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^. r Bacon eques auratus & magni
Jmlli zXngliae Cuftos It brum bunc hi-
aliothecae Cantabngdicauit*
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 3 16
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
I8 5
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 . .
• 3 QI
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
^ Willi am 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 w T as 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 f 1 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 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
An . 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 Anne 1 have merely the Jacobean frame.
1 [Not being of the Restoration type. — E. C]
«•><>•>
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY MAISTER, OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL.
• 1719.
nWf/tL /^^85%l3>{x\ c5^ /^.
^>^^5^
III
f^B : '
|j*H
««f
^St^M^^
Edgerton * Smith:
1
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
9 6
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
9 8
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, Jun r ., 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. A T ee/e, Sculp 1 .
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 240 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.
v|sfe*, iM^ss^^ffS
^likJ^^^-l^l
RE^B^WM^KitV m
^^^^^^^^^s^^i^^
*•' ^ae^aRsaK.' PT^V* 1
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 plate 1 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
y e 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, Sculp 1 ."
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> J D te '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, Jun r ., 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
m r v v y
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^Uels Ma ^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
which shows us the Knight of the Dismal Counte-
nance enthralled by his beloved Tales of Chivalry,
may be taken as emblematic of the powers of books
over imagination and, on that count, included in
the present category.
The three following plates belong to other well-
known men of letters : Mr. Austin Dobson's
(designed by Alfred Parsons), easily interpreted as
53§jj^
■yEgljlJM^ :VJ
of
IkEP'^PRS^ MP*?T[!g&W% Will
Pr^sif
LOOK-PLATE OF AUSTIN DOBSON.
By Alfred Parsons.
" At the Sign of the Lyre ; " ! and Mr. Warren's, by
William Beli Scott, are both distinctly emblematic.
The latter is, of course, particularly interesting
to ex-librists, revealing as it does some of the
special tastes of a poet and scientist, who, withal,
remains the best known authority on the subject
of book-plates.
" I may tell you," writes Lord de Tabley, " that,
: It was originally used as a tail-piece in that charming
volume of verses so entitled.
234
English Book-plates
as you suppose, the design refers to some of the
leading hobbies of my life. It may seem some-
what egotistical to have had them heralded there ;
but Mr. Scott very kindly designed the plate
without consulting me. The plant is a bramble
bush (as I have made the genus Rubus my prin-
j|*f«p»to»fe
500K-PLATE OF EDMUND GOSSE.
By E. A. Abbey
cipal study), the lowest scroll is inscribed Rumex,
with the portrait of a Dock, also a favourite genus
of mine ; the upper scroll is inscribed with some
MS. poetry, in which I have made several obscure
attempts. In the background is a coin cabinet
which has been my earliest and perhaps my most
absorbing hobby."
Edmund Gosse on Book-plates. 235
Lord de Tabley's over-modest reference to his
verses is incidentally corrected by no less an
authority than Mr. Edmund Gosse in the following
quaint paradoxical excerpt from " Gossip in a
Library," which I quote here, not only in explana-
tion of the charming design of Mr. E. Abbey for
the writer, but as giving a decidedly novel view of
the uses of a book-plate.
" The outward and visible mark of the citizen-
ship of the book-lover/' says Mr. Gosse, himself a
lover and connoisseur of books sil en fut, " is his
book-plate. There are many good bibliophiles
who abide in the trenches and never proclaim
their loyalty by a book-plate. They are with us
but not of us ; they lack the courage of their
opinions ; they collect with timidity or carelessness ;
they have no heed for the morrow. Such a man
is liable to great temptations. He is brought face
to face with that enemy of his species the borrower,
and dares not speak with him in the gate. If he
had a book-plate he would say, ' Oh ! certainly I
will lend you this volume, if it has not my book-
plate in it ; of course one makes it a rule never to
lend a book that has V He would say this, and
feign to look inside the volume, knowing right
well that this safeguard against the borrower is
there already. To have a book-plate gives a
collector great serenity and self-confidence. We
have laboured in a far more conscientious spirit
since we had ours. A living poet, Lord de Tabley,
wrote a fascinating volume on book-plates some
years ago with copious illustrations. There is not,
however, one specimen in his book which I would
236 English Book-plates.
exchange for mine, the work and gift of one of the
most imaginative American artists, Mr. Edwin A.
Abbey. It represents a very fine gentleman of
about 16 10, walking in broad sunlight in a garden,
reading a little book of verses. The name is
coiled around him with the motto Gravis cantan-
tibus umbra, I will not presume to translate this
tag of an eclogue, and I venture to mention such
a very uninteresting matter, that my indulgent
readers may have a more vivid notion of what I
call my library."
Mr. Lawrence Alma Tadema also uses an
allegoric book-plate, a medallion of mixed classical
and modern composition. The allegorical figures
and objects are numerous, and relate, of course,
to the Fine Arts — or rather to the various material
manifestations thereof; for in Mr. Inglis's device
one fails to discover any allusion to Music. These
are grouped in a felicitous manner in and about
an easel-like arrangement of initials, through
which flutters a scroll bearing the appropriate
" sentiment :" As the Sim colours flowers, so Art
colours life.
The one marring factor in an otherwise pleasing
design is the heavy inscription of name and
address. When one is " Alma Tadema," an
address is surely not required on a personal token.
A sketch of the artist's head appears, after the
fashion of an engraver's "remarque," in a corner,
and converts the ex-libris into an informal portrait
plate.
To what extent the vividly original book-plate
of the representative actor of our modern English
BOOK-PLATE OF LAWRENCE ALMA TADEMA.
By Elmsly Inglis.
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY IRVING.
By Bernard Partridge.
Design by Bernard Partridge. 239
stage is really emblematic I have not been able to
ascertain. I have made several futile guesses,
and finally requested Mr. Irving's own interpreta-
tion. The information received, if not definite, is
at least as characteristic as the design itself.
" I think," said the owner, " that it was designed
by Bernard Partridge, though there is nothing of
that bird in the composition. The occult meaning,
so far as I know, there is none ; but Partridge
may have intended his ' dragon to be a sort of
glorified sandwich-man with the Lyceum play-
bill!"
The next five plates are illustrative of the
difficulty of classing many modern " pictorial "
examples. They might be called pure Genre, and
yet they are all more or less Emblematic ; one is
certainly a " Library Interior," and another equally
soa" Portrait " plate.
Three of the five are signed by Mr. Stacy
Marks. The first of these, composed for Mr.
James Roberts Brown, gives a portrait of the
owner, in the character of Alchymist, this being
the title the Chairman of the Ex-libris Society
bears among the Sette of Odd Volumes; it might,
however, as I have said, be described as symbolic,
in consideration of some of the surrounding
emblems, masonic and others.
I do not know whether the old gentleman
depicted in Mr. Robert Jackson's plate is also in
any way meant to be a portrait, but, at any rate,
as Mr. Jackson is a known virtuoso, a collector of
prints, china, drawings and such like, all the
accessories to this picture are certainly intended
240
English Book-plates.
to be symbolic. The third, one of the latest of
Mr. Marks' productions in this line, belongs to his
eldest son. It is difficult to discover any symbolism
in this charming- little piece of genre.
Mr. E. J. Wheeler, the "Punch" artist, who
occasionally signs his humorous sketches with the
lAMEpRpBERTSBROWN- |
BOOK-PLATE OF JAMES ROBERTS BROWN.
By H. Stacy Marks, R.A.
conventional presentment of a four-wheeler, has
designed several ex-libris for himself and his friends,
all of which are charming compositions.
For his own beloved volumes Mr. Wheeler has
delineated the unalloyed happiness of an obvious
bibliophagist — a lover and devourer of books
Designs by H. Stacy Marks. 241
in favourable circumstances, deep in the glut-
tony of an intellectual meal, with many heavy
BOOK-PLATE OF ROBERT JACKSON.
By H. S. Marks, R.A.
courses awaiting his attention in the shape of
curious old tomes.
The label character is happily introduced under
the shape of a fantastic bolt and strap cartouche,
R
242
English Book-plates.
over which, however, the full-face helmet unsuited
to a commoner is an incongruous element.
The ex-libris devised by the same artist for his
friend Walter Brindley Slater, is quaintly illus-
BOOK-PLATE OF WALTER MARKS.
By H. S. Marks, R.A.
trative of another form of bibliophilic delight — a
lucky find by the book-stall hunter.
As examples of what can be termed more
specially "sentiment" plates, I reproduce two de-
Designs by E. J. Wheeler. 243
signs of Mr. J. D. Batten and one by Mr. C.
Forestier the well-known illustrator. On that
which ^belongs to Mr. Winterbotham lurks un-
BOOK-PLATE OF E. J. WHEELER.
Designed by the Owner.
obtrusively in the background, behind a well-
laden strawberry plant, a wise old saw — Inter folia
fructus — which has done duty on many a book-
plate of various countries, from the sixteenth
244
English Book-plates.
century down to present times. This is a general
bibliophilic sentiment adopted also by Mr. Charles
Elkin Mathews for the token of his books (p. 248).
^saP , .,
KOOK-PLATE OF WALTER BRINDLEY SLATER.
By E. J. Wheeler.
But below the Winterbotham device and signifi-
cantly close to the book-owner's address, appears,
in the cosmopolitan language of the learned, the
sententious warning that it is only
Designs by /. D. Batten. 245
The wicked who borroweih and returneth not again.
The second, composed for Mr. Money Coutts,
has a humbly pious motto in explanation of a pure
symbolic figure —
Da mihi, Domine^ scire quod sciendum est.
BOOK-PLATE OF JAMES WINTERBOTHAM.
ByJ.D. Batten.
This example, which, of course, can be classed
either among " Interiors " or " Allegories," accord-
ing to the taste and fancy of the collector, is re-
presentative of a very personal category of book-
246
English Book-plates.
plates, in which a suitable blank space is left for
the owner's name in autograph.
In Mr. Clement Snorter's ex-libris the " senti-
ment " is, it must be owned, scarcely appropriate
BOOK-PLATE OF MONEY COUTTS.
By J. D. Batten.
to the spirit of bibliophily. The quatrain suits the
picture, however ill adapted the composition may
be to the recognized purpose of an ex-libris ; it
suggests at once the good old burthen
And so say all of us !
Design by C. Forestier. 247
should the unfortunate necessity for immediate
'' Books are enough." Xay, nay,
They are not human ;
Vd give all mine away
For one sweet woman.
BOOK-PLATE OF CLEMENT SHORTER.
By C. Forestier.
choice ever occur; but why such a dilemma on a
book-plate ?
248
English Book-plates.
Mr. C. R. Halkett, of Edinburgh, has designed
many curious plates in a very characteristic alle-
gorical style of his own. One of the best is un-
doubtedly that of Mr. W. Rue Macdonald (the
author of a very elaborate work on Napier of
Merchiston's Logarithms, which he has for the
first time translated into English). In this device
BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES .EL* KIN MATHEWS.
By A. Robertson.
we have once more the old allegory of Labour and
Study, so often adverted to in these pages, and the
Tree supporting the owner's heraldic claims. In
execution and composition it is perhaps the most
attractive book-plate which has left Mr. Halkett 's
hands.
The Tree of Wisdom figures again in the token
adopted by Mr. J. M. Gray, of the Scottish National
Designs by C. R. Halkett. 249
Portrait Gallery. Peering between the branches
is seen the tempting combination of serpent body
and female head. Seated at a table is also a monk
(but of less prepossessing appearance than in the
preceding example), who is firmly resolved to keep
BOOK-PLATE OF WM. RAE MAC DONALD.
By C. R. Halkett.
his time well in hand and make good use thereof.
This is the ''second state" of the plate, with the
shield of arms added to the original design.
Mr. Beddard is prosector of the Zoological
Society ; his plate is altogether allegorical of the
250
English Book-plates,
chosen pursuit of his life, which is Natural History.
In the tree dwells the Hamadryad representing
the Vegetable Reign ; she holds in her hand a
disused skull, suggestive of Ethnology ; the spider,
the flat fish, the gull, the zoophytes and the front
view of a trilobite (in a special panel), have refe-
BOOK-PLATE OF J. M. GRAY.
By C. R. Halkett.
rence to various departments of research. The
customary monk of Mr. Halkett's devices, seated,
somewhat sleepily, in a massively timbered craft,
and taking soundings, is intended, I believe, to
record symbolically the exploring expedition of
the " Challenger," of which Mr. Beddard was a
Designs by C. R. Halkett. 251
member. — There is no doubt that the modern
symbolic book-plate may often require a good deal
of explanation.
The landscape ex-libris, dear to our grandsires,
(ii^x{^xmmd'^M^'hM^m\;
BOOK-PLATE OF F. C. BEDDARD.
By C. R. Halkett.
has been revived of late years (it must be owned
with felicitous results) by Mr. Leslie Brooke. The
three examples that I am able to reproduce among
these pages show, of course, a great family like-
ness as far as treatment is concerned, but the
treatment is charmingly light and suggestive.
252 English Book-plates.
Without being elaborately symbolic they are suf-
ficiently distinctive to make very excellent personal
tokens.
The various scenes displayed, after a synoptic
Wm&i^L ^°>
60 Wynnstay-GardensKensin gton-1
BOOK-PLATE OF ARTHUR SOMERVELL.
By L. Leslie Brooke.
manner, in the various plans of Mr. Arthur Somer-
vell's device, refer, I understand, to various inci-
dents of a memorable expedition once undertaken
by the owner. The piping shepherd is, of course,
symbolical of Mr. Somervell's musical vocation.
Designs by L. Leslie Brooke, 253
The Stopford Brooke plate, with its charming
long perspective, is simply bucolic; but in the device
of Mr. Henry Fisher Cox there is a harmless and
gracefully delineated rebus allusion to the owners
t
EdC'Libris : StopJcrd
y&> taMiMHiM. ' . Mmtimy^- ' » -j g?
Augujti ■ Brookg I
"" i ' nm m \j^pccQxcu r
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. A. STOPFORD BROOKE.
By L. Leslie Brooke.
name in the fishing scholar seated under a tree,
and apparently more attentive to his book than to
his float.
A variety of the " landscape," as well as of the
254
English Book-plates.
" architectural," plate of very obvious suggestion
is what Mr. Hardy calls the " View " device.
Indeed many of the older vignettes are actual
views of scenery, houses, favourite nooks dear to
the owners. Many of Bewick's woodcuts used as
ex-libris reflect actual scenes of his own North
13 -ALBERT-PLACE ■•**
Jf~ KENSINGTON-
BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY FISHER COX.
By L. Leslie Brooke.
Country. Among the foregoing pages of this
volume will be found several professed "views" :
Eastry Church, in Kent ; Strawberry Hill, Twick-
enham ; from the window in Mr. Leveson Scarth's
Design by H. Rail ton.
