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Bookplates in Iowa 
 
Bookplates in Iowa 
 
 BY 
 
 MALCOLM G. WYER 
 
 WITH A CHAPTER ON THE PLEASURES 
 
 OF COLLECTING 
 
 BY 
 
 T. HENRY FOSTER 
 
 IF 
 
 THE TORCH PRESS 
 
 CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA 
 
 1914 
 
Edition limited to 100 copies 
 
 THE TORCH PRESS 
 
 CEDAR RAPIDS 
 
 IOWA 
 
A 6 1? 
 
 You may keep, if you can, all the good I contain, , <> 
 
 But my owner might wish to lend me again. a J 
 
 Who borrow books and soon restore 
 May come again and borrow more. 
 
 If this is borrowed by a friend. 
 Right welcome shall he be, 
 
 To read and study, not to lend, 
 But to return to me. 
 
 Not that I grudge to loan 
 My stock of learning's store, 
 
 But books, I find, if once re-lent. 
 Return to me no more. 
 
 John James Webster 
 (He does not lend books) 
 
 Ho there ! Take me back to my master. 
 
 29677K 
 
'^H^^^ ^\hxPX^ 
 
 
 [8] 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
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[12] 
 
BOOKPLATES IN IOWA 
 
 N medieval days books were 
 chained to the bookshelves to 
 protect them from people who 
 might borrow and fail to return 
 them. 
 
 In these later times, books are 
 loaned, but men who care most for their books 
 and wish them back again have substituted for 
 the chains a little device called the bookplate 
 which is placed on the inside front cover of a 
 book and serves as a mark of identification, to 
 insure the return of books loaned, mislaid, or 
 lost. Such a device may contain simply the 
 owner's name printed on a slip of paper, or in 
 addition to the name a verse such as those printed 
 above. This is the simplest form of a bookplate. 
 The bookplate is no innovation of the modern 
 faddist, looking for a bookish hobby to ride; 
 but it is as old as the invention of printing. 
 
 The earliest bookplates were in German mon- 
 asteries. Cardinal Wolsey was the first Eng- 
 lishman who is known to have had one. Wil- 
 liam Penn and George Washington were among 
 the early Americans who had plates and of 
 course examples of theirs are much sought after 
 by collectors. In 1863 a counterfeit of Wash- 
 ington's plate was made and a number of books 
 
 [■3] 
 
containing it were advertised at an auction sale, 
 with the expectation that they would realize 
 high prices. An expert attended the sale, how- 
 ever, detected the fraud, and denounced it in the 
 auction room. 
 
 The field of the bookplate is an attractive one 
 for the collector. The primary appeal is in the 
 interest that attaches to the associations con- 
 nected with books, and their owners. The book- 
 plate of David Garrick or of Dickens enhances 
 the interest of the book it is in and increases the 
 satisfaction of the owner of the book, quite as 
 much as a signature would. 
 
 A few years ago the writer secured, at an 
 auction sale, some books which had belonged to 
 Richard Le Gallienne, each of w^hich contained 
 a bookplate inserted by Mr. Le Gallienne when 
 he parted with his books. The bookplate con- 
 sisted of a poem written by him for the occasion. 
 It is reproduced here. 
 
 Some collectors aim to secure the bookplates 
 of famous men and are delighted when they can 
 find plates of Walpole, Gladstone, Bismarck, 
 Carlyle, Tennyson, Hugo, Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes, Henry Irving, Edwin Booth, or Eu- 
 gene Field. 
 
 Others are interested in the work of the artists 
 who have designed the plate and they will treas- 
 ure the work of Bartolozzi, Bewick, Diirer, Sir 
 Christopher Wren, and others. Artists have al- 
 ways considered that bookplate designing offered 
 sufficient scope for the exercise of their genius. 
 Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, Kate Green- 
 
 [ u] 
 
EX LIBRIS R. Le G. 
 
 Multum tile it ttrris jatiatui et alio, 
 yi sufierum, saevae memorem Junonis cb iratn: 
 Multa quoque et hello passus, dum conderel urb/m, 
 Inferretque deoi Lath ; . . . 
 
