racine's Plaideur with his celebrated exordium :
" Avant done La naissance du monde et sa creation . . ."
But the owner of this characteristic if rather fan- tastic device is ready however with a compara- tively simple interpretation.
" The tree," explains Mr. White, " whether under this particular shape of Igdrasil in Scandi- navian mythology, or under that of the Tree of Knowledge in the Mosaic tradition, has always been a favourite symbol for Literature'. It is therefore a felicitous choice as an emblem of knowledge, eternal, yet needing daily nourishment, and always growing. In fact, the various inter- pretations of this mystical tree are as all-embracing as literature itself."
The ex-libris of Mr. John Lane which figured in the original edition of this work was one that might well strike a would-be interpreter with dismay, but Mr. Alan Wright, the designer, whose characteristic beetle-like cypher figures on many an illustrated periodical of the day, and who is also a prolific designer of book-plates, kindly explained some of its meaning. It seems that there was the " Lane
Designs by Alan Wright. 217
of Life " (which also stood for the initial letter of the owners name), with the " Trees of Knowledge, Fame, Crime, and Pleasure" on either side ; and the curious might amuse themselves by disentangling at their pleasure and leisure " Love and the Flowers of Youth," " the Lion of Circumstance," good and bad Angels, together with our old friend Charon
BOOK-PLATE OF MRS. CAMPBELL.
By Alan Wright.
and the river Styx. To pursue the Allegory still further, I pointed out (on my own responsibility) that the cheerfully disposed might descry a gleam of hope for the poor beset wayfarer in a minute " Sunrise " at the extreme corner, while on the other hand it was quite open to the pessimist to recognize in a sinking orb an emblem of Eternal
2l8
English Book-plates.
Night. There was a typical instance of the im- mense amount of "food for reflection" that can be compressed within the compass of an emble- matic book-plate !
Two other plates by the same hand figuring in
1300K-PLATE OF L. T. MEADE,
Late editress of " Atalanta." By Alan Wright.
the present volume are less complicated, — Mrs. Campbell's ex-libris is plainly musical and literary, besides being a pleasing and inspiriting kind of device to meet constantly in favourite books. The lesson it aspires to teach is that were the book closed
Design by Gleeson JVhite. 219
and the inkpot dry, the span of life would be death- like. Mrs. Campbell is known in the musical world as Madame Perugini. The staves partly hidden by the Death's Head show a few bars of a favourite air. Another musical book-plate is that designed by Mr. Gleeson White for the late Ernest Lake, a musician of great promise and a well-known mem- ber of the Savage Club. His crest was a cannon, and the musical notes are an ingeniously arranged
BOOK-PLATE OF ERNEST LAKE
By Gleeson White.
canon, to which are set the words of a motto attributed to St. Francis de Sales — the old dog Latin noexkins tend boexkins is the original form of the sentence. The same hair-raising latinity occurs as the sentiment on Mr. White's own book-plate (by Alan Wright). Here we have another "bony light" and another cheerful view of the ultimate fate of our dearest books in the hands of old Tempus, edax rerum. The Allegory, which shows us two working
220
English Book-plates,
sisters, the first engaged, apparently, in pruning the Tree of Knowledge, whilst the second, seated at its foot, with the Lamp of History by her side, absorbs herself in theoretical study, was drawn for Mr. Oscar Browning by Simeon Solomon, a Pre- Raphaelite who once gave promise of a brilliant artistic career.1
Irt. omnibus rebus requiem
BOOK-PLATE OF GLEESON WHITE. By Alan Wright.
1 Such was the interpretation I placed on this plate. Mr. Browning has since, however, pointed out to me that in some respects the interpretation went wrong, whilst in others I fell far short of the mark in not seeing all that could be seen in this singular plate. "The meaning," writes the owner, " of the book-plate is as follows. It represents the antagonism between the active and the contemplative life, between the life of active
Design by Simeon Solomon. 221
A very distinct genus of the Emblematic class might be separately classed under the rubric Punning or " Rebus." Such plates are of course
BOOK-PLATE OF OSCAR BROWNING.
By Simeon Solomon.
work and the life of study, which just at that time was exciting me very much. Labor of course signifies one, and Theoria the other. Theoria was borrowed from a version by Munro of some lines of Milton, in which he renders ' the cherub con- templation ' by Theoria. Content aiileurs is an invention o;' my own, and represents the discontent following the above- mentioned conflict. It is modelled on the repos aiileurs of St.
222
English Book-plates.
very personal, and often excessively quaint. As I have stated before, Mr. Erat Harrison is a special
BOOK-PLATE OF MR. CHARLES E. DOBLE.
By T. Erat Harrison.