255
Library Interior is seen a distant, but, I am told,
quite recognizable view of the bay near Bourne-
mouth. Mr. Hardy mentions several examples
which possess interest beyond the personal ; one,
for instance, having belonged to ° Peter Muilman,
of King Street, London, and Kirby Hall, Castle
Hedingham, Essex," on which are represented the
U*£%
^■■^lir^J
/i/tu/t'vhwcttJ
BOOK-PLATE OF CLEMENT SHORTER.
By H. Railton.
remains of a feudal stronghold, presumed to be
Castle Hedingham itself, now no more, as it may
have appeared about 1 775,
One of the best-known plates of this kind,
probably the earliest in date, is the ex-libris
Tabularii Publici in Ttcrre Londinensi, which was
engraved by J. Mynde for the library of the Public
Record Office, then at the Tower, and gives, us a
256
English Book-plates.
good likeness of the building as it was seen in
those days. 1
I am able to reproduce here two latter-day
examples of the "View" class. One is a sketch
made for Mr. Shorter, by Mr. Railton, in his
RiveTHouse.,HammeTsmith 1884
• j«>!V«/.C-^ v >«i^W''-^V>'Vi''<^ l, 'Vj8^W»'..*t*.|^l
RICH- SlVR PH I LPOT T, M- A'
PREBENDARY I OFSWE LLS ■
t BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. R. S. PHILPOTT.
By Edmund H. New.
well-known and charming manner, of Shake-
speare's house at Stratford-on-Avon. There is no
very special appositeness in the choice of such a
subject for the purpose of a personal book-token ;
1 A facsimile of this interesting plate is included among Mr.
Hardy's illustrations.
Designs by Edmund New. 257
it was no doubt suggested to that great lover
and portrayist of picturesque dwellings by Mr.
Shorter's amiable and bibliophilic choice of the
quotation from Titus Andronicus —
" Come and take a choice of all my library
And so beguile thy sorrow."
The quaint little back view of " River House,
Hammersmith," on the other hand, drawn by Mr.
fFORiWISDOlvv I S-BETTER
THANIRUBIESANDAU
: THETHINCSTHATMAY
1 BE-DE5IKE0-ARE-N0TT0
jJB&COrtPAREP-ONTO-HCRk ,
HOOK-PLATE OF EDMUND HORT NEW.
By C. M. Gere.
Edmund New for the Rev. Richard Philpott,
prebendary of Wells, is no doubt very personal,
and filled with associations.
Mr. Edmund New, it may be said here, uses a
plate drawn by Mr. C. M. Gere, the rising artist
(like Mr. New, of the Birmingham School of Art),
who devised the frontispiece to William Morris's
" News from Nowhere."
2 5 8
English Book-plates.
Very much in the same manner is the plate de-
vised by this designer for Mr. A. V. Paton.
The three last-mentioned plates, as well as
several designs by Mr. R. Anning Bell (to be
mentioned further on), have been much admired by
MsMWKI
NON^ CARETS E^NTOSTRIS gV
^ULLU,S^HONORE^LIBEFUS> Evi
m/^^^^mKmm
CM GERE du f893
BOOK-PLATE OF A. V. PATON.
By C. M. Gere.
all sorts and conditions of men, from Royal Acade-
micians to simply "clever persons," on the walls of
this year's Exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Society.
Without going full tilt against cultivated criti-
cism, it may, however, be allowable to protest —
from the ex-librist's standpoint— against the utterly
lax treatment of heraldry in the Paton plate, which
Designs by C. M. Gere.
259
shows a deplorable misconception of the " fitness
of things." Blazonry should never be allowed to
look insignificant and slovenly ; it loses all raison
d'etre in decorative composition if it be not dealt
with with both correctness and dignity.
Another successful pupil of the Birmingham
School, who occasionally finds time to devote to
SM.
BOOK-PLATE OF S. H. HKATH.
By the owner.
such trifles as book-plates, is Mr. Sidney Heath,
whose designs for book-tokens display points of
technical excellence.
In the ex-libris of Mr. Charles Holme the well-
known collector and authority on Japanese art,
drawn by the owner himself, we have the " land-
scape " treated in a conventional, strict black on
white, style of very latter-day type. There is a
260
English Book-plates
pseuclo Japanese flavour in the fretted rendering
of the cloud, the planning of the hills without dis-
tance, which recalls at once Mr. Aubrey Beardsley's
Jin dc siecle mannerism. The same is observable
HOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES HOLME.
Designed by the owner.
in the meandering stream of printer's ink — no
doubt in allusion to the " Books in the running-
brooks " of the " sentiment."
Very different in spirit and style is the label
composed by Mr. Holme for a friend of his, Mr.
Q«SQ^mmM<MMQ^M:0JMJ^J$-MQ
P.OOK-PLATE OF F. H. EVANS.
By F. C. Tilney.
Designs by Charles Holme. 263
William Manning. It is distinctly realistic and
symbolical of the owner's special pursuits, micro-
graphic, cosmographic and artistic, as well as to
HOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM MANNING.
By Charles Holme.
his special appointment as " Seer " among the
" Odd Volumes."
This particular device can, of course, be classed
among the " Interiors," a form of composition
which is not as much cultivated as its aptness to
264
English Book-plates.
the requirements of a good personal plate would
warrant.
Among the latest of such designs are two origi-
I500K-PLATE OF GEORGE KITCHIN.
By F. C. Tilney.
nal plates composed by Mr. F. C. Tilney. One
belongs to Mr. Frederic Evans, and is, I under-
stand, intended as a " portrait in character" ; the
G>LIBRlS*mHURK€*YICERS* F. S. ft
BOOK-PLATE OF
By the Re\
ULSTER KING OF ARMS.
W. Fitzgerald.
Design by IV. Fitzgerald. 267
various sentiments which support the composition,
from the Baconian adage —
'-''Reading maketh a full man."
to the Shakespearian request —
" Come and take a choice of all my Library.'''
are apposite to the picture : for Mr. Evans is the
well-known bookseller in Queen Street, Cheapside,
and, in his book-plate at least, seems undoubtedly
44 full of his subject."
The other was made for Mr. George Kitchin,
son of the Dean of Winchester.
Mr. Arthur Vicars, F.S.A., who succeeded the
late Sir Bernard Burke in the position of Ulster King
of Ai r ms is the owner of several handsome plates,
mostly Heraldic as a matter of course, but he also
uses a " Library Interior," which, had it been
reproduced by a better process, such as photo-
etching or photogravure, would have been one of
the most charming plates in existence. The design
and composition recall in grace and quaintness the
work of eighteenth century French vignettists,
and would have been worthy of interpretation at
the hands of some skilled engraver.
It was devised, on Mr. Vicars' suggestion, by
the Rev. William Fitzgerald, son of the the late
Bishop of Killaloe ; a draughtsman who, curiously
enough, was only known until then as a clever
caricaturist.
The design for a book-plate made for me by
my wife, is a free adaptation of an old French
268 English Book-plates.
Rococo frame to an original little piece of "genre "
composition, illustrative of that most reposeful
occupation in a library firelight, "meditation,"—
with eyelids closed. 1
Mr. Warrington Hogg, a very original deviser
of plate, motifs, has drawn, among many other
clever things, a very excellent " interior," used as
book-token by Mr. Leveson Scarth, of Keverstone.
Among the good features of this plate must
be noticed the charmingly quiet distant view from
the window, and the natural introduction of the
necessary armorial element in a place where
heraldic carving would most suitably appear.
This is, I believe, the only interior done by
Mr. Hogg, but he has brought out a goodly
number of symbolic designs on quite original
lines. Among the best may be reckoned his own
book-plate and that used by Mr. A. G. Bell.
In the " Bell " plate, the canting symbolism and
the pertinence of the legend are both too obvious to
need comment. The Dutch family motto, which
may be translated, " Through time and industry,"
and the paint-box and books, represent the tastes
of the owners of the plate — Mr. Arthur G. Bell,
the water-colour artist, and his wife, whose books
on art, issued under the pseudonym " N. D' Anvers,"
are widely known. The three little bells bearing
the initials of their children, with the two large
1 A more carefully finished elaboration of the same idea,
reproduced in " Intaglio," was given in the original edition of
this work. It could not be included in the present issue, owing
to the undertaking that none of the copper-plates belonging
to the limited edition would be reproduced in another issue.
DESIGN FOR A "LIBRARY INTERIOR" HOOK-PLATE.
By Agnes Castle.
TlJoftooK'ff worth anything- that IT- not-worth-, «
BOOK-PLATE OF THE KEVERSTONE LIBRARY.
By Warrington Hogg.
Designs by M^ar ring ton Hogg. 273
and the three small hearts burning with the same
fire at the foot, complete the idea.
In the artist's own plate the mystic tree " Igdra-
BOOK-PLATE OF A. G. AND N. BELL.
By Warrington Hogg.
sil," symbolical, as we know, of literature, rises
from the hill of difficulty at the foot. The pen in
the ink-horn points to the quotation from Chaucer
274
English Book-plates.
inscribed on the heart. The hearts, aflame with
desire for learning, mount up to the book on the
summit of the tree ; the birds, taking their flight
BOOK-PLATE OF JANE PATTERSON.
By R. Alining Bell.
from the topmost boughs, typify the soaring
thoughts born of books.
Mr. R. Anning Bell has designed a great num
BOOK-PLATE OF WARRINGTON HOGG.
By the owner,
Designs by R. Anning Bell. 277
ber of ex-libris in a more or less allegorical style.
In my own irresponsible judgment the treatment
of his subject by this artist is somewhat too un-
BOOK-PLATE OF W. KNIGHTLEY GODDARD.
By R. Anning Bell.
substantial for the requirements of a book-token.
But here again, as in the case of some other
designers I had occasion to mention before, it is
on record that these compositions are highly ap-
278 English Book-piates.
predated by Art Critics, and it is therefore meet
that they should figure in a gallery of modern
book-plates.
The device which marks " Jane Paterson her
book," no doubt displays a definite suggestion of
grace ; and the same must be said, in a greater
degree, of the book-plate of Christabel Frampton,
which is the last illustration of this chapter. But
what can I find to say of the mediaeval figure in
classical attire that supports on that thin and frail
rod the tinctured escutcheon and the tilting helm
of Mr. Knightley Goddard, whilst Cupid, arms
akimbo in a doubting attitude, contemplates her
with such obvious disfavour ?
The book-plate, however, devised by the same
artist for Mr. Barry Pain, is a composition, no
doubt, idoneous to the peculiar genius of the
•' New Humour" apostle; Pallas (not armata, for she
has discarded her shield and hung her scale-armour
out to dry) sits in a somewhat insufficient attire
poring over works of Latter-Day Humour, and
burning the midnight oil, whilst the Bird of
Wisdom, on a high pile of books, pained and
astonished, discreetly averts his eyes from the in-
decorous spectacle.
The portrait plate as a class, like the " Library
Interior," is not as much in favour as it might
with advantage be. And yet devices of this kind
are undoubtedly and must always remain the most
personal that it is possible to conceive. The two
examples I have chosen are interesting both artis-
tically and from the personal point of view.
Designs by R. Aiming Bell. 279
The ex-libris drawn by M. Paul Avril for Mr.
Ashbee, a keen man of books and art collector,
should be classed among the punning or " Rebus"
devices. At the foot of an Ash tree rests a
BOOK-PLATE OF BARRY PAIN.
By R. Arming Bell.
medallion portrait of the owner, whilst a palpable
Bee hovering around the arrangement gives the
clue to the pictorial charade. It is quite legiti-
mate to include this plate among English examples,
notwithstanding the foreign nationality of the
280 English Book-plates.
designer — so well known in connection with
Octave Uzanne's deliciously illustrated volumes.
Gribelin and Gravelot, Bartolozzi, Cipriani, and
Piranesi were likewise foreigners, yet we would
continue to reckon the designs they made for
English book-lovers as English book-plates.
Mr. Walter Pollock's portrait plate, on the other
hand, belongs to some extent to the symbolic class.
It is a portrait "in character," namely, that of
Fencer and Poet. — A gentleman in the dress of
Elizabethan days waits at some trysting spot in
a forest glade for the arrival of a tardy opponent,
M
HIEROGLYPHIC PLATE OF WALTER HERRIES POLLOCK.
By the Rev. W. J. Loftie.
and beguiles the obnoxious waiting time by polish-
ing some impromptu verses lately jotted down on
his tablets. It is well known that the present
editor of the " Saturday Review" — writer, play-
wright, poet, and hedonist — finds keen delight in
matters dimicatory, especially in the fence of rapier
and dagger. The wounded boar tearing away
in the distance is an unconventionally heraldic
allusion to the crest borne by the singularly dis-
tinguished family of which Sir Frederick Pollock,
Bart., LL.D., is the present head. This plate,
devised and drawn by Agnes Castle, gives a very
characteristic likeness of the owner. It has been
<L:a/h- f y/crrtr.>^/ ( r//or/^,, II- I.
Hieroglyphic Plates.
281
The
reproduced (by a very indifferent process) in
Sketch," on the occasion of an interview.
Mr. Pollock also uses hieroglyphics as a token
of possession, but this very characteristic mark, de-
vised by the Rev. W. J. Loftie, refers only to the
initials W. (V V.) H. P.
Mr. Loftie has also devised hieroglyphics, to be
used as a book-token, for Mr. Rider Haggard; in
this case, however, the inscription is sufficiently
Oyf
BOOK-PLATE OF H. RIDER HAGGARD.
By the Rev. W. J. Loftie.
elaborate. It is meant to signify " H. Rider
Haggard, the son of Ella, Lady of the House,
makes an oblation to Thoth, the lord of writing,
who dwells in the Moon." It was, of course, in-
tended to be jocular ; but no doubt the device,
composed by a recognized expert in such matters,
will remain a most interesting token in connection
with the author of " She" and of " Cleopatra."
Mr. Loftie himself uses, among his many plates,
a little device which originally figured on the title-
282
English Book-plates .
page of his " Ride in Egypt." The hawk, copied
from one of the walls in the Temple of Philse,
holds the symbol of life and death (the crux
ansata) towards five hieroglyphics, which signify
V V. J. L. Above is the inscription The Lord
HoruSy the son of his.
HIEROGLYPHIC BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. W. J. LOFTIE.
By the owner.
BOOK-PLATE OF CHRISTABEL FRAMPTON.
By R. Anning Bell.