 Having no home, what should I do with these. 
 Tossed as I am about the sounding seas. 
 Sport of exiling winds of change and chance- 
 Feet in America, and heart in France. 
 Homeless, 'tis meet I lind my books a home 
 Coffined in crates and cases long they lay. 
 Distant from me three thousand miles 'of foam. 
 Dungeoned in cellars cold and nailed away. 
 As in a sepulchre, till Judgment Day. 
 Lost to their gentle uses in the tomb, 
 Cobwebbed companions of the spidered gloom. 
 At lastlhcy itse again to live once more,— 
 Dread resurreflion of the auction room. 
 
 Books I have loved so well, my love so true 
 
 Tells me 't is time that I should part from you. 
 
 No longer, selfish, hoard and use you not. 
 
 Nor leave you in the unlettered dark to rot. 
 
 But into alien keeping you resign — 
 
 Hands that love books, fear not, no less than mine. 
 
 Thus shall you live upon warm shelves again. 
 And 'neath an evening lamp your pages glow. 
 Others shall press 'twixt leaf and leaf soft flowers. 
 As I was wont to press them long ago , 
 And blessings be upon the eyes that rain 
 A tear upon my flowers — I mean on "ours" — 
 If haply here and there kind eyes shall find 
 Some sad old flower that I have left behind. 
 
 A/.I), 1905 RICHARD LE GAI.LlE.NNf 
 
 [15] 
 
[i6] 
 
away, Phil May, Thackeray have all designed 
 plates. In America, Edwin A. Abbey, Elihu 
 Vedder, Will Low, Louis Rhead, and Maxfield 
 Parrish are among the prominent artists who 
 have devoted some time to designing bookplates. 
 
 The gathering of examples of children's book- 
 plates is an attractive bypath for the collector. 
 These plates are often most unusual and quaint 
 in their design and well repay the trouble in 
 securing them. An interesting child's book- 
 plate is shown in the illustration of the bookplate 
 of Margaret Elizabeth Longeway. The subject 
 is most appropriate and the design by Miss Vera 
 Cady, of Council Blufifs, is excellent. And many 
 interest themselves in bookplates designed by 
 women, an entire book, indeed, having been de- 
 voted to this phase of the subject. 
 
 Every method employed in the illustration of 
 books, from the woodcut down to the modern 
 photo-mechanical process, is used for bookplates 
 also; and a collection of bookplates is an inter- 
 esting study for one who appreciates the strength 
 of the woodcut, the polished elegance of the line 
 engraving, the freedom and delicacy of the etch- 
 ing, and the informality of the process block. 
 
 This many-sided appeal of the bookplate has 
 been too much for the collector to resist and the 
 in-terest is growing rapidly all over the world. 
 The collection in the British museum numbers 
 over 200,000 specimens and the collections range 
 from this to the few plates owned by those who 
 have just fallen under the spell. 
 
 Thomas Bailey Aldrich pokes fun at the book- 
 
 [17] 
 
plate collector with the remark, "The fool and 
 his bookplate are soon parted." This comment, 
 however, is directed against those who have a 
 bookplate, not so much to put in their books as 
 to exchange for the plates of others. This prac- 
 tice is not so common in America as in Germany, 
 where an individual will often own as many as 
 thirty different plates, most of which are never 
 used in books but are simply for exchange. 
 
 It is perfectly proper, however, to have several 
 bookplates and still not deserve the epithet ap- 
 plied by Mr. Aldrich. A physician may have 
 one plate for his professional library and another 
 for his books of general literature. Dr. Henry 
 Albert, of Iowa City, thus has two plates. The 
 one for the home library is planned for the joint 
 use of Dr. and Mrs. Albert; through the window 
 may be seen their home; in the room their libra- 
 ry table and black cat. In the bookplate for Dr. 
 Albert's medical library is pictured the staff 
 with serpent entwined, the symbol of j^sculapi- 
 us, the god of medicine. This represents an- 
 cient traditional medicine while the microscope 
 in the foreground represents and emphasizes 
 modern scientific medicine. Mrs. Zella Allen 
 Dixson, one of the most enthusiastic advocates of 
 the bookplate in America, has, in addition to a 
 general bookplate, an exquisite etching of a hill- 
 side and lake on her girlhood home, which she 
 uses for her special collection of nature books. 
 