Aldegonde. The lamp and book are merely attributes of llieoria. You perceive that Labo?' is standing up, girt, pruning a tree, which is emblematical of the educational work in which I was then engaged. The wings are my crest. We intended to have the coat-of-arms instead, but I omitted to send them. The river is the Thames, emblematical of Eton where I then was. The spires ought to have been those of the chapel as seen from the river.''
Rebus " Plates,
223
adept at this sort of composition, and has pro- duced some of the most artistic and interesting ex- libris of modern times. The rebus on the name
BOOK-PLATE OF E. ONSLOW FORD. By T. Eiat Harrison.
of Charles E. Doble is typical of his system, and is thus to be interpreted, by the designer himself. " The stars are Charles Wain for Chas. The note E is on the bell, which, with the doe, makes Doble (Dobell). The imp is a mere accessory,
224
English Book-plates,
alluding to the dread such spirits have of the sound of bells."
In this year's "Academy" Mr. Harrison ex- hibited the emblematic plate devised for Mr. Onslow Ford's books. It is conceived in a some- what different manner from his earlier works.
BOOK-PLATE OF C. SHARP.
By K. M. Skeaping.
There is no attempt at punning but as much sym- bolism as the frame can conveniently contain. The tree is, of course, the literary " Tree of Knowledge," from which the serpent is offering sound and rotten fruit — a somewhat strained allu- sion to the fact that all books are not edifying.
Designs by J. D. Batten.
225
The owl symbolizes wisdom, in a classical manner. The statue is " Peace," Mr. Ford's favourite work; the lyre heralds his taste for music and poetry; whilst, of the principal figures, the man with mallet and chisel stands for Sculpture proper,
B-IMaBE-I^UelsMa^MKiM- $>
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY TAIT.
By J. D. Batten.
carved work, and the' female figure for fire; she pours the melted metal into a mould from a crucible, the vapour escaping through an air-vent ; her flight downwards is symbolic of her heavenly origin. The crucible and mould, of course, are allusions to bronze casting.
Q
226
English Book-plates.
The inscription should be ^ooXuroi rx kocXoc. There is an unfortunate mistake in the original drawing.
Another musical rebus appears on the book- plate of Mr. Charles Sharp, of the Liverpool
BOOK-PLATE OF A. H. TURNBULL
By Walter Crane.
Institute, where under a charming "interior" by K. M. Skeaping, the note C sharp, on a small canton ruled for music, figures as a simple legend. Mr. Henry Tait's artistic device displays, like that of Mr. Browning, the allegory of Labour and Study,
Designs by Walter Crane. 227
with an Anglo-French pun (somewhat far-fetched
it must be admitted) on the family name as a motto.
Far better as a rebus, if not as a picture, is the
BOOK-PLATE OF WALTER CRANE.
By the owner.
spirited Turnbull plate, executed in Mr. Crane's best manner. To a certain extent the device composed by the Apostle of Socialism and Deco-
228
English Book-plates.
rative Art, for his own books, may also be con- sidered as a rebus on his name, for I assume that the two-handled wine jug stands for an initial W
BOOK-PLATE OF CLEMENT SHORTER.
By Walter Crane.
before the Crane. But it is also elaborately sym- bolic ; and, with pen, pencil and palette, and the quatrain from the " Rubaiyat," descriptive of the owner's pursuits and literary tastes.
Designs by Walter Crane. 229
Omar Khayyam as interpreted by Edward Fitz- gerald is evidently a favourite singer in Mr. Crane's ear, for we find another quatrain of the " Rubaiyat" doing duty as "Sentiment" on the plate devised
BOOK-PLATE OF WALTER BESANT.
By J. Vinycomb.
by this artist for Mr. Clement Shorter, editor of the " Illustrated London News.'' In this device, with the exception of the female figure perusing the " Breviary of Love," and of the monogram shield, both of which are singularly occidental in appear-
230
English Book-plates.
ance, the decorative composition is of the Persian type, a favourite with Mr. Crane.
Very illustrative of Mr. Walter Besant's capa- city for unrelenting work is the " Library Interior " designed for that indefatigable and prolific writer by J. Vinycomb and engraved by Marcus Ward and Co., of Dublin, in which we see the sage man of the pen amidst studious surroundings, absorbed in his
HOOK-PLATE OF THE LATE TOHN PERRLS.
work yet fearful of the flight of time, and making right good use of the hours as they fall through the glass. One would wish, for the sake of com- pleteness, that the artist had found room for Mr. Besant's favourite motto " Work whilst ye have the light."
The plate engraved for the late John Perris, whilom Librarian of the Lyceum in Liverpool,
BOOK-PLATE OF THE HON. J. B. LEICESTER WARREN. By W. Bell Scott.
Designs by IV. B. Scott.
233