ON THE CHOICE OF A BOOK-PLATE,
WITH A FEW WORDS ABOUT BOOK-PLATE
COLLECTING. '
jT cannot, of course, be claimed that in
the foregoing pages every style and
class of existing ex-libris has been
passed in review. Such a task, to be
complete, would require many thick volumes — and
then remain nugatory after all, for exhaustive
knowledge in the matter of book-plates, as in
everything else, can only be acquired by frequent
and careful scrutiny of the objects themselves.
As the number of examples available for study
becomes multiplied, disquisition on general rules
and broad facts becomes less and less requisite.
In any good representative collection (provided
the same be arranged on historical lines), the
student can make his own observations, and
classify them for his own purposes according to
his own ideas.
But large, and especially well-arranged col-
lections, are not accessible to every one ; the
amateur of ex-libris who has not time to ride his
mild hobby with the necessary regularity, and
286 English Book-plates.
thus gather for himself all that is to be gathered of
general information, can have the task lightened
for him by a compendium of examples recognized
as typical, arranged in recognized categories.
As I have said in the introduction to this
work, the interest taken by various people in
personal tokens of book-ownership is of varied
kind. A great number of book-owners not other-
wise keen about " ex-librism," feel at one time or
another a transient curiosity in the subject, because
they would have a book-plate of their own and
therefore wish to know something of their fore-
fathers' and of their contemporaries' taste in such
a matter. No doubt the study of past fashions in
design is suggestive and otherwise useful. Indeed,
it sometimes even leads to a misplaced apprecia-
tion of past work ; I mean it inclines book owners
to forego the trouble of original conception, and to
adopt ancient devices which may certainly be good
of their kind, but are to a great extent inappro-
priate to modern volumes ; for it can certainly be
questioned whether it is justifiable, in an artistic
and bibliophilic sense, to use in volumes born of
the nineteenth century a composition especially
created for men and books of a very different age.
Be this as it may, "adaptations" form a
numerous and definite class of modern plates, one,
it is curious to note, selected by many regular
collectors.
Five examples will, I think, suffice to illustrate
this category. The oldest of these is a purely
heraldic ex-libris used by the Rev. Daniel Parsons
(who was one of the first in England to write
Adaptations.
287
about book-plates as objects worthy of study).
Comparison with the Early Armorial example on
page 58 shows pretty conclusively that the model
selected by that gentleman was the plate of Gwyn
of Lansanor, or at least one by the same engraver
(for the study of ancient ex-libris reveals the fact
that adaptation was likewise much practised
in
BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. D. PARSONS.
Circa 1837.
olden days). True, the " napkin " of the original
has been dispensed with, but in all other res-
pects the ornamental character of the seventeenth
century design has been closely copied. Mr.
Parsons was one of those who, in good heraldic
fashion, see no use in a legend on a book-plate,
holding that a paternal coat, quartering a maternal
288
English Book-plates.
one and impaling conjugal arms is amply suffi-
cient to fix beyond doubt the owners personality.
This simplicity would no doubt be "highly cor-
rect " if only an exact knowledge of blazon formed
BOOK-PLATE OF THE EARL OF MAYO.
Drawn by Lady Mayo, engraved by Curvven, of Dublin.
an indispensable part of a sound and liberal educa-
tion. But, as matters stand in this respect, it is
on the whole more practical to underscribe a name
even to a well-known coat such as that of the Earl
Adaptations.
289
of Mayo, whose book-plate is also an adaptation
from a " Restoration " design.
With reference to this plate, it must be pointed
out that, however compact and otherwise excellent
in design, the ancient model was not quite judi-
ciously chosen. The achievement of arms of a
4&88. c_/
BOOK-PLATE OF THE HON. GERALD PONSONBY.
Engraved by Curwen.
nobleman should include the Supporters, and for
this purpose a plate composed after the manner of
the Archibald Campbell ex-libris, for example,
shown on p. 61, would have perhaps been more
suitable.
290 English Book-plates.
Lady Mayo's father, the Hon. Gerald Ponsonby,
possessor of one of the most complete collections
in England, has, for his latest ex-libris, chosen
the " Book-pile " arrangement, in all its time-
honoured conventionality. To judge from the
character of the rococo frame surrounding the
arms, the model adopted belonged to the middle
of the last century.
One of the most effective adaptations I know is
that used by Mr. Carlton Stitt, of Liverpool. This
is a reproduction in photogravure of the elabo-
rately symbolical frontispiece drawn, in the days of
Anne, by Simon Gribelin for Lord Shaftesbury's
Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions and
Times, to which is added, for the sake of per-
sonality, the name of the owner and his motto —
Sed sine labe decus.
The monogram cartouche which proclaims the
book ownership of Mr. Walter Hamilton, another
" authority " on the subject at hand, is, with the
exception of the motto on the scroll, an exact
copy of a design ascribed by Mr. Austin Dobson
to William Hogarth, and supposed to have been
devised as an ex-libris. The harmoniously
woven initials served Mr. Hamilton's purpose
very naturally; Hogarth's composition, however,
seems to have been more than once appropriated
as a frame for totally different monograms. Such
adaptations are hardly legitimate, and reveal a
paucity of imaginative resources. In fact, adapta-
tions of all kinds, besides never being really
Adaptations.
291
personal, are not, as I have already said, suited
to this age.
In the case of ancestral libraries many succes-
sive styles of plate are oftentimes to be found in
v auss?"
1572,
BOOK-PLATE OF WALTER HAMILTON.
the slowly accumulated collection, giving a cha-
racter of its own to each various accession, and
representing distinct phases in their history. It
\^ould seem almost a matter of duty, in a senti-
292 English Book-plates.
mental spirit, to continue the chain of records by
affixing to such modern volumes as may be added
to the goodly company a book-plate representative
of modern taste.
The choice of an ex-libris now-a-days, however,
is no simple matter. It is easy enough to
light on an emblem which may be personally
highly pleasing ; but not so to find one suited to
the general purpose of a modern library. The
fact cannot be waived that the Victorian book
buyer has, as a rule, to provide marks of owner-
ship for libraries vastly different in every way
from those of his Georgian ancestors and their
forefathers.
On the book-shelves of the past two centuries
were aligned nought but substantial volumes, most
uniformly clothed in rich, strong brown calf, and
the least important of which was no doubt a much
more consequential chattel than would now be a
work of similar standing. In libraries so com-
posed the old-fashioned engraved plate, more or
less sumptuous and armorial, suited all books
almost equally well. But in our days of cheap
editions and of " publishers' cloth," ex libris matters
bear perforce a very different complexion. A
superbly decorative achievement of arms engraved
by Sherborn ; an elaborate and elegant composition
of Erat Harrison, could but look inconsistent on
the white lining paper of a five shilling book. Yet
this cheap and plain volume may, nevertheless,
be worthy of a settled place in the bibliotheca and
therefore of its owner's badge.
Choice of a Plate.
293
On the other hand, what an insult to a precious
tall copy, habited in choicest binding of Morell
or Zaehnsdorf, to stamp its board with any little
abomination, such as one of our every-day die-
sinker's "crest within a garter." In the same
manner as a poor book (poor in the typographical
sense) can be made absolutely piteous if arrayed
in a magnificence unsuited to its status in the
book world, so can the most exquisite plate lose
all its significance when mated to an unworthy or
unapt companion. In short there is as much con-
From the Library of
CHARLES DICKENS,
Gadshill Place, June, 1870.
sistency required in the choice of a book-plate as
in that of a binding.
What then is the way out of this latter-day
difficulty ? The answer is simple : for a modern
library several plates at least — certainly more than
one — are required, that is if the ex-libris be in-
tended as anything more than a mere utilitarian
statement of ownership. Tokens of this latter
kind fulfil, of course, only one (the most matter-
of-fact) purpose of an ex-libris, but so long as their
statement is explicit, fulfil it satisfactorily ; but if
ex-libris had never gone beyond that purpose the
294
English Book-plates.
book-world would have lost many charming crea-
tions, and there would have been no scope for
" ex-librism."
Of this category the label used as a distinctive
record of Charles Dickens' own books at Gadshill
Place, albeit somewhat special in its purpose, 1
may be taken as a sufficient example. There
could be nothing inconsistent in its appearance on
any class of books ; it professes to state that the
volume to which it is affixed belonged to the
*a£ii£y ~^\.^ ^ \W 4
fmxtm
BOOK-PLATE OF J. S. MARTIN.
Of Edinburgh.
nothing
more
-but
Gadshill Place Library,
sufficient record of interest withal
In a conjuncture of this kind the most rigorous
simplicity was, of course, in the best taste. But
in ordinary cases there is no doubt that the simple
name-label, by means of a little judicious ornamen-
tation, may be made not only more pleasing to
the eye but actually less obtrusive. Very " chaste "
and practical is the little label of Mr. John Martin,
Charles Dickens died in June, 1870.
Choice of a Style.
295
the well-known Edinburgh bibliophile ; so is the
Initial plate of Mr. Herbert Home, whilst that
designed in the same old-fashioned " pounced "
style by F. C. Montagu for the late Charles
Keene is decidedly artistic ; this last, in fact, is
perhaps the best example I know of the class ;
such a device would quietly enhance the most
HERgSlTHKBpOK
i:sovcht:for;so!
INITIAL BOOK-PLATE BY HERBERT P. HORNE.
modest and could not disparage the most preten-
tious volume.
The more "typographic" the character of fan
ex-libris, the more universal is its suitability. For
this reason I. would say that when only one device
is used for a general library, plates of the
" Printer's Mark" class have the widest range of
applicability. They have no very obtrusive aris-
tocratic pretensions, no special gorgeousness, yet
►can be made of most ^attractive appearance, and
296 English Book-plates.
from their appositeness to printing of every kind,
can consistently figure as the personal element in
all sorts and conditions of books. If, moreover,
the design is reproduced in different sizes, every
acquirement of a perfect ex-libris is fulfilled.
The heraldic monogram, on pounced background,
in Printers Mark style, adopted by Mr. Harry
BOOK-PLATE OF THE LATE
CHARLES KEENE.
Designed by Frederick Conway Montagu.
Rylands as his book device, exists in two sizes,
of which the present example is the smaller.
Next to this class, seals and heraldic composi-
tions in the style of Mr. Russell Spokes' plate
are perhaps most congruous to a miscellaneous
collection.
With other categories of designs, whether " Ar-
morial" or " Pictorial," the difficulty of application
Choice of a Design. 297
increases, and much discrimination has to be exer-
cised. On my own shelves repose many books,
even of the most estimable, on which, for instance,
the exquisite "library interior" in the Rococo
manner, designed for me by my wife, would look
almost ridiculous. How completely out of place,
llSa
;__ ""'"■■ "■■"«'- d
BOOK-PLATE OF HARRY RYLANDS.
By Menestrier.
for instance, would this dainty composition — with
its cosy corner by the hearth, where a pensive gen-
tleman of the olden time is seen falling into a fire-
light reverie 1 — look on the boards, shall I say, of
1 These remarks refer to the intaglio plate (the sketch of
which is given in the preceding chapter) belonging to the
original edition.
298
English Book-plates.
Simienowicz's "Art of Artillerie," a very magnifi-
cent volume, with all its pride of the seventeenth
century military plates ; or on those of Sir Charles
Lyell's " Elements of Geology ; " or yet again in my
JiOOK-PLATE OF RUSSELL SPOKKS.
By Harry Soane.
" M orographic Dictionary," which happens to be a
superbly bound prize book ! The fact is, that this
ex-libris is intended to herald ownership in works,
not only fit in appearance to receive an artistic
plate, but works of poetic or romantic interest,
Special Plates. 299
especially books with an ideal world or an old
world flavour about them — the books, in fact, I
love best. Herein lies the chief drawback to the
pictorial classes of book-plates, one which is felt
even more persistently than with over-proud
heraldic arrangements : they cannot suit the
majority of volumes in a "working" library. For
these, some simpler, more conventional design is
wanted, such as an ornamental label, a small seal,
or modest crest with name underscribed.
Special collections, of course, are provided for
with greater ease. For such, an ex-libris can be
devised which will stand much in the same relation
to the subject as a canting charge in heraldry to
the owners name.
Mr. Edmund Gosse, (to take only one instance
in point,) a poet himself, is by inclination an his-
torian of poetry, and the main character of the
books he collects with greatest zest, and opens
most frequently, is in good keeping with the
reciting cavalier in the sunlight, of Mr. Abbey's
design. This is an instance of what was adverted
to in the Introduction concerning the interest
attaching to a book-plate which remains as a record
of special tastes and pursuits.
But even in the general working library there
will often exist special collections more or less
jealously segregated from the rest. Most men of
books have a bibliographical hobby or two. Of
course the gorgeous way to honour this conclave,
this favoured clique of friends, is to have each
member thereof specially bound and stamped
'distinctively. But th&super-/i6ros method is not
300 English Book-plates.
financially within the reach of all book-collectors ;
indeed, in many cases, where the original bindings
are worth preserving, it is impracticable. A special
ex-libris, however, is always available, and is a
sufficiently distinguishing mark.
As a specimen of the special collection book-
plate, one designed for me by the same hand that
drew the Regence "interior" and intended for
the covers of works on the " Art Dimicatorie," is
here reproduced.
It has seemed suitable to select as emblematical
of the Art of Fence, an ideal view of the Inner
Sanctum of that sublimely confident expositor of
the " philosophy of arms," Master Girard Thibault
of Antwerp, who flourished in the days of the
"Three Musketeers" — the dread room where,
with the help of diagrams, logical, anatomical, and
geometrical, the author of that astounding work,
VAcadSmie de V Espie professed to teach any
number of ineluctable and infallibly mortal strokes.
Thibault undoubtedly held the highest grade in
the legion of theorists who during the last three
centuries have "anatomized" the art of fight, and
he may therefore fitly be taken, on his own ground,
in his own costume and attitude, as a sufficiently
Allegorical figure.
The motto inscribed on the beam overhead
jQostrum De atmts quacrete, is that of the
Keruoozers Club, a close and select little body of
connoisseurs in Arms and Armour, and in anti-
quarian matters connected therewith ; whilst the
sentiment Qui porte espee porte paix is meant
to qualify what might be held as too pugnacious
BOOK-PLATE OF EGERTON CASTLE.
Designed by Agnes Castle.
Personality in Plates. 303
and sanguinary in an excessive devotion to cold
steel.
About the choice of a personal ex-libris, general
advice or general rules are really of little use ;
the whole matter is so obviously dependent on
personal tastes and circumstances. It has been
seen that, in the past, the prevailing fashion at
different times had an almost all pervading in-
fluence on private taste ; whilst, on the other
hand, the tendency of modern designers is towards
unrestrained originality. But originality of con-
ception can, in a certain way, be pushed too far,
and actually lose sight of the main object of a
book-plate, which is to herald ownership. De-
signers would do well to bear in mind that the
ex-libris should be a label, not merely a pretty
picture, or even a pretty "conceit." This fact
need in no way detract from its artistic perfection;
all that is required is, that the treatment should
always be to some extent conventional and sym-
bolic (heraldry is but a special form of symbolism,
and armorial designs must needs be conventional).