 The question is often asked. What sort of a 
 bookplate should a person have? A bookplate 
 is the result of an impulse to impart to books 
 
 [i8] 
 
something of the individuality of the owner and 
 hence it should in some way express his char- 
 acter and taste. The personality of the designer 
 usually enters in also and a perfect bookplate 
 suggests at once the owner and the artist. The 
 design should possess either some striking in- 
 dividuality or some special beauty and it should 
 be w^ell executed. It should not attempt too 
 much, should not too obviously convey the whole 
 history of the owner. As C. D. Allen, the au- 
 thority on the subject, says, "One sometimes sees 
 a plate that has so much of the life's history of 
 the owner within its small compass, that at a 
 glance it is evident to all that he glories in golf, 
 has a regard for roses, rides a wheel, esteems 
 Omar Khayyam very highly, reads Scott and 
 Lowell, can quote from Shakespeare, has been 
 to Switzerland, collects butterflies, and lives in 
 New Jersey." So much of self-advertisement 
 hampers the artist by over-loading the plate. 
 However, a skilful artist may include a number 
 of points of personal interest, in an unobtrusive 
 manner, so that the biographical facts are almost 
 unnoticed by strangers, yet are understood per- 
 fectly by the family and close friends. A good 
 example of this is the plate of H. L. Waterman, 
 of Ottumwa, which indicates the study of engi- 
 neering at Harvard, service in the United States 
 signal corps, and the arrival in America in 1632 
 of the Waterman family. 
 
 The plate of Mr. J. L. Powers, of Cedar Rap- 
 ids, also has a number of biographical facts 
 worked quietly into the decorative scheme. The 
 
 [19] 
 

 [20] 
 
[21] 
 
EX LIBRIS 
 
 ROBEKTIIII 
 BURJDETTE 
 DALEIIIIII 
 
 INTHEBOOKl 
 READ<THE(Sm 
 THXIGHT RE^ 
 TURNS TOME 
 <ASEVERyillll 
 TRUTH WILL- 
 THE IMAGE OF 
 TEWiXESOL 
 
 [22] 
 
emu. 
 
 [23] 
 
plate was designed by Mr. Powers's daughter and 
 among other things it shows that one ancestor 
 signed the petition to King Charles the second 
 for the first charter of Connecticut, another an- 
 cestor was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, 
 that he himself was born in Ohio and follows the 
 occupation of printing, in Iowa. 
 
 Two tendencies to avoid are, a desire on the 
 part of the owner to overcrowd the plate, and on 
 the part of the artist to place too much emphasis 
 on the decorative feature. The plate should 
 contain the name of the owner, and may have a 
 favorite motto, a portrait of the owner, a picture 
 of the favorite scene, rows of books with names 
 of favorite authors, an indication of a hobby or 
 some special interests. 
 
 The design should be simple, dignified, and 
 appropriate to the medium chosen for reproduc- 
 tion. The copper or steel engraving is best 
 adapted to the formal, stately, dignified style, 
 and has been employed by iVmerican designers 
 from the time of Paul Revere, who was one of 
 the first bookplate designers in America. The 
 copper plates of the late E. D. French and of the 
 late J. W. Spenceley are considered to be the 
 most artistic and best executed bookplates pro- 
 duced in America. Some of their finest work is 
 a combination, on the same plate, of engraving 
 and etching. The etched plates of Sidney L. 
 Smith, of Boston, and the woodcuts of W. F. 
 Hopson are highly prized. The success of an 
 engraved or an etched plate depends nearly as 
 much upon the skill of the engraver as upon the 
 
 [24] 
 
artist's drawing, and first class artists insist that 
 the engraving or etching of their designs shall 
 be done by themselves or under their close super- 
 vision. Unfortunately the high cost of such 
 plates places them beyond the reach of the per- 
 son of ordinary means. 
 
 On the other hand the engraving or etching 
 has its limitations and the photomechanical pro- 
 cess plate allows greater freedom of expression, 
 more versatility, and a greater variety. 
 
 For these reasons, as well as because of the 
 comparatively small expense, most bookplates to- 
 day are reproduced from the artist's drawing by 
 one of the photographic processes. The chief 
 danger is a tendency to freakish and grotesque 
 decorations, on account of the ease with which 
 the reproduction is made. The process plate 
 succeeds well in expressing the strength and 
 beauty of such artists and illustrators as Walter 
 Crane, Maxfield Parrish, Elihu Vedder, E. A. 
 Abbey, and Louis Rhead. 
 
