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OOK-PLATES 








(Qatnell Intoecstty ffiibrarg 



THE GIFT OF 



^.W.HcWLLb 




Cornell University 
Library 



The original of tiiis book is in 
tine Cornell University Library. 

There are no known copyright restrictions in 
the United States on the use of the text. 



http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029546607 



BY THE SAME WRITER. 

SCHOOLS AND MASTERS OF FENCE. George Bell 
AND Sons. New and Revised Edition. 1892. Translated : 
V Escrinie et les Escrimeurs. Paris: P. Ollendorff. 1888. 

CONSEQUENCES. A Novel. Richard Bentley and Son. 
1891. New York : Appleton and Co. 

"LA BELLA" AND OTHERS. Studies of Character and 
Action. Cassell and Company. 1892. New York : Apple- 
ton AND Co. 



i^. /€/^ ^^^t^y^. 



ENGLISH BOOK-PLATES 

(EX-LIBRIS). 




j^.'Baconecjues auracus <^ magni 
figilli (lAngliae Giftos librum hunc hi- 
biiothecae Cantahrig,dicauit , 

1574- 



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. 



i¥-^ 



IFirst edition of i,ooo