In theory, pure " landscape " or pure " genre "
plates, however precious artistically, cannot be
said to suffice for a good ex-libris ; in practice
they are but irrelevant illustrations.
Although it is quite possible to render an anony-
mous plate characteristic enough for its purpose —
as the artistic design of Mr. H. P. Home for Mr.
Trehawke Davies so fully testifies — when the ex-
libris is meant to be personal, it were well that it
should record in unmistakable fashion the name of
304 English Book-plates.
the owner. Statements of distinguishing and
honourable titles can never be incongruous on a
personal token. The date at which the design
was adopted may also fitly and properly appear in
the composition.
BOOK-PLATE OF F. TREHAWKE DAVIES.
By H. P. Home.
The modern fashion is in favour of some definite
" phrase of book-possession," although, it should be
pointed out, it is, on the whole, a foreign invention.
The immense majority of English plates anterior
to this century (excepting gift-plates, which re-
quired, of course, a special statement to that effect),
bear no proprietary remark before the owner's
Phrases of Book possession. 305
name, an omission which is generally found still
in the " Modern Die-sinker" style.
I myself incline to the bibliophilic phrase as
being conducive to completeness in the conven-
tional arrangements. The somewhat inapt ap-
pearance of a mere name under a little genre
sketch, will no doubt suggest itself at once by
reference, to choose only these instances out of
many, to the two otherwise charming compositions
drawn for Mr. Jackson and Mr. Walter Marks.
The choice of suitable phrases already sanc-
tioned by long custom is tolerably large.
The words Ex-libris, (which have long been of
so general occurrence on foreign book-plates as
to have become consolidated into a conventional
substantive, and under that guise recognized as
a technical term), the .words ex-libris, I may
urge, are not only so very definite in meaning,
but also so universally accepted, that they must
remain the best and least pretentious. Some
people prefer varieties, as Units ex-libris before,
or E libris suis after, their names.
Ex bibliotheca is a little more aspiring, and no
doubt tends to suggest a collection of some
importance.
The number of proprietary formulae sanctioned
by precedent is very great. Warren has collected
a great many of these book-phrases in the intro-
duction to the " Guide " ; many more may be gleaned
among the leaves of the " Book-plate Collector's
Miscellany." With a view to personal adapta-
tion, the following few examples are offered for
Consideration.
x
306 English Book-plates.
— Liber Bilibaldi Pirckheimer, (1503). Sibi et
Amicis.
— Thorn ce Prince Liber, ( 1 704).
— E Bibliotheca Baronis du Baltimore, ( 1 75 1 ).
~Ex Catalogo Bibliothecce Caumartin, (1750).
— Unus ex collectione librorum Domini J ohannis,
■ Georgii Eimbeckenii, ( 1 720).
— Grolierii et amicorum.
— Met Golierii Lugdunens. et amicorum.
— Michaeli Begon et amicis.
— Ex bibliothec Reg. in Castel. Windesor.
— Pro Bibtiotheca .
— Pertinet ad Bibliothecam .
— Ex Museo D. Claudii Puffier, (1690).
— Bibliotheca Palatina, (1730).
— Bibliotheca M. H. Theodori Baron. (1720).
— Ad Bibliothecam Jo. Jac. Reinhai'di, (1695).
— Insigne Librorum .
— Symbolum Bibliothecce J ohannis Bernardi Nack,
(1759).
— Ex supellectile librana Bened. Gui. Zahnii,
(1780).
— Sigillum Horatu Comitis de Orford, (1791).
— Ex-libris Bibliothecce personalis , (1750).
— Ex-libris Bibliothecce domesticcz Ricardi Towneley
de Towneley in Agro Lancastrensi Armigen.
Anno\^ tat ! s \ K-
\lJomini, j 702.
— E libris Hen. Aston, (1740).
— Bibliothecce Gerhardince Pars sum.
— Sum J ohannis Martini,
It will be seen that a good number of the fore-
Phrases of Book Possession. 307
going types are of foreign extraction ; being Latin,
however, they are equally available for English
plates. On this point, it may with- advantage be
remembered that a pedantic translation and con-
sequent declension of proper names is not really
necessary, and is, in fact, often productive of a
grotesque effect.
Vernacular phrases do not seem to have been
evolved in great number, no doubt on account of
the more prevalent habit among English engravers
of simply stating the owner's name under the design
without further specification.
— This book belongs to Charles Edward Thompson,
(1816).
— A. Grays Private Library, (1820).
— Edward Aicdley oweth (owneth) this Booke,
(1633)-
— / belong to .
— This is Giles Wilkinson his book.
— Logoniafi Library [i.e. of John Logan].
— Austin Dob son his book.
— One of the books of .
Besides the statement of ownership, a great
number of plates, aiming more or less at originality,
display, as I pointed out in the Introduction, senti-
ments and mottoes of the most miscellaneous
character. Many are decidedly amiable and pro-
fess a readiness in the owners to admit friends to
the free use of their libraries. I think there can
£e but one opinion among book-lovers on this
subject : the Sibi et Amicis, the M or N et ami-
308 English Book-plates.
corum formulae are either rank affectation, or if
peradventure sincere, unworthy of any member of
our fraternity. The majority of book-plate senti-
ments, however, are more honest, and are meant
either to warn away all borrowers uncompromis-
ingly, or at least to rise as a standing reproach
to the wicked who do not speedily return a lent
volume.
Statements of this kind are for all practical pur-
poses nugatory, but a legend in the style either of
John James Webster.
{He does not lend books.\
or the Censurce faciendce prcestitis of the plate
devised by Mr. Laurence Housman for Mr. W.
Pollard ; or yet again, of the Nunquam Ami-
corum of a certain fierce bibliophile, may at times
prove useful in facilitating the refusal of a loan.
The mottoes directed against book-borrowers to
be found in an extensive collection of plates are
sometimes very quaint. For these as well as for
the more or less pithy verses and aphorisms on
the joys of reading, in praise of study ; for truisms
on the subject of literature ; for pious or humorous
sentiments, I must refer the reader to the standard
work, Warren's "Guide," to Mr. Walter Hamil-
ton's copious contributions in the " Book-Plate
Collector's Miscellany" and to the "Ex-libris
Journal." The subject would fill a long chapter in
itself. All that need be said here is that in a
matter of this kind, the most absolute freedom
from conventionality should be cultivated; no
adaptation of " sentiments " having already done
Family Book-plates.
309
duty is acceptable any more than would be an
allegory or rebus devised for another person. Such
adjuncts to a plate must be strictly personal or they
lose all meaning.
Although this personal character is one which
I III
I I I
i I I
Blundell of Crosby.
BOOK-PLATE OF THE CROSBY HALL LIBRARY.
should, as a rule, be kept in view in designing
a token of book ownership, there are circum-
stances in which it is not required — in collegiate
plates, for instance — and some, indeed, in which
'there is actually a greater fitness and a certain
3 1 o English Book-plates.
grandeur in the simple statement of the sole
patronymic. This is the case with the ex-libris of
an ancestral library forming part of entailed pro-
perty. Such a collection is no particular person's
absolute property ; it is an heirloom, and should
bear the family name and family arms only (i.e.,
without quarterings, which would at once make
the plate personal). Of this kind is the Salisbury
BOOK-PLATE OF FREDERICK
HENRY HUTH.
Reduced to one-third linear dimensions.
Hatfield plate, which belongs to the past century,
and as another example of modern die sinker
style, illustrating this special category, may be
taken the ex-libris of the Crosby Hall Library.
It is evident that all the books accumulated
yearly in this reading age do not find their way to
the family library ; they remain the private pro-
perty of the different members, and it is quite
open to them, perfectly legitimate, and in fact
advantageous (if they wish to preserve a distinc-
"Process" Reproduction.
3ii
tion between meum et tuum), to maintain their
private tokens. The available choice of composi-
BOOK-PLATE OF ELINOR SWEETxMAX.
By Agnes Castle.
tions is, as we have seen, adequate to meet the
greatest variety of tastes.
The multiplication of very perfect photographic
'" processes" for the fat-simile reproduction of de-
312 English Book-plates.
signs, their enlargement or reduction, has rendered
the cost of all but line-engraved plates a matter of
small consideration. 1 The great variety of devices in
which so many amateurs of the present day indulge
their fancy would have been thought a decided ex-
travagance not so many years ago. Photographic
process has given rise to a characteristic class of
design, in which the original drawing can be
made with freedom, even with dash, on a con-
veniently large scale, and reduced to the required
dimension without loss of distinctness. The mi-
nuscule reproduction here given of a book-plate
belonging to Mr. F. H. Huth, which would suit
the smallest tome, whereas the original would
have been quite too large for these pages, is an
instance of the manner in which a given design
can be made to do duty for books of all sizes.
The genuine wood or copper-plate engraver
looks, of course, with unconcealed disdain upon the
achievements of process engraving. Process will
never supplant hand-work, which must ever retain
its intrinsic value, but it has come as a boon to the
general artistic public, who can now obtain, with
trifling cost and in briefest time, prints of charm-
ing designs, such as that with which I conclude
the illustrations of this chapter — the Sweetman
book-plate.
Book-plate collectors have been subjected to
much bibliophilic abuse from people who know
1 See note, p. 325.
Book-plate Collecting. 313
something about books, and to elaborate sneering
from others who do not know quite so much.
A book-plate (say the first) is part of a book
and should not be removed, — such an act is rank
Biblioclasm. What sort of interest can be found
in a collection of such things as book-plates ? ask
the latter.
This question has, I think, been sufficiently
answered in the Introduction to the present
volume, and in every work devoted to ex-libris
lore. Concerning the contention that it is not
legitimate to remove a book-plate from a book,
the only general answer possible is, that we
should not push sentimentality about books,
however much we may love them, to the ridicu-
lous, nor apply a sound, broad principle, to petty
and inadequate instances. When a book-plate
really forms part of the history of a valuable
volume, it were foolish to remove it, for " in the
volume to which it properly belongs, the ex-libris
is living ; apart from it it is but a dead leaf," as
M. Bouchot pithily (but a little speciously) points
out. Such a deed, however, is rarely done ; a
fine book-plate may be a valuable chattel, but its
money's worth must ever remain insignificant in
comparison with that of a precious volume. And
in any case, the process of removal, which is to
convert the living plate into the "dead leaf," if
performed with the requisite tenderness, need
never injure a well-bound book.
In short, the book-plates which fill collectors'
cases and albums, do not come out of rare and
valuable works, but rSther from the numberless
314 English Book-plates.
odd tomes, which form the waste and rubbish
of second-hand bookshops all over the world;
from the discarded covers of books sent to be
rebound ; from the libraries of men who are so
full of pride in, and solicitude for, their new
purchases that they hasten to replace the tokens
of previous owners (about whom, as a rule, they
know nothing, and care less), by their own mark
of possession. Such men, certainly, do not "de-
stroy " their books by the removal of an old label,
and, when all is said and done, the process is
doubtless more legitimate than the pasting of a
new plate over an old one, according to a not
uncommon practice.
Large collections of ex-libris, it is well known,
can only be accumulated either by the purchase
of numerous smaller ones, or through the agency
of dealers, who certainly are the last persons to
discount the value of precious wares for the sake
of such sums as even in these days are obtainable
for ex-libris.
Much more could be added on this topic, to
show even that far from being destructive of
books, the modern infatuation for book-plates
has perhaps been the means of saving many
a comparatively worthless tome from the paper-
mill ; but I imagine that enough has been said at
least to refute the opprobrious accusation levelled
at ex-librists indiscriminately.
Such denouncement coming from irresponsible
and generally obscure persons, can, as a rule, be
neglected. But what are we to say when no less
an authority on library matters than Mr. Andrew
Andrew Lang on "Ex-librists." 315
Lang finds it necessary to devote a page of his
crispest writing to the wholesale defamation of
book-plate collectors.
" The antiquarian ghoul," asseverates Mr. Lang, 1
after giving a smart stab of his pen (whereat we
must, of course, all be at one with him) to the
" moral ghoul," who defaces those passages in
precious volumes which do not meet his idea of
propriety, " the antiquarian ghoul steals title-pages
and colophons. The aesthetic ghoul cuts illumi-
nated initials out of manuscripts. The petty, trivial,
and almost idiotic ghoul of our own days, sponges
the fly-leaves and boards of books, for the purpose
of cribbing the book-plates/'
Are we then to include in the fraternity of trivial
and idiotic ghouls, all the bookmen and book-
lovers I have mentioned in this book as authori-
ties on ex-libris, because they have accumulated
and jealously treasure collections of book-plates ?
I myself (if I may compare the small with the
great) repudiate the accusation of ghoulishness, and
yet hope in due course to be owner of many more
4< dead leaves " than at the present time. And
whilst on this topic, I would further point out,
that it is strictly illogical to compare the " theft "
of book-plates, which are essentially adventitious
to a volume, with that of title-pages and colophons,
which are integral parts of the same.
But perhaps the writer only used this uncom-
promising language for the purpose of introducing
easily, and with appositeness, a certain quaint
1 " The Library," by Andrew Lang. Macmillan, 1881.
316 English Book-plates.
Ballad of Books ; for he goes on to say : " An old
' Complaint of a Book-plate,' in dread of the wet
sponge of the enemy, has been discovered by Mr.
Austin Dobson."
This charming conceit, which appeared some
twelve years ago in " Notes and Queries," l has
now become in a way classical in Book-plate
literature, and I have, therefore, obtained Mr.
Dobson's permission to reprint it in this volume.
THE BOOK-PLATE'S PETITION.
By a Gentleman of the Temple.
While cynic Charles still trimm'd the vane
'Twixt Querouaille and Castlemaine,
In days that shock'd John Evelyn,
My First Possessor fix'd me in.
In days of Dutchmen and of frost,
The narrow sea with James I cross'd,
Returning when once more began
The Age of Saturn and of Anne.
I am a part of all the past ;
I knew the Georges, first and last j
I have been oft where else was none
Save the great wig of Addison j
And seen on shelves beneath me grope
The little eager form of Pope.
I lost the Third that own'd me when
The Frenchmen fled at Dettingen ;
The year James Wolfe surpris'd Quebec,
1 "Notes and Queries," 6th S. IIT. Jan. 8, '8i, p. 31. The
Removal of Book-Plates (6th S. ii. 445, 491). "As indigna-
tion appears to have prompted verses in one of your contribu-
tors, perhaps the following old-fashioned performance on this
theme may be of interest."