 The cost of a bookplate varies of course with 
 the size and intricacy of design and the method 
 of reproducing it. A plain printed name label 
 is of trifling expense, and the cost for a simple 
 design mechanically reproduced is about $io; 
 the price ranges from this up to $150 or $200 
 charged for the more elaborate engravings or 
 etchings. 
 
 It is impossible to say how long bookplates 
 have been used in Iowa, but Theodore S. Parvin, 
 so active in the early history of Iowa, and found- 
 er of the famous Masonic Library at Cedar Rap- 
 
 [25] 
 
ids, was perhaps the first lowan who employed 
 this method of indicating the ownership of his 
 books. Mr. Parvin's plate was a very simple 
 printed label. 
 
 I have lately received from Mr. T. H. Foster 
 a plate which also was one of the early ones in 
 this state. It belonged to the late J. H. Merrill 
 who came to Ottumwa from the east many years 
 ago. The plate is an armorial one, simply the 
 coat of arms of the Merrill family. 
 
 Ottumwa, under the inspiration of Mr. T. 
 Henry Foster and of the illustrator, Mr. C. E, 
 Chambers, has long been the bookplate center of 
 the state. Mr. Foster is one of the well known 
 bookplate collectors of the country. He has him- 
 self designed some plates and he is the owner of 
 a plate by J. W. Spenceley — illustrated here — 
 a dainty little etching of an old mill and pond, 
 a beautiful example of Mr. Spenceley's nature 
 work. 
 
 Mr. C. E. Chambers, now of New York, is 
 one of the successful illustrators of the leading 
 magazines, and the creator of the well known il- 
 lustrations of the Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford 
 stories. He was recently sent to England by 
 Harper's for the preparation of illustrations, and 
 the illustrations, some of which are colored, for 
 Arnold Bennett's new story, "the Price of Love," 
 which appeared serially in Harper's Magazine^ 
 are examples of his latest work. He formerly 
 made his home in Ottumwa and has designed 
 bookplates for Mr. and Mrs. John H. Morrell, 
 Mr, H. L. Waterman, Mr. Foster, and others. 
 
 [26] 
 
iMiss Bertlia iMorey, another Ottumwa artist 
 and craftsworker, has shown great interest in 
 bookplates, and a numberof attractive bookplates 
 of Ottumwa people have been designed by her. 
 The plate of Mr. Merrill C. Gilmore is a char- 
 acteristic example of her work. 
 
 Another very interesting Ottumwa plate is 
 that of J. B. Sax, designed by Carol M. Sax. It 
 has the desired touch of individuality because 
 the frame is that of an old mirror, an heirloom 
 in the family, and the reflection in the mirror is 
 a corner of the library in Mr. Sax's home. 
 
 Cedar Rapids also has a coterie of bookplate 
 lovers. Mr. Luther A. Brewer, of the Cedar 
 Rapids Republican^ and Mr. William H. Miner, 
 of The Torch Press Bookshop — with their cus- 
 tomary interest in all bookish matters — have 
 more than one bookplate. One of Mr. Brewer's 
 plates is a copper engraving designed by Mr. 
 Harry French. Mr. French, although at pres- 
 ent a resident of California, is properly consid- 
 ered an Iowa bookplate designer, as he formerly 
 made his home in Cedar Rapids and his family 
 live there now. He designed several plates 
 while still living in Cedar Rapids and altogether 
 has thirty or forty plates to his credit. His 
 work, always original in design and with the ex- 
 ecution of a true artist, is most creditable and 
 secures for the artist a high rank among book- 
 plate designers. Mr. Brewer has two other 
 bookplates both designed by Mr. Martin Justice. 
 One of these, in three colors, is an interior which 
 pictures a woman sitting before a bookcase with 
 
 [27] 
 
T-HENRY FOSTER 
 
 [28] 
 

 [29] 
 
i 
 
 F 
 
 
 [30] 
 
[3'] 
 
an open book in her lap and with the initials of 
 the name and of the motto rubricated. One of 
 Mr. Miner's plates bears a picture of himself 
 standing in The Torch Press Bookshop with his 
 autograph below and also with his monogram 
 device. 
 
 Mr. Martin Justice, the well known New 
 York illustrator, was formerly a resident of Ce- 
 dar Rapids and at that time designed a bookplate 
 for Mr. Lew W. Anderson. Mr. Anderson's 
 daughter, Mary Eloise, has a very interesting 
 bookplate too. In recent years Mrs. Bertha Hull 
 Warren has designed several plates for Cedar 
 Rapids friends — as well as for many people out- 
 side of Iowa. Mrs. Warren, whose home is 
 Cedar Rapids, is an artist of reputation, a grad- 
 uate of the Normal Art Course of Pratt Insti- 
 tute, and for several years was in charge of the 
 art department of the State Normal School at 
 Ypsilanti, Mich. Her interest in art is not 
 wholly confined to bookplate designing, for she 
 is giving attention also to arts and crafts work — 
 especially in wood, copper, and jewelry. The 
 plates represented here are typical examples of 
 her work, which is in the pictorial style. Mrs. 
 Warren's plates make a very pleasing group, or- 
 iginal in design, with a wide variety of bookish 
 motifs — such as the book pile — cozy corner be- 
 fore an open fire — window shelf with open win- 
 dow, etc., and each design carefully worked out 
 to the smallest detail. The lettering is especially 
 good. 
 
 The bookplate of Judge and Mrs. C. B. Rob- 
 
 [32] 
 
bins possesses the personal element so much de- 
 sired in a bookplate. It pictures a child — 
 drawn from a photograph of their little girl — 
 reaching up to some books on a table. The de- 
 sign was made by Mrs. Ingersoll, formerly Miss 
 E. K. Hess, of Chicago, who also designed the 
 bookplate of Mrs. Robbins's sister. Miss Anna 
 Larrabee. 
 
 Other Cedar Rapids plates are those belong- 
 ing to the late Mrs. Emma M. Van Vechten and 
 Mr. J .L. Powers, already mentioned. The Ma- 
 sonic Library possesses a notable collection of 
 books about bookplates. 
 
 In Des Moines there are a number of book- 
 plates also. Miss Alice S. Tyler — for many 
 years secretary of the Iowa Library Commis- 
 sion but now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio — 
 is the owner of a bookplate designed by C. 
 Valentine Kirby, of Buffalo, whose bookplates 
 are attracting attention throughout the country. 
 The decorative plates of Harriet Louise Ankeny 
 and Harriet Ankeny Clark are pleasing and 
 worthy of mention. Originality is shown by 
 Miss Emilie B. Stapp of the Des Moines Cap- 
 ital in her interesting little plate filled with chil- 
 dren's figures. Miss Stapp has another plate in 
 preparation. The attitude of Mr. and Mrs. 
 James B. Weaver toward their books can be 
 guessed from the motto on their bookplate, 
 "Medicine for the soul." "Ding," the cartoonist 
 of the Register and Leader^ occasionally designs 
 a bookplate for a friend. 
 
 An attractive library interior is seen in the 
 
 [33] 
 
plate of Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Howe, of Mar- 
 shalltown, designed by Ralph Fletcher Seymour, 
 the well-known Chicago artist. This shows one 
 end of their library, with book shelves, table 
 strewn with books, reading lamp and easy chair, 
 framed with a conventionalized border. 
 
 This does not aim to be a checklist or a catalog 
 of Iowa bookplates and so it is not possible to 
 describe or even to name all of the bookplates of 
 the state. But special attention is directed to the 
 plate of Mary Russell Perkins, of Burlington, 
 which appears as the frontispiece. This beauti- 
 ful engraving of a favorite mountain scene of the 
 owner is designed by Mr. A. N. Macdonald, of 
 East Orange, N.J. 
 
 The pure armorial style is shown in the plate 
 of Miss Caroline L. Dodge, of Council Bluffs, 
 while that of Horace Harper and Eleanor Read- 
 ing Jarvis, of Sioux City, and also that of Miss 
 Anna Larrabee, of Clermont, exhibit a modern 
 adaptation of the use of the family coat of arms. 
 Mr. John Taylor Adams, of Dubuque, has most 
 effectively elaborated the plain name label by 
 surrounding the engraved name with a dignified, 
 beautifully engraved frame. 
 