The Book-plate s Petition. 317
The Fourth in hunting broke his neck ;
The Fifth one found me in Cheapside
The day that William Hogarth dy'd.
This was a Scholar, one of those
Whose Greek is sounder than their hose ;
He lov'd old books and nappy ale,
So liv'd at Streatham, next to Thrale.
'Twas there this stain of grease I boast
Was made by Dr. Johnson's toast.
He did it, as I think, for spite ;
My Master call'd him Jacobite.
And now that I so long to-day
Have rested post discrimina,
Safe in the brass-wir'd book-case where
I watch'd the Vicar's whit'ning hair,
Must I these travell'd bones inter
In some Collector's sepulchre ?
Must I be torn from hence and thrown
With frontispiece and colophon ?
With vagrant £s, and /s, and 0s,
The spoil of plunder'd folios ?
With scraps and snippets that to Me
Are naught but kitchen company ?
Nay, rather, Friend, this favour grant me :
Tear me at once ; but don't transplant me /
Cheltenham, Sept r . 31, 1792."
Ex-Libris.
This is pathetic, and I hope it may not be
thought too sudden an anti-climax if I reveal
forthwith the best method of removing Book-
plates from boards and fly-leaves.
There is no necessity for the sponging alluded
to above ; the sponging in many cases would be
as tedious and inefficacious as it sounds brutal in
connection with a book ; it would in many cases
injure the plate itself, *and always leave unneces-
318 English Book-plates.
sarily large traces on the lining of the book. No,
the dealing adopted by experts is as follows :— A
piece of flannel or woollen cloth is cut of the size
of the plate which it is required to eradicate, and
wetted thoroughly in water. It is then applied
with tender care to the plate so as to cover it
exactly, and pressed firmly with a smoothing-iron,
heated to about the scorching point of paper.
The rapid vaporization of the water in the rag
prevents all possible injury from heat to the book
itself, whilst the bubbling and hissing steam per-
meates the plate irresistibly, and softens gum
or paste (it would even soften glue) so satis-
factorily that the label, if gently raised at one
corner with a penknife, can be lifted away with
no more than a slight unctuous resistance. The
process is as expeditious as it is simple. There is
a certain dull discoloration left on the boards (if
the latter be coloured), where the late ex-libris had
rested, but this slight blemish can easily be kept
out of sight by the application of a new and
personal plate.
So much for the alleged " destruction " of books
due to the " theft " of book-plates.
And now to conclude this very elementary
handbook may be added a few brief words on the
management of a collection.
So long as it remains small and select, there
can be no difficulty in its arrangement ; from the
moment, however, that it has to be reckoned in
hundreds and in thousands, it becomes imperative
on the collector to select one definite scheme of
The Removal of Book-plates. 3 1 9
array. As the orderly disposal of plates always
necessitates cataloguing, the most obvious arrange-
ment seems at first to be the alphabetical pure and
simple. This plan has certain advantages, espe-
cially in the eyes of the " genealogist," who cares
chiefly for the heraldic matters embodied in book-
plates ; it also brings all the different tokens of a
given family, or of families bearing the same name
under the same rubric, a conjunction which is to
some extent curious. But for the average ex-
librist, the strictly alphabetical muster is insupport-
able ; it gathers the most heterogeneous elements
together into a hopeless jumble, in which ancient,
artistic, or otherwise specially interesting examples
are smothered among the most commonplace pro-
ductions of the Modern Stationer. True, that
given the name of a particular ex-libris, it can
be found under such circumstances with special
facility, but this result can almost as easily be
secured by means of a carefully kept-up index ;
and an index is always necessary, whatever be the
system of classification adopted.
The more usual, and no doubt the more ra-
tional arrangement, is according to "styles" and
" classes." This, as I have said, corresponds to
some extent, to a chronological order, otherwise
impossible to obtain (except in the case of dated
plates — and dated plates are in the minority).
The chief difficulty seems to be in the actual
definition of styles and classes. On these matters,
however, albeit almost every collector has a system
and a nomenclature of his own, there is a certain
general understanding cis to the broad categories
320 English Book-plates.
into which book-plates can be mustered. These
it has been my object to set forth as simply as
possible.
Concerning what might be called the mechanical
arrangements of an extensive collection of " dead-
leaves" (which, unless methodically dealt with, is
very liable to become unwieldy., not to say be-
wildering) it may from the first be argued that
perhaps the worst possible system is the hard
and fast pasting down in albums. To the possible
accumulation of specimens there is practically no
end ; they should therefore remain movable, or at
least removable, either to make room for fresh
members among their ranks and files, or for the
purpose of new or temporary classification. When
the album or scrap-book arrangement is preferred
to that of the loose-box, it is most suitable to fix
each plate lightly in its place, which can be but
temporary unless the collector (most rare and
fantastic instance !) has quite done with collecting,
by means of thin strips of gummed paper. The
leaves of the book should be tolerably stout,
numbered, and toned in colour. According to
the extent of the collection, one or several volumes
can be allotted to each group, style or class,
particular members of which can be then found
by reference to an index ; or conversely, more than
one category may be consigned to a particular
tome.
Book-plates may also, and with great advantage,
be kept in, and distributed among, various boxes
or pamphlet-cases, according to any special classi-
fication. This gives, of course, the maximum of
Arrangement of a Collection. 321
mobility. For the sake of special neatness, the
specimens may be mounted lightly on pieces of
thin cardboard, of suitable and uniform size ; this,
of course, increases the bulk of the collection, but
to a certain extent facilitates its handling. Even
on these mounts, the plates should not be pasted
hard and fast, but merely secured by one edge, —
ex-libris never can be sure of any long resting-
place, but may have to be removed and sent
elsewhere, as gifts or exchanges ; and repeated
soakings are not good for any paper that was ever
made.
The disposition of a collection is a matter which
of course depends on the special fancy, as well as
on the circumstances of the owner ; but I believe
the movable arrangement, in historical and artistic
categories assigned to separate receptacles, scrap-
books, pamphlet-cases, or nests-of- drawers, is on
the whole favoured by the majority of collectors.
Book-plates rescued from the boards of waif and
stray volumes in second-hand dealers' shops often
require cleaning and mending. The preliminary
process is best effected by laying the wetted leaf
on some marble slab and gently rubbing it on both
sides with pure soap which can subsequently be
washed off (and with it the accumulated grime of
destitution) by a stream of hot water. A certain
amount of bleaching is in some cases required.
For this purpose Mr. Vicars recommends a lotion
compounded of a tablespoonful of " Permak's
Bleacher " in a quart of water. This drug can be
obtained of most chemists, but in its absence many
Other equally efficient preparations are obtainable.
Y
322 English Book-plates.
Care is required not to overdo the bleaching
operation.
For the mending of torn plates any kind of clean
tracing paper can be advantageously used. The
most convenient material, however, is a certain
tenacious tegument, ready gummed for applica-
tion, prepared by Seabury and Johnson, known as
" Music Mender."
The identification of anonymous and undated
book-plates is a subject requiring generally wide
and peculiar information. Some clue to the period
of a particular specimen is as a rule suggested at
once to an experienced eye, by the nature and
treatment of the design, the lettering, the character
of the paper, etc. In heraldic compositions the
charges, and the marshalling of combined coats in
a shield can be interpreted by experts almost with
certainty. Among the numerous books of re-
ference indispensable to this department of in-
vestigation, stands first of all Papworth and
Morant's " Ordinary," 1 a tolerably complete index
enabling the student to trace the name of a bearer
of arms, from any given charge on his coat.
Equally indispensable are Sir Bernard Burke's
monumental heraldic and genealogical works.
There are also numbers of similar works, covering
the same ground in different manners, besides
1 "An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms belonging
to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, forming an extensive
Ordinary of British Armorial"— by the late J. W. Papworth,
F.R.I.B.A. Edited from p. 696, by Alfred W. Morant, F.S.A.,
F.G.S., London, T. Richards, 37, Great Queen Street, 4to.
1874.
Identification of Plates. 323
County and Family Histories in plenty, disquisi-
tions on the special usefulness of which, however
are not within the limits of this work. 1
Definite evidence of place and date is often
derivable from the signatures of designers and
engravers. Of these latter a voluminous general
list exists in Warren's " Guide," and various special
accounts of Scottish, Irish, local, and " contem-
porary " artists connected with book-plate en-
graving, are being periodically contributed to
the Journal of the Ex-Libris Society, by sundry
specialists.
From their very nature, however, these lists are
rather barren ; but their information may, in many
cases, be supplemented by reference to Bryan's
" Dictionary of Painters and Engravers "—espe-
cially the new edition, 1886, enlarged by R. E.
Graves. This work is an almost indispensable
companion to ex-librists whose special interest in
book-plates is of the artistic order. Another work
of smaller pretension, but with a similar scope,
entitled " Engravings and their Value," has lately
been compiled by Mr. J. H. Slater.
As a kind of envoy in tail of this little hand-
book, it has seemed to me suitable to quote what
1 It is for similar reasons that I have refrained from dwelling
in these pages on specially heraldic matters. Technicalities of
blazonry, on the one hand, being unintelligible to the uninitiated,
whilst the expert, on the other, requires no accompanying text
to interpret the heraldry displaced under his eyes.
324 English Book-plates.
is apparently the latest literary allusion to book-
plates artistically considered.
In a curious volume, published by Messrs. Chatto
and Windus, entitled, " Where Art Begins," Mr.
Hume Nisbet devotes a paragraph on the subject
at hand which I reproduce here without comment.
" Book-plates.
" This is an old art or taste, which is being once
more revived with great activity, through the
timely efforts of the ' Ex-Libris Society.' It is
a pursuit which is most educative to the lover of
books, because it is filled with symbols, and leads
on to the noble art of Heraldry, and the spiritual
intellectualism in which such men as Albert Diirer
stand so pre-eminent. At first sight, it may appear
like pandering to the vanity of book-possessors,
but it is not so in any sense ; rather is it the con-
necting link, which binds men of taste and re-
search to each other, and which leads them on to
that higher level of humanitarianism and faith, for
which purpose the grand laws of Heraldry and
Masonry were first invented."
ENGRAVING AND -PROCESS" WORK,
Note to p. 310. — To those unfamiliar with the details of
photographic engraving it may be useful to point out the two
best methods for the reproduction of Ex-Libris. The first, by
one of the photogravure, photo-etching, or " intaglio " processes,
(differing more in name than in essentials,) yields a plate from
which prints are taken exactly as from one of copper or steel
engraved by hand. The price of such a plate, ordinary size,
would be about two guineas ; by the alternative method, a
" relief" block should cost not much over a tenth of that sum.
Not merely is there so great a difference in the price of the
original, but the cost of printed impressions therefrom varies in
about the same proportion.
Drawings intended to be reproduced in photogravure or
its kindred processes may be executed in colour, wash, or
line ; they are best, however, in monochrome, whether in wash
or line. For the cheaper "relief" process it is essential to
make the drawing in line only, with absolutely black ink ;
nearly all the modern pictorial plates in this book have been
so produced, some from drawings at least four times the
size of the block, others to exactly the same scale. Photo-
lithography, employed for many of Mr. Stacy Marks' plates,
good as it is for the reproduction of old examples, is not so
cheap as a "relief block," and far less, satisfactory than an
engraved plate. If those fortunate enough to possess an
original impression of Mr. J. R. Brown's book-plate, will com-
pare it with the impression of the block (page 240) made from
the same original drawing by Mr. H. S. Marks, they will
probably prefer the " relief."
The so-called half-tone process (by which the block from the
engraved plate of the Hon. Leicester Warren, page 233, has
been reproduced here), admirable in its own way for pictorial
work, is not adapted for bookplates ; it is too grey and flat to
be decorative, and as its cost so nearly approaches that of a
326 English Book-plates.
photogravure there is no reason for employing an ineffective
process as regards an Ex-Libris, in place of the best
This book contains many examples of the various modifica-
tions of the two processes which are deservedly the most
popular. In the Ex-Libris of Walter Herries Pollock we have
an intaglio plate made by Messrs. Walker and Boutall from
a pen' drawing, and in the Pepys portrait (facing page 1 30), a
reproduction of a copper-plate engraving, executed in photo-
gravure ; these two show another application of practically the
same process.
Nearly all the older examples in this book are printed from
relief blocks reproduced from early impressions of the plates.
The " rotten " line and lack of clearness in certain details of
some of these must not be credited to any fault of the process
employed, but should be attributed to the ink having spread
into the paper of the originals, the yellow stain caused thereby
telling as black to the camera.
Mr. J. D. Batten's designs (pages 225, 245, 246) are examples
of brush-work in solid black, but most of the modern blocks are
from pen-drawings. The comparative merits of photogravure
versus copper-plate engraving at its best may be tested by
examining Mr. Sherborn's plates (printed from the original
coppers) with the two quoted above, while the kindred process
of etching may be seen in Mr. G. W. Eve's dragon design, page
160. But although the graver or the etching-needle in capable
hands is still far superior to any mechanical substitute, a
comparison of these plates with one of the modern die-sinker's
class (of which the book contains no example printed direct
from the copper) will show that common-place engraving by
the ordinary mechanic is inferior in every respect to photo-
gravure, always supposing it was made from an autograph
drawing not only good in itself, but suitable in its technique.
In the first instance we have dry hard lines, with a total lack of
"colour" throughout the whole design, while the other will
yield impressions rich and of as fine quality in most respects
as the best copper-plate.
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BOOK-PLATE OF AYMER V.ALLANCE.
By tf!e owner.
TYPES OF SHIELDS.
Tops of Shields.
Shields.
I. Eared.
25. Heater.
2. Earecl-couped.
26, 27, 28, 29. Square.
3. Round-eared.
30. Kite-shaped, triangular.
4. Scroll-eared.
31. „ Norman square top.
5. Cusped and square-eared.
32. „ Convex top.
6. Prick-eared.
33. „ Pear.
7. Convex.
34, 35. Roman.
8. Wavy.
36. Gothic, concave.
9. Concave.
37. „ engrailed.
10. Braced, cusp inwards.
38. „ peaked engrailed
11. „ „ outwards.
with bouche.
12. Wedged.
39. Gothic, rounded, with
13. Engrailed one cusp.
bouche.
14. „ two cusps.
40. Italian cartouche.
1 5, „ three cusps.
41. Spanish, bighted.
16. „ and peaked.
17. Nicked.
42, 43, 44. Dutch, German.
45. Concave.
46, 47. Ovoid.
Bases of Shields.
48, 49, 50, 51. Elizabethan.
18. Braced outward.
52, 53. Stuart.
19. Ogee.
54, 55, 56, 57- Queen Anne.
20. Angular.
58, 59. Rococo.