 Mr. A. E. Ellis, of Charles City, makes use of 
 an attractive nature scene. A quaint subject 
 plate is that of John Springer, of Iowa City, the 
 veteran printer of Iowa. In a printing shop 
 two printers are absorbed in reading a page of 
 proof that has just been struck off. This plate 
 was drawn by Mr. Theo. D. Boal in 1888, after 
 a trade card in La Typologie-Tucker^ Paris. 
 
 [34] 
 
Mr. and Mrs. Horace M. Towner, of Corn- 
 ing, Mr. Ralph B. Cram, of Davenport, and Mr. 
 Robert B. Dale, of Ames, are other owners of 
 bookplates. 
 
 The bookplate for the public or college library 
 is not usually so interesting as the personal plate 
 because it is an official label rather than a mark 
 of individuality. The seal of the city for the 
 public, or of the institution for the college li- 
 brary is often used as a bookplate. Many li- 
 braries, however, provide a special bookplate for 
 gifts in order to do honor to the donor and to en- 
 courage other gifts. Grinnell College, Red 
 Oak, and Cornell College have such plates. The 
 Iowa City public library has a beautiful en- 
 graved plate which was provided by Mr. and 
 Mrs. W. J. Welch to accompany their gift, the 
 Patterson Memorial collection. 
 
 The writer has found much pleasure in secur- 
 ing bookplates owned or designed by residents 
 of Iowa, and has been much surprised at the 
 large number found. This Iowa collection has 
 gradually increased until it numbers nearly one 
 hundred plates of individuals and probably a 
 great many more are still to be secured. Un- 
 doubtedly the use of the bookplate is growing 
 more common in Iowa and it is evidence that the 
 artistic possibilities of the bookplate are appre- 
 ciated in this state when such artists as Spenceley, 
 R. F. Seymour, C. Valentine Kirby, C. E. Cham- 
 bers, Martin Justice, A. N. Macdonald, and 
 Mrs. Bertha E. Jacques are represented among 
 the designers of Iowa bookplates. 
 
 [35] 
 
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 iij 
 
 [36] 
 
THE VARRENS 
 
 ONE on HEIR BOOKS 
 
 [37] 
 
j.H.j: WtM 
 
 [38] 
 
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 1 HARRIET COLETOWAER 
 
 
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 [39] 
 
Medicine 
 
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 [40] 
 
THE PLEASURES OF COLLECTING 
 
 ORE than likely we are indebted 
 to Germany for the invention of 
 bookplates, the earliest known ex- 
 ample being that of Hans Igler, 
 about 1450, and, therefore, they 
 are as old as the art of printing 
 itself. It was not until 1820 that any serious at- 
 tempt at collecting was made, and to a Miss Jen- 
 kins, of Bath, England, belongs the honor of be- 
 ing the first bookplate collector. It is nearly 
 forty years since the first publication dealing 
 with bookplates appeared in France; five years 
 later the first work in English was published. 
 As long ago as 1892, in the opening lines of his 
 well-known work on bookplates, W. J. Hardy 
 said that collecting in England was a thing of the 
 past. Since that time, however, the English Ex 
 Libris Society flourished and went out of exist- 
 ence; scores of books, monographs, and period- 
 icals have been published both here and in for- 
 eign parts, and interest in the subject, in our 
 country at least, has continued unabated as is at- 
 tested by the recent formation of the American 
 Bookplate Society, which numbers among its 
 members no less a personage than ex-President 
 Taft. In the far west, too, we have had for 
 years another similar, though smaller, organiza- 
 
 [41] 
 
tion in the California Bookplate Society, a co- 
 terie of enthusiastic Californians who keep in- 
 terest in the subject very much alive on the Pa- 
 cific Coast. 
 
 There are certain qualifications required in 
 the collecting of bookplates, the possession of 
 which regulates, to a very large extent, the 
 amount of success attained by collectors in this 
 delightful field. Observation has led me to be- 
 lieve that the most important of these is perse- 
 verance. It is in fact so preeminently impor- 
 tant that the others need not be referred to here. 
 The beginner at collecting may think that I have 
 arbitrarily dismissed the other qualifications and 
 am taking an unfair advantage of him, but, as 
 we get further into the subject, I hope to show 
 that my point is well taken. 
 