21. Three lobed cusped.
60. Georgian Spade.
22. Round.
61. „ cusped and wedged.
23. Pointed.
62. College of Arms.
24. Nowy.
63, 64, 65, 66, 67. Victorian.
r^ r^Tn r-grl riornriir^ ^
r~~^-i ^T" 1 HfeTi tioT^ 1 1^ l
U2J 1^ k2o; L^J ^aj V23/ U24vJ
wfSfcii! mm
LITERARY BOOK-PLATE" OF W. H. K. WRIGHT.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH
BOOK-PLATES.
WORKS IN VOLUME FORM.
WARREN, M.A. (The Hon. J. Leicester). Guide to
the Study of Book-plates. Plates.
London, John Pearson, 8vo., 1880.
GRIGGS (W.) Eighty-three examples of Book-plates
from various collections. Plates. Privately printed.
W. Griggs, Hanover Street, Peckham, London, 4to,
1884.
Illustrations of Armorial China. Plates.
Privately printed, folio, 1887.
Contains a number of facsimiles of book-plates.
Examples of Armorial Book-plates. Second
Series. Plates.
London, W. Griggs and Sons,Ld.,4to, [1891] 1892.
FRANKS, F.R.S., V.P.S.A. (Augustus W.) Notes on
Book-plates, No. 1, English dated Book-plates, 1574-
1800.
Printed for private distribution, 8vo, 32 pp., 1887.
Rylands, F.S.A. (J. Paul). Notes on Book-plates
(ex-libris), with special reference to Lancashire and
Cheshire examples, and a proposed nomenclature for
Jhe shapes of shields. Plates.
Liverpool, privStely printed, demy 4to, 1889.
332 English Book-plates.
Also in " Transactions of the Historic Society of Lan-
cashire and Cheshire," pp. 1-76, illustrated.
Liverpool, Printed for the Society, 8vo, 1890.
Fincham (H. W.). and Brown, F.R.G.S. (James
Roberts). A bibliography of book-plates.
Plymouth, printed for private distribution, 8vo, 24 pp.
1892.
Castle, M.A., F.S.A. (Egerton). English Book-plates.
Plates.
London, George Bell and Sons, imp. i6mo, 1892.
Hamilton (Walter). French Book-plates. Plates.
London, George Bell and Sons, imp. i6mo, 1892.
Hardy, F.S.A. (W. J.). Book-plates. Plates.
London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner and Co., 8vo,
1893.
The large paper edition contains four additional plates.
Vicars (Arthur), [Ulster King of Arms.]
Book-plates (Ex-libris). —
Series I. Library Interior Book-plates.
Series II. Literary Book-plates.
Series III. Book-pile Ex-libris.
Reprinted with additions and corrections from the
Ex-libris Journal, with about forty illustrations.
Bibliography. 333
Contributions to Periodicals, etc.
"THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE."
Remarks on the Invention of Book-plates, Part II.,
613. 1822.
Book-plates (C.S.B.), Part I., 198-9. 1823.
Fourth Series, Vol. I. Book-plates, Ancient and
Modern, with Examples (J. Leighton, F.S.A.), illustrated.
Part I., pp. 798-804. 1866.
Reprinted in the " Ex-Libris Journal," July 1891 ;
also reprinted in the " British and Colonial Printer and
Stationer," Aug. 6, 189 1.
"NOTES AND QUERIES.
First Series. Book-plates, whimsical one, vi. 32 ;
motto, i. 212 ; early, iii. 495 ; iv. 46, 93, 354 ; vii. 26 ; xi.
265, 351, 471 ; xii. 35, 114. 1849-1855.
Second Series. Book-stamps, armorial, x. 409.
1856-1861.
Third Series. Book-plates, armorial, vi. 306 ; their
heraldic authority, xii. 1 17, 218 ; by R.A., wood-engraver,
viii. 308. 1862-1867.
Fourth Series. Book-plates, armorial, iv. 409, 518;
v. 65, 210, 286; ix. 160; exchanged, x. 519. 1 868-1873.
Fifth Series. , Book-plate, R. T. Pritchett's, ix. 29, 75 ;
query, x. 428 ; armorial, i. 386 ; exchanged, i. 60, 199, ii.
•159; punning, iv. 464, v. 35 ; handbook of, vi. 465, vii.
334 English Book-plates.
36, 76 ; heraldic, vi. 369, 543, vii. 28, 36, 76, 233, 435,
515 ; earliest known, vii. 76, 235 ; mottoes on, vii. 427,
viii. in, 258; collections, vii. 435, 515, viii. 38, 79, 118,
158, 178, 360, xi. 260 ; dated, viii. 200, 298, 397, 517, ix.
198, xi. 446, xii. 33 ; how to arrange collections, ix. 20 ;
papers on, ix. 360. 1874- 1879.
Sixth Series. Book-plates, collections of, i. 2, 178,
197, 266, 386, ii. 272, 302, vi. 161, 298, x. 24; of Lord
Keane and others, i. 336, ii. 34, 94, 255 ; "As" on, i.
516 ; armorial, ii. 367, 396, 427, iii. 73, 126, 278, 298, xi.
267,410; their removal, ii. 445, 491, iii. 31 ; their arrange-
ment, iii. 28, 130, 195 ; dated, iii. 204, 302, iv. 206, 247,
466, 486, v. 9, 78, 151, vi. 357, vii. 146, 166, ix. 480, x.
34; accumulated, iii. 289, 473, iv. 16; Burton, iii. 386;
their collection, 402 ; cryptographic, 403 ; with astro-
nomical symbols, 429 ; something new in, 506 ; Austro-
Hungarian, 508 ; with Greek mottoes, iv. 266, 414, 497,
v. 296, 457, vi. 136, 218, 398, vii. 295, 304, 336, viii. 278 ;
their mounting, iv. 305 ; their exchange, v. 46 ; curious,
v. 226, 305, 374, 457, vi. 15, 76; Bishop of Clonfert's,
1698, v. 346; portrait, v. 407; vi. 14, 157; Joseph
Ignace's, vi. 6$, 237 ; Rev. Adam Clarke's, vii. 304 ;
foreign, viii. 268, 298 ; John Collet's, 1633, ix. 308, 437 ;
Boteler, x. 27; unidentified, 129; German, 269, 373;
Arthur Charlett's, xi. 267, 411, 433, 451 ; ancient, xii. 8,
7S ; heraldic, 10, 429; parochial, 69, 152 ; typographical,
288, 352, 415 ; their antiquity, 512. 1880-1885.
The Book-plate's Petition. A poem (Austin Dobson).
iii. 31- 1881.
Seventh Series. Book-plates, English, mentioned in
1720, i. 65 ; heraldic, i. 448, ii. 15, 56 ; Graeme, ii. 49, 98,
1 54 ; with inscription, 364 ; " I love my books," etc., ii.
410, 455 : date of, iii. 248; owner of, iv. 109 ; spurious,
iv. 148, 212 ; engraved by Heylbrouck, v. 48, 174; of
Suffolk, vi. 508; Friedrich Nicolai's, xi. 109, 213, 333;
Ex-Libris Society, 160, 360. 1 886-1 891.
Bibliography. 335
Eighth Series. Book-plates, Boyer, 1.7 ; royal, i. 126,
175; Rabelais's, ii. 147; armorial, ii. 188, 274, 490, iii.
97 ; Mountaine and Burden engravers of, i. 247, 324.
Book-lending and Book-losing, i. 322 ; Ex-Libris Society,
ii. 500 ; English Book-plates, a review, iii. 79 ; Portraits
as Book-plates, iii. 81, 129, 210; French Book-plates, a
review, iii. 160. London, 4to, 1892. In Progress.
" MISCELLANEA GENEALOGICA ET HERALDICA."
Howard, LL.D., F.S.A. (Joseph Jackson). Illus-
trated. Vol. I. Examples of Armorial Book-plates :
Hooke, 1703; Rogers, 1700; Rogers, Gage, 1805;
Dallaway, 284 : Billingsley, Egerton, 1707 ; Snell, 299.
1868.
Vol II., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : Barker, 505; Beddington, 244; Bowden, 525;
De Burgo, 1720, 28y ; Cary-Elwes, 556 ; Furneaux, 170 ;
Gomm, 184; Haslewood, 128; Hilliard, Sy ; Lorimer,
421 ; Palmer, 487 ; Potter, 570; Waldy, 583. 1877.
Vol. III., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : Andrews, 171; Bedford, 189; Carson, 156;
Burr, 156; Courthope, 327; Dalton, 438; Fenwick,
note respecting Bewick, 433 ; Gregory, 290 ; Harington,
1706, 195; Hoblyn, 353; Hyett, 95; Jackson, 402;
Millard, 445; Mitchell, 101, 143; Nott, 1763, 233;
Ridgway, 1871, 47 ; St. George, 82 ; Strangeways, 22 ;
Tomes, 273 ; Waggett, 182 ; Walters, 226, 252 ; White,
1878, 206 ; Woodroffe, 65. 1880.
Vol. IV., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : Carew, 1 54 ; Clutton, 300 ; Collins, 274 ;
Fletcher, 214; Gidley, 19; Hayman, 54; Heysham,
•575 ; Heywood, 202 ; Humphry, 314 ; Littleton, 166 ;
336 English Book-plates.
Lynch, 387; Meade, 6 ; Pole, 131; Pringle, 190;
Symons, 250 ; Soltau, 250 ; Traherne, 102 ; Underhill,
78 ; Wickham, 67 ; Wilmer, 238 ; Wilmer Ex Dono,
1599,238. 1884.
Second Series, Vol. I., illustrated. Examples of
Armorial Book-plates : Brownlowe, 1698, 221 ; Chauncy,
28; Chetwode, 85 ; Lady Mary Booth, Chetwood, 122;
Conder, 61 ; Dade, 311 ; Dering, 1630, 285 ; Elizabeth,
Countess of Exeter, 268 ; Murray, 347 ; Shank, 235 ;
Smith, 347 ; Walpole, 364. 1886.
Vol. II., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : Bartlett, 294 ; Biss, 152 ; Draper, 24 ; Owen, 368 ;
Scheurl-Tucker, by A. Diirer, 104-5, I2C S Gibson, 196.
1888.
Vol. III., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : Burfoot, 396, Barton, 188; Rachel, Dutchess of
Beaufort, 1706, 276; Conduit, 188; Darwin, 1737, 17;
Darwin, 1771, 17; Dering, 1630, 56; Dering, 56;
Hopkins, 261 ; Keith, 88 ; Monypenny, 56 ; Shuckburgh,
256 ; Toilet, 72 ; Taddy, 261 ; Webster, 37. 1889.
Vol. IV., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : N. D'Eye, 25 ; Ball, R. Ball Dodson, 41 ; Paul
Jodrell, 89; Vassall, 120 ;' Cooke, 1712, 136; S r G.
Cooke, 1727, 152; Harrison, 1698, 168; Langley, 184;
Wyndham, 201 ; Prentice, 216 ; Yardley, 1721, Yardley,
1739, 232. 1891.
Vol. V., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book-
plates : Richard Pritchett, 89; John Benson, 104;
(Phillips, 1892), 136; (Thomas Carter), 166; Sir John
Cullum and Dame Susanna, 1760; John Cullum,
Rev d Sir John Cullum, Richard Merry, Thomas Gery
Cullum, Sir Tho 8 Gery Cullum, Mary Hanson 1773,
Thomas Gery Cullum, Rev d Sir Thomas Gery Cullum,
Mary Anne Cullum, S. A. Milner Gibson, Gery Milner
Bibliography. 337
Gibson Cullum, Reginald Gurney, Arethusa Robertson,
Gery Milner Gibson Cullum, 193. Irish Book-plates :
Thomas Ridgate Maunsell, Sisson Darling, 264 ; Richard
Baldwin, John Butler, 281. London, royal 8vo, 1893.
WiNSOR (Justin). A catalogue of the collection of
books and manuscripts which formerly belonged to the
Rev d Thomas Prince now deposited in the
Public Library of the city of Boston, v.-viii. illustrated.
Boston, (U.S.A.) 4to, 1870.
Describes the various Book-plates of the Rev. Thomas
Prince, 1687-1758.
The Art Journal. Notes on Book-plates (M. A.
Tooke), illustrated, 267-270.
London, folio, September, 1876.
"THE ANTIQUARY.
Vol. I. Notes on Book-plates, 75-77 ; Book-plates
(W. Hamilton), 117-118; Book-plates, 189; Notes on
Curious Book-plates, 236-237 ; another Chapter on
Book-plates (Alfred Wallis), 256-259. 1880.
Vol. II. A Supplementary Chapter on Book-plates,
6-10; An Essay on Book-plates (E. P. Shirley), 115-
118; Book-plates, 133,272. 1880.
Vol. III. Reviews : "A Guide to the Study of Book-
plates," jj. 1 88 1.
Vol. IV Last Words on Book-plates, 106- 1 11. 1881.
Vol. V. Book-plates, 85-86. 1882.
Vol. VII. Book-plates, early reference to, 231. 1883.
"Vol. XIII. Book-plate, S31, 278. 1886.
z
338 English Book-plates.
Vol. XIX. Book-plates, proposed magazine for, 39.
1889.
Vol. XXIII. A Notice of the Ex-Libris Society, 142.
1891.
Vol. XXV. Unique Book-plate, Erasmus and Dr.
Hector Pomer (H. W. Pereira), illustrated, 242-244.
London, Elliot Stock, 4to, 1892.
" WESTERN ANTIQUARY."
Edited by, W. H. K. Wright, F. R. Hist. Soc.
Vol. I. Book-plates, Francis Drake's, 32, illustrated ;
proposed work on, by Walter Hamilton, 174. 1881.
Vol. II. Book-plates, local, 197; armorial, 211, 212,
illustrated. 1882.
Vol. IV Book-plate of J. O. H. Glynn, 38, illus-
trated. 1885.
Vol. VII. Curious Book-lines, by George Wightwick,
160-161. 1888.
The Book-plate Collector's Miscellany, a
monthly supplement to the " Western Antiquary," illus-
trated. Edited by W. H. K. Wright, F.R.H.S.
Plymouth, W. H. Luke, 4to, 1 890-1 891.
"PALATINE NOTE BOOK."
Vol. I. Book-plates, 15, 16, 30, 52-53, 69, 114, 195 ;
illustrated, 217; of Jesus Coll., Camb., 128; Walpole's,
209. 1 88 1.
Bibliogi'aphy. 339
Vol. II. Book-plates, 18 ; illustrated. 1882.
Vol. III. Book-plates, 51, 97, 237, 191, illustrated.
Manchester, 4to, 1883.
"ANTIQUARIAN MAGAZINE AND BIBLIOGRAPHER.'''
Edited by E. WALFORD, M.A.
Vol. I. Notes on English Book-plates, No. I. (W. J.
Hardy), 173-177, illustrated. 1882.
Vol. II. Notes on English Book-plates, No. II.
(J. Harrop), 53-55, illustrated ; on Book-plates (F. J.
Thairlwall), 277-280, illustrated ; Book-plates, 48, 106,
161, 322. 1882.
Vol. III. Book-plates (D. P[arsons]), 2-7, 53-56, illus-
trated (R. Day), 272-273 ; Book-plates, 104, 161, 274.
1883.
Vol. IV. Book-plates (W. Hamilton), 110-111. 1883.
Vol. V. A Bibliography of Book-plates (W. Hamilton).
78-80; Book-plates, 106, 107, 162, 217.
London, royal 8vo, 1884.
Printing Times and Lithographer. Curiosities
of Book-plates, 265-268, 290-292.
London, Wyman and Sons, 4to, 1882.
The Book Buyer. Some American Book-plates
(Laurence Hutton), illustrated, 7-9, 63-65, 11 2-1 14, 159-
161. The original and imitation Washington Book-
plates. Practical suggestions for Book-plates, illustrated,
377. New York, Scribner, 4to, 1886.
34-0 English Book-plates.
THE Curio. American book-plates and their en-
gravers (Richard C. Lichtenstein), illustrated, 11-17,
61-66, 110-114. New York, R. W. Wright, folio, 1887.
The Gentleman's Magazine Library. Literary
Curiosities. Book-plates, 82, 85, 325.
London, Elliot Stock, 1
The Bookworm. Book-plates and their mottoes,
205, 1889. A Hunt for Book-plates in Paris (W.
Hamilton), 171-173. The Avery Library Book-plate,
202, 1892. French and English Book-plates. A
review, illustrated, 105-108.
London, Elliot Stock, 8vo, 1893.
Chambers's Encyclopaedia. New Edition, Vol. II.,
309. Book-plates.
London, W. and R. Chambers, 8vo, 1
The LIBRARY. Record of Bibliography. Reviews
of "Die deutschen Biicherzeichen " (Warnecke) and
" Les Ex-Libris" (Bouchot), iii., 17-19. Book-plates
(W. J. Hardy, F.S.A.), iii. 47-53,93-98, 1891. Record
of Bibliography. Reviews of a Bibliography of Book-
plates (Fincham and Brown), iv. 262, 1892. English
Book-plates (Castle). French Book-plates (Hamilton),
v. 61-62. Book-plates (Hardy), v. 148-149.
London, 8vo, 1893.
Journal of the Ex-Libris Society. Illustrated.
Edited by W. H. K. Wright, F. R. Hist. Soc.
London, A. and C. Black, for the Society, 4to, 1891.
In Progress.
Bibliography. 34 1
Saturday Review. The Ex-Libris Society, 27
Feb., 1892. English Book-plates (Castle), a review,
21 Jan., French Book-plates (Hamilton), a review,
1 1 Feb. More about Book-plates, a review of Hardy,
10 June, 1893.
The Collector. Some Historic Book-plates (Dr.
J. H. Dubbs), illustrated, v. 1 51-152, 164-165, 176-177.
German Book-plates of Pennsylvania (Dr. J. H. Dubbs),
illustrated, vi. 3-5. The Book-plate of Jacob Sargeant,
illustrated, vi. 26. Collection of Book-plates, vi. 29.
New York, 4to, 1892.
The Studio. Designing for Book-plates with some
recent examples (G[leeson] W[hite]), illustrated, 24-28.
Some recent book-plates, with seven examples, illustrated,
148-150. London, 4to, 1893.
The Scottish Review. Book-plates (H. Gough),
xxi., 315-329. London, 8vo, April, 1893.
Transactions of Learned Societies.
Oxford University Archaeological and Heral-
dic Society. On Book-plates (Rev. Daniel Parsons),
17-25. Oxford, J. Vincent, royal 8vo. 1837.
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.
Description of a Warrington Book-plate (Dr. J. Kend-
rick's), illustrated, 134-135. Liverpool, 8vo, 1854.
Birmingham Central Literary Association.
.Ex-Libris (Robt. Day, F.S. A., M.R.I. A.), illustrated, 1885.
Privately reprinted, 7 pp. 8vo.
342 English Book-plates.
Royal Historical and Archaeological Associa-
tion OF Ireland. Notice of Book-plates by Cork
artists (Robt. Day, F.S.A., M.R.I.A.) No. 61, Vol. vii,
1885. Privately reprinted, 7 pp. 8vo.
New England, Historical and Genealogical
REGISTER. Early New England and New York
Heraldic Book-plates (Richard C. Lichtenstein), xl., 195-
299, 1886. Early Southern Heraldic Book-plates, xli.
296. Boston, 8vo, 1887.
Privately reprinted.
BOOK-PLATE OF W. H. BRACKETT.
By Oliver Brackett.
INDEX.
E23JBBEY,E.A,2 3 4,235,
236, 299.
: Adams" style, 26,
102, 106.
Adams, Robert, 105.
• Adaptations, 27, 171, 286.
"Aerial " plates, 156.
Aide, Hamilton, 181, 184.
Alboise, Charles d', 37.
" Allegoric " plates, 23, 27, 79,
117, 133' l 34, 187, 214,
245-
Althorp Library, 177, 178.
American Dictionary of Print-
ing, etc., 6.
American plates, 22.
Amman Jost, or Just, 12, 36.
Anderson, John, Junr., 145,
147.
Angell, Samuel, 188.
Anselm, Father, 162, 167.
"Antiquarian Magazine and
Bibliographer," 339.
"Antiquary," 15, 337.
"Architectural" plates, 117,
254.
Arch. Soc. Co. Kildare, 179,
• 180.
^-Argyll, Duke of, 160.
11
"Armorial" plates, 25, 214,
287, 296.
Arrangement of a collection,
320, 321.
Ashbee, H. S., 132, 279.
Ashmole. Elias, 130, 131.
Ashton, H., 122, 125.
" At the Sign of the Lyre," 233.
Avril, Paul, 279.
Aylesford plate, 126, 127.
Aylorde, Henry, 202, 203.
Babel, 82.
Bacon, Nicholas, 42, 43.
Bailey, William, 153, 155, 156.
Bain, Mr., 191.
Bainbridge, C. E., 145, 148,
149.
Bancks, John, 79, 80.
Baring-Gould, Rev. S., 182,.
184.
Barlow, 144.
Barritt, Thomas, 132.
Barrow, Rev. W., 105, 108,
in.
Bartolozzi, 12, 134, 136, 138,
139, 280.
Bateman, R., 185, 186.
344
English Book-plates.
Bath, Dowager Countess of,
62.
Batten, J. D , 225, 243, 245,
246, 326.
Beardsley, A., 260.
Beaufort, Rev. D. A., 113.
Beddard, F. C, 249, 250, 251.
Bedford, 4th Duke of, 72, 75.
Beham, Hans Sebald, 36.
Bell, A. G., 268, 273.
Bell, R. Anning, 274, 277,
279, 283.
Bellay, 82.
Bennett, Rev. Canon, 114,
116.
Besant, Walter, 229, 230.
Bessborough, Henrietta Coun-
tess of, 9, 138.
Bewick, T., 12, 145, 146, 147,
148, 254.
Bibliography, 331.
Bickham, 77, 79, 80.
Billinge, 122, 125.
Birmingham Central Literary
Association, 341.
Blackburn, Mr., 192.
Blondel, 82.
Blundell of Crosby, 309.
Bolas, Thomas, 120, 122.
Bohngbroke, Chas., 125.
"Bombe" decoration, 76, 79,
80, 84.
"Book Buyer, The," 339.
" Book-pile," 13, 27, 117, 290.
" Book-plate Collector's Mis-
cellany," 21, 44, 305, 308,
338.
Book-plate engravers, 17, 323.
" Book-plate petition," the,
316, 317.
" Bookworm, The," 340.
Boteler, William, 144, 145.
Boucher, 12, 82.
Bouchot, Henri, 19, 21, 24, 30,
3 1 * 3 6 , 3 8 , 39, 178, 213,
313.
Boxall, Sir William, 188.
Brackett, Oliver, 342.
Brackett, W. H., 342.
Brandenburg, Brother Hilde-
brand, of Biberach, 33.
Bree, Rev. W. T., 126, 129.
Brierly, Sir O. W., 203, 204.
Brodrick, St. John, 59, 60, 61.
Brooke, Rev. A. Stopford,
253-
Brooke, L. Leslie, 251, 252,
253, 254.
Brookfield, Mrs., 192.
Broughton, Dr. A., 142, 143.
Brown, J, Roberts, xiii, 14,
20, 87, 239, 240, 325.
Browne, Gordon, 212.
Browning, Oscar, 220, 221,
226.
Bryan's Dictionary of En-
gravers, 323.
Buckle, H. T., 154, 156.
Burke, Sir Bernard, 22, 267,
322.
Burton, J., 125.
Butken, Christophe, 57.
Buxheim Plate, ^^.
Byfield, Mary, 182.
Bysshe, 49, 52.
Caldecott, Randolph, 192,
193, 195-
Campbell, Hon. Archibald,
59, 61, 289.
Campbell, Mrs., 217, 218.
Campbell, T., 93, 94.
Carlander; C. M., 19.
Carlyle, Thomas, 168.
"Carolian" Style, 25, 42, 48,
62.
Carter, Thomas, 67.
"Cartouche," 51.
CasselPs Encyclopaedic Dic-
tionary, 5.
Castle, Agnes, 268, 269, 280,
300, 301, 311.
Castle, Egerton, 268, 269, 301,
33 2 -
Caulfield, 150, 151.
Chamberlayne, Miss E., xiii.
Chambers, Sir W., 102.
" Chambers's Encyclopaedia,"
34o.
"Chippendale," 16, 26, 67,
79, 81, 83, 102, 133.
Chippendale, Thomas, 83.
"Chippendalism," 87, 88, 100,
108.
Choffard, 82.
Choice of a Plate, 285, 292.
Cipriani, 12, 136, 138, 139,
280.
Clarke, H. Savile, 166, 167,
"Classes," 23, 27, 28, 319.
Classification of Styles, 23,
168.
Cleaning plates, 321.
"Collector, The," 341.
" Collegiate " plates, 178.
Collings, J. K., 202.
Collins, J., 82.
Colombiere, Vulson de la, 57,
167.
Colthurst, Augustus, 151.
Cook, 143.
•Cook, Capt. J., 114. •
Cooper, J. D., 195.
Index. 545
Corbett, Matthew Ridley, 208,
Cornwallis, 5th Baron, 78, 79,
87.
Corpus Christi College, Ox-
ford, 70.
Cottes, 82.
Coutts, Money, 245, 246.
Cox, H. Fisher, 254.
Craig, Sir T., 137.
Cranach, Lucas, 36.
Crane, Walter, 195, 201, 226,
227, 228, 229, 230.
Crawhall plate, 178, 179.
Crosby Hall, 309, 310.
"Curio, The," 340.
"Curled endive," 80, 84.
Curwen, 288, 289.
Cussans, J. E., 173, 177.
Cuvillier, 82.
"D'Anvers, N.," 268.
Davies, F. Trehawke, 303,
304-
Day, Robert, 19, 150, 175,
177.
Dibdin, T. Frognall, 156.
Dickens, Charles, 168, 171,
293, 294.
Dickinson,
Charles, 106,
4, *53>
109.
"Die-Sinker" style,
154, 168.
Doble, C. E., 222, 223.
Dobson ; Austin, 146, 233, 290,
3 l6 > 3 r 7-
Drummond, Dr. T., 137.
Diirer, Albert, 12, 34, 36, 130,
3 2 4-
Dyer, Charles, 112, 113.
346
English Book-plates.
" Early Armorial," 25, 41, 56,
76, 160, 287.
Early Georgian, 26, 58, 68, 69,
75, 76, 79-
Ebner, Hieronymus, 35.
Eisen, 82.
" Eloges Mortuaires," 39.
"Emblematic" plates, 27,
187, 208, 214, 221, 239.
Eton College, 177.
Evans, F. H., 261, 264,
267.
Evans, Sir John, 182, 183.
Eve, G. W., 160, 162, 326.
" Ex-Libris," 1, 2, 4, 5, 28, 30,
286, 305. 3 2 5-
"Ex-Libris Journal," 14, 20,
21, 204, 308, 323, 340.
"Ex-Librism," 294.
Ex-Libris Society, 20, 21, 239,
3 2 3, 324-
Eynes, 51, 52.
Faithorne, YY\, 130.
Family book-plates, 309.
Fane, 62.
Farr, Samuel, 142.
Fawkes, Richard, 38, 130,
181.
Feminine plates, 62, 100.
Ferguson, C., T65.
"Festoon" style, 26, 76, 100,
106, in.
Fincham, H. W., vii, 14, 20,
29, 132.
Fitzgerald, Edward, 191, 192,
229.
Fitzgerald, Rev. W., 265, 267.
Floral-Rococo, 100.
Folkard, Henry, 211, 212,
214.
Foote, Benjamin Hatley, 88,
89.
Ford, E. Onslow, 223, 224,
225^
Forestier, C, 243, 247.
Foster, J., 162.
Frampton, Christabel, 278,
283.
Francis I., 31.
Franks, A. W., 13, 17, 64, 131:
Frederick, Sir Charles, 93,
101.
French book-plates, 37, 38.
"Funereal" plates, 113.
Fust, Sir Francis, 67.
Genouillac, Gordon de, 57.
"Genre" plates, 23, 27, 214,
239> 268, 303.
"Gentleman's Magazine," 15,
333-
"Gentleman's Magazine Lib-
rary, The," 340.
Georgian, 25.
"Georgian," Early, 25, 58, 68,
6 9, 75, 76, 79-
Georgian, Later, 26, 102, 107,
117.
Georgian, Middle, 26, 79, 81,
83.
Gere, C. M., 257, 258.
German book-plates, 31, 38.
" German Style, Old," 36.
Gibbons, Grinling, 26, 76,
102.
Gibbs, James, 82.
Gift plates, 33, 44, 62.
Gladstone, W. E., 208, 209.
Glazebrook, Swanbrook, 159.
Goddard, W. K, 277, 278.
Gore, 52.
Index.
347
Gosse, Edmund, 192, 234,
2 35> 299.
"Gossip in a Library," 235.
Gravelot, 12, 82, 120, 121,
125, 126, 137, 280.
Graves, R. E., 323.
Gray, J. M., 248, 250.
Gray's Inn, 123, 125, 126.
Greenaway, Kate, 196, 199,
201.
Gribelin, 280, 290.