 Something, possibly, ought to be said at this 
 time about the morality of bookplate collecting 
 and the influence it exercises on collectors in gen- 
 eral. There is an old maxim to the effect that 
 whatever is right needs no defense. That may 
 be very true, but whether the need exists or not 
 we are ever ready to fly to the defense of what- 
 ever we believe to be right, and so because book- 
 plate collectors and bookplate collecting have 
 from time immemorial been held in low esteem 
 by a certain class of critics I have always felt like 
 taking up the cudgel in their defense. 
 
 The principal charge against collectors (and 
 really the only one) is that of vandalism. I 
 doubt if any collector now-a-days wilfully de- 
 stroys a book, the destruction of which means a 
 
 [42] 
 
loss. There are in cellars and attics the world 
 over thousands of moldy tomes, many of which 
 contain beautiful specimens of the engraver's art 
 in the shape of bookplates or prints, that will 
 never see the light of day if some persevering 
 collector does not hunt them out for the treasures 
 they contain. Better this be called vandalism 
 than that these volumes perish from the ravages 
 of time and vermin! 
 
 Some years ago I addressed a humble letter to 
 a then living American poet, whose fame has 
 long since been firmly established, asking him for 
 his plate and proffering my own in exchange. 
 There was a long silence and the matter passed 
 from my mind. Then, like a bolt out of a clear 
 sky, came a scathing letter directed at the whole 
 tribe of bookplate collectors, condemning the 
 cult in no uncertain terms and proposing that to 
 be in possession of another's bookplate was a 
 crime, and that bookplates belonged first, last, 
 and all the time in the books of their owners and 
 nowhere else. I accepted the indictment with- 
 out reply and the incident was closed. Not long 
 afterward the good poet passed to his reward, his 
 . library was sold, and the books, each containing 
 one of the coveted ex libris, were hawked around 
 by the dealers and some ofifered for as little as 
 fifty cents apiece. And so "fleet the works of 
 man back to earth again" and his bookplates fall 
 into the hands of the collector. I have referred 
 to this experience in connection with the moral- 
 ity of bookplate collecting because it proves so 
 conclusively that when the owner of a bookplate 
 
 [43] 
 
is importuned for an exchange it is well for him 
 to acquiesce — and he helps to promote good fel- 
 lowship. 
 
 If space permitted I could recall a good many 
 incidents of an entirely opposite nature to the one 
 just related. I have often received a courteous 
 reply with a specimen of the desired plate when 
 it was least expected. I once ventured a request 
 to the wife of a former president of the United 
 States whose plate was and is very much sought 
 after, not only on account of the prominence of 
 the owner, but because it was done by the hand of 
 one of our most highly esteemed and beloved en- 
 gravers. Almost by return post came a letter 
 from her secretary enclosing the plate, thanking 
 me for mine and requesting that I refrain from 
 making known to other collectors that the first 
 lady of the land had favored me as it had been 
 her rule not to make exchanges. The reply was 
 so gracious and so informal that it forever 
 strengthened my faith in democratic institutions. 
 Needless to say, I respected the request and after- 
 ward when exhibiting my collection I was al- 
 ways careful to slip Mrs. President's plate out 
 and hide it away. 
 
 Having refuted the charge that collecting 
 bookplates is a criminal occupation it might be 
 well for us to consider the rewards of this fas- 
 cinating pursuit that has claimed the attention 
 and interest of hundreds of collectors both in this 
 country and in Europe for the past twenty-five 
 years. The beginner, I know, is apt to become 
 discouraged, and the difficulties in the way of 
 
 [44] 
 
getting together a really valuable collection of 
 fine plates seem at first insurmountable; but once 
 the collecting spirit has gotten control of him, no 
 path is too rough to follow — no height too diffi- 
 cult to attain. And so it is that as his gatherings 
 increase in number they likewise increase in 
 value; for he who yesterday was quite content 
 with the unpretentious "process" plate is now 
 satisfied with nothing less than the fine impres- 
 sion direct from the wood or copper. And these, 
 if they be chosen with an appreciation for their 
 artistic qualities — as a connoisseur in paintings 
 chooses his Corot, Gainsborough, Millet, or Van 
 Dyck — can never be worth less than they cost 
 and must ever continue to warm the heart and 
 delight the eye. One of our most discriminating 
 American collectors once remarked that "the joy 
 of collecting lies not in possession but in pur- 
 suit." Be that as it may, if the pursuit be a joy- 
 ous one it will eventually have its reward, meas- 
 ured only by the amount of perseverance ex- 
 pended. What can give more real enjoyment 
 after years of diligent search, even to the far cor- 
 ners of the earth, than to hold in one's hands that 
 treasure so long sought and so highly prized — 
 miniature gem of the engraver's art — breathing 
 the very spirit of the master workman who gave 
 it life! 
 