Griggs, W., 17, 18, 42, 48, 69,
33 1 -
Groher, 31, 32, 306.
Guigard, Johannis, 4, 15.
Gulston, Elize, 99, 100.
Gwyn, Francis, of Lansanor,
58, 60, 287.
Hacket, John, 130.
Haggard, H. Rider, 281.
Halkett, C. R., 248, 249, 250,
251-
Hamilton, Walter, 19, 20, 21,
290, 291, 308, 332.
Hardy, W. J., 8, 9, 18, 19, 44,
130,136,254,255,256,332.
Harrison, T. Erat, 208, 209,
211, 222, 223, 224, 292.
Harvey, 144.
Hawks, G., 147, 148.
Heath, S. H, 259.
Heckell, A., 82.
Henshaw, 134.
Henslow, J., 101.
Hepplewhite, 105.
" Heraldic - Allegoric," 171,
187.
"Heraldic-Bucolic," 100.
# Heraldic-Emblematic," 208,
" Heraldic-Ruinous," 100.
" Heraldic - Symbolic," 171,
187, 202.
Heraldry, 24, 141, 160, 258,
2 99> 3°3, 3 2 4-
Heriot, Chas., 97, 98.
Hewer, William, 118, 119.
Hieroglyphic plates, 280, 281,
282.
Historic Society of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire, 341.
Hogarth, William, 9, 12, 134,
136, 290.
Hogg, Warrington, 268, 271,
275-
Holbein, 36.
Holies, Lady Henrietta Caven-
dish, 9, 136.
Holme, C, 259, 260, 263.
Home, H. P., 295, 303, 304.
Housman, L., 308.
IJowitt, 148, 149.
Hubbald, 98, 100, 141.
Huth, Henry, 310, 312.
Hutton, Lawrence, 19.
Identification of plates, 322,
3 2 3-
"Igdrasil," 214, 216, 273.
Igler, Hans, 32.
Inglis, E., 236, 237.
Ireland, John, 9.
Irving, Henry, 239.
Isham, Sir Thomas, 8.
Italian book-plates, 38.
Jackson, Robert, 239, 241, 305.
Jackson, W. C, 20.
"Jacobean," 16, 26, 58, 62,
68, 69, 71, 76, 78, 79, 102,
*33> 1 34-
Jewers, Arthur, 20, 44, 47.
348
English Book-plates.
Jones, Inigo, 68.
Keene, Charles, 295, 296.
" Kernoozer," 13.
" Kernoozer's Club," 300.
Kildare Co. Arch. Ass., 179,
180.
Kitchin, G., 264, 267.
Kneller, 131.
Knight, J., 132.
Label, 32, 241.
Laguerre, 136.
La Joue, 82.
Lake, Ernest, 219.
" Landscape," armorial, 145.
"Landscape," non-armorial,
149, 214.
Landscape plates, 23, 27, 96,
100, 114, 117, 141, 251,
2 53> 2 59> 3°°-
Lane, John, 216.
Lane, W., 149, 150.
Lang, Andrew, 315.
Larking, John, 107, 109.
Larking, J. Wingfield, 158.
Larousse, Dictionnaire, 5.
" Leather Label," 179.
Le Clerc, Sebastien, 78.
Leicester, Sir Peter, 55.
Leighton, John, 2, 19, 20,
202, 203, 204, 205, 333.
Leinster, Duke of, 179.
" Library, The," 340.
" Library Interior," 13, 23, 27,
117, 120, 122, 134, 214,
23°» 239, 245, 263, 267,
268, 269, 278, 297.
Lichtenstein, R. C., 19.
" Limner, Luke," 203, 204,
205.
"Lining," 61, 72, 87.
"Literary" plates, 117, 126,
330-
" Little Masters," xiii, 36.
Lloyd, Rev. J., 77, 79, 133.
Locker, Frederick, 195, 196,
197, 201.
Locker- Lampson, F., 196.
Locker-Lampson, Godfrey,
199, 20T.
Loftie, Rev. J., 184, 185, 186,
286, 281, 282.
Loggan, David, 8.
"Louis Quatorze," 77.
Lumisden, A., 135, 137.
Lyell, Sir C, 298.
Lyon King of Arms, 165.
Lyttelton, Edward, 48.
Macdonald, W. Rae, 248, 249.
Macgregor, General, 108.
Maioli, 31, 32.
Maister, Henry, 71, 73,
Manning, W., 263.
Marks, H. Stacy, 196, 197,
239, 240, 241, 242, 325.
Marks, Walter D., 242, 305.
Marshall, William, 48.
Marsham, 52.
Martin, John, 294.
Mason, Dame Margaretta, 69,
70.
Mathews, C. Elkin, 244, 248.
Mayo, Earl of, 61, 179, 288,
289.
Meade, L. T., 218.
Meehan, J. F., 20.
Meissonier, J. A., 82.
Mending plates, 321, 322.
Menestrier, 52.
Menestrier, 297.
Index.
349
Middleton-Wake, Rev. C. H.,
184.
Millais, Sir J. E., 187, 189.
Miller, J. S., 82.
" Miscellanea Genealogica et
Heraldica," 15, 48, 335.
Mock- Heraldry, 157.
"Modern-Armorial," 25, 26,
i5 2 > T 57 5 162, 168.
"Modern Die-Sinker" style,
114, 153, 154, 305.
Montagu, F. C., 295, 296.
Morell, 293.
Moring, A., 126.
Morris, W., 257.
Muilman, Peter, 255.
Mynde, J., 255.
Naas, Co. Kildare, 179.
"Napkin," 59, 131, 248, 287.
Nash, Robert, 85, 87.
Neele, S., 114.
Neild, Jas., 144,
New, E. H., 256, 257.
New England Historical and
Genealogical Register, 342.
Nicholson, Gilbert, 64, 65,
67.
Nisbet, Hume, 324.
Nixon, J. Forbes, 161, 162,
163.
Nomenclature of book-plates,
24, 28, 168.
Northbourne, Lord, 208.
" Notes and Queries," 15, 316,
333-
Oppenort, 82.
Ord, John, 96, 100, 141.
J3xford Univ. Arch, and
Heraldic Soc, 15, 341. *
Pain, Barry, 278, 279.
"Palatine Note Book," 338.
Papworth and Morant, 322.
Parsons, Alfred, 233.
Parsons, Rev. Daniel, 15, 61,
286, 287.
Partridge, Bernard, 239.
Paton, A. V., 258.
Patterson, Jane, 274, 278.
Pepys, Samuel, 7, 53, 56, 119,
t3h 132, 3 2 5-
" Periwig" style, 57.
"Permak's Bleacher," 321.
Perotte, 82.
Perris, J., 230.
"Personal" plates, 10, 214,
303- .
"Perugini, Madame," 219.
Petra Santa, Sylvester de, 48,
57, 167.
Philpott, Rev. R. S., 256, 257.
"Phiz," 212.
"Phrases of Book-possession,"
304, 306, 307.
"Pictorial" plates, 27, 117,
214, 239, 296.
"Pile of Books," 119, 126,
290.
Pine, J., 123, 125, 126, 134,
136.
Pinson plate, 37.
Piranesi, 280.
Pirckheimer, Bilibald, 34, 36,
130.
Pollard, W., 308.
Pollock, Sir Fred., 280.
Pollock, W. H., 280, 281,
325.
Pomer, Dr. Hector, 35, 36.
Ponsonby, Hon. Gerald, xiii,
119, 138, 289, 290.
35°
English Book-plates.
"Portrait" plates, 27, 130,
239, 278.
Poulet-Malassis, 15, 21.
"Pounced" style, 181, 295.
Prescott, Dr., 161, 167.
Printers' marks, 27, 40, 167.
"Printers' mark" style, 171,
181, 295, 296.
" Printing Times and Litho-
grapher," 339.
" Process " reproduction, xiii,
159, 3 11 -
"Processes," 311, 325.
Proprietary formulae, 306,
3°7-
Punning plates, 221.
"Queen Anne" style, 6S, 75,
76, 77, 96.
Queen, H,M. The, 182.
Raby, Baron, 59.
Railcon, H., 255, 256.
"Rebus" plates, 171, 221,
279.
" Regence " style, 80, 300.
Removal of book-plates, 313,
314, 315, 316, 318, 319.
"Restoration" style, 25, 41,
42, 56, 60, 64, 132, 289.
Ricketts, Charles, 214, 215.
Roberts, H., 82.
Robertson, A., 248.
Robinson, 160, 173, 177.
" Rocaille," 80, 81, 92.
"Rococo," 26, 77, 80, 81, 82,
117, 268, 297.
early, 87.
drooping, 97.
later, 95.
Rorfet, 31.
Rogers, Samuel, 109, no.
Royal Historical and Archaeo-
logical Assoc, of Ireland,
342. _
"Rubaiyat," 191, 228, 229.
" Ruin" plates, 149.
Russell, John Scott, 207.
Rylands, Harry, 296, 297.
Rylands, J. Paul, ix, xiii, 16,
17, 18, 19, 24, 41, 132, 162,
186, 331.
St. Quintin, Sir W., 118.
Salisbury, Hatfield plate, 103,
107, 310.
Samwell, T. S. W., 120, 125,
126.
"Saturday Review," 341.
Scarth, Leveson, 254, 268,
271.
Scollop shell, 76, 80, 91.
"Scotch Chippendale," 98.
Scott, John, mark of, 39, 181.
Scott, W. Bell, 132, 202, 203,
23 I >. 2 33> 2 34-
"Scottish Review, The," 341.
" Seal" class, 27, 171.
plates, 173.
Seaman, Mr., 192, 193, 195.
"Sentiment" plates, 10, 28,
34, 202, 229, 242, 246, 260,
300, 308.
" Sette of Odd Volumes," 239,
263.
Seyringer, J., 16.
Sharp, Charles, 224, 226.
Sheldon, 52.
Sheraton, 105, 106.
Sherborn, C. W., xiii, 20, 159,
160, 208, 292, 326.
Sherwin, 134.
Index.
35i
Shields, forms of modern, 168,
328, 329.
"Ship Ex-libris," 204.
Shorter, Clement, 228, 229,
246, 247, 255, 256, 257.
" Silver Tray" plates, 114.
Simcox, Martha, 63.
Simienowicz, 298.
Skeaping, K. M., 224, 226.
Skelton, John, 139.
Skinner, J., 91.
Slater, J. H., 323.
Slater, VV. Brindley, 242, 244.
Smith, Egerton, 71.
Smith, Matthew, 91, 92.
Soane, Harry, 20, 182, 183,
184, 298.
Solis, Virgil, 36.
Solomon, Simeon, 220, 221.
Somerset, Lady Heniretta, 70.
Somervell, Arthur, 252.
Southwell, 52.
" Spade" style, 102, 107,114,
142.
" Special " plates, 299.
Spokes, Russell, 296, 298.
" Sports," 23.
Spray, 112.
Stitt, Carlton, 290.
Strange, Sir Robert, 12, 135,
i3 6 > !37-
Strawberry Hill Plate, 143,
146.
"Studio, The," 341.
"Styles," 16, 23, 26, 28,
3 J 9-
" Super-libros," 4, 299.
Sweetman, Henry, 88.
Sweetman plate, 311, 312.
Sydenham, Sir Philip, 119. •
Sykes, Sir Christopher, 187,
188, 189.
"Symbolic" plates, 27, 185,
214.
Sywell, W. W. de, 48.
Tabley, Lord de (see also
Warren, Hon. J. L.), xiii,
16, 41, 55, 68, 159, 233,
2 35-
Tadema, L. Alma, 236, 237.
Tait, Henry, 225, 226.
Tanrego, 141.
Taylor, J., 141, 143.
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 167,
168, 169.
Thackeray, W. Makepeace,
191, 192.
Thibault, Master Girard, 300.
Thorns, W. T., 132.
Thornhill, Sir James, 135.
Thornthwaite, 105.
Tilney, F. C, 261, 264.
Tinctures, 57.
" Torce," 93, 204.
Toro, 82.
Tory, Geoffroy, 31.
Towneley, 7.
Townley, Charles, 139, 149.
"Tree, bookseller's," 184, 248.
of Knowledge," 185,216,
217, 220, 224.
of Literature," 185, 216.
of Wisdom," 248.
Tregaskis, James, 20, 44.
Treshame, Sir Thos., 44, 45.
Treshams, 44.
Trollope, Anthony, 155, 156.
"Trophy" plates, 92.
"Tudoresque" style, 25, 42,
47, 48, 56.
352
English Book-plates.
Turnbull, A. H., 226, 227,
Tyers, James, in.
Types of shields, 328, 329.
"Urn" style, 26, 102, ill,
142.
Vallance, Aymer, 327.
Vanderbank, 136.
Vere, James, 95, 100.
Vertue, George, 8, 12, 134,
136.
" Vesicas," 171, 173.
Vicars, Arthur, xiii, 125, 129,
265, 267, 321,332.
"View" device, 254, 256
" Vignettes," 27.
Vinycomb, J., 174, i75> x 77>
229, 230.
Visiting cards, pictorial, 137,
138.
"Wake Knot," 185.
Walford, E., M.A., 339.
Wall, T., 137.
Walpole, Horace, 8, 146, 147.
Walters, Henry, 88, 91.
Walton, J., no, in.
Ward, Marcus, 230.
Warnecke, F., 19, 32, 34, 36.
Warren, Hon. J. Leicester
(see also Tabley, Lord de),
6, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 26,
36, 68, 70, 72, 76, 81, 84,
134, 136, 145, 187, 231,
3°5> 3° 8 , 3 2 3, 3 2 5, 33 1 -
Watteau, 82, 133.
Wedgwood, Josiah, 105.
Wentworth, Thomas, Baron
Raby, 59.
West, 182.
" Western Antiquary," 21,241,
337.
Wheatley, H. B., 34.
Wheeler, E. J., 240, 243, 244.
" Where Art Begins," 324.
White, Gleeson, xiii, 214, 215,
216, 219, 220. .
White, Sir Robert, 131. ? •
Wilberforce, William, 83, 87.
Wilson, John, 140.
Windsor plate, 182.
Winnington, Francis, 69, 72.
Winsor, Justin, 337.
Winterbotham, 243, 244, 245.
Wolsey, Cardinal, 42.
Wolseley, Gen. Lord, 159.
"Wreath and Ribbon," 26,
102.
"Wreath and Spray," 102.
Wren, Christopher, 68.
Wright, Alan, 216, 217, 218,
219, 220.
Wright, W. H. K., 19, 20, 21,
330, 337.
Wyndham,Wadham, 121, 125,
i34.
Yates, Edmund, 174, 177.
Yeatman, Rev. H. W., 163,
167.
Zaehnsdorf, 293.
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