 I very much like Mr. Wyer's definition, found 
 elsewhere in this volume, that a bookplate is the 
 result of an impulse to impart to books some- 
 thing of the individuality of the owner, and his 
 further suggestion that the bookplate should in 
 
 [45] 
 
[46] 
 
[47] 
 
Helen L^rr^Jjcc tr 
 Gh».rlc5 Burt on 
 
 Their Book 
 
 [48] 
 
[49] 
 
some way express the owner's character and 
 taste. Many a plate, however, has been spoiled 
 by overdoing the personal element and after all 
 the most pleasing and satisfactory designs are 
 those which, rather than immediately proclaim 
 their ownership to the beholder, attract his at- 
 tention and set him thinking like a nom de 
 plume beneath the title of some good story. It 
 is certainly anything but good taste to burden a 
 plate with a surplus of the commonplace and the 
 simpler and more dignified the design the better 
 the impression it makes. There is no better 
 proof of this than is to be found in the beautiful 
 and well-known ex libris^ of Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes, a simple motto-scroll on which is let- 
 tered. Per Ampliora ad Altiora^ and above a del- 
 icately engraved nautilus, that "ship of pearl" 
 that 
 
 "flings 
 On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings." 
 
 What could possibly be more personal, and at 
 the same time unassuming? 
 
 I am fully convinced that nowhere in the 
 realms of collecting is there any field that pays 
 such large dividends on the capital invested as 
 that of the bookplate. The recompense at all 
 events is ample, especially when compared with 
 the returns to be had from collecting coins, 
 stamps, autographs, or other things that have 
 little or no intrinsic worth and are valued only 
 on account of association, rarity, or antiquity. 
 Bookplates, if collected with a delicate discrim- 
 
 ^This was the first bookplate engraved by J. W. Spenceley. 
 
 [50] 
 
ination for their artistic qualities, have always 
 the fascination of beauty, often the interest of 
 historical association, and eventually in them- 
 selves form a real art collection, the value of 
 which grows steadily — though ofttimes imper- 
 ceptibly — through the years. 
 
 There is ample justification for collecting 
 bookplates — if one is satisfied to collect for the 
 sake of collecting alone — but the pleasure and 
 profit in collecting is not derived wholly from 
 the bookplate itself; and the collector who has 
 worked with that idea in mind has sadly missed 
 the point. The bookplate, as has already been 
 shown, is essentially personal and herein lies the 
 ultimate charm of bookplate collecting. What 
 true collector does not prize the friends gained 
 and good fellowship created in acquiring his 
 collection far more than the collection itself, 
 no matter how valuable it may be? Letter writ- 
 ing — now regarded as one of the lost arts — 
 has been revived and under the inspiration of 
 the bookplate yields many a delightful cor- 
 respondence, extending, sometimes, over peri- 
 ods of many years, teeming with historical, bio- 
 graphical, and genealogical interest. Let me ven- 
 ture the assertion finally that if there were more 
 devotees of the bookplate and their operations 
 in collecting were extended more vigorously in 
 foreign lands, such a feeling of good fellowship 
 w^ould eventually exist that wars would be no 
 more; the Palace at The Hague would be turned 
 into an international bookplate museum and 
 peace reign throughout the world. 
 
 [5>] 
 
♦4#atiia 
 
 [52] 
 
[53] 
 
[54] 
 
[55] 
 
■A= HER- Si@KS 
 
 [56] 
 

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 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
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 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 
 MAY i 1 1971 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LD 21-40,«-l,b8 ,, .G^oeral Library 
 (H7452sl0)476 ^'""'^^B^r^el^'**"''"* 
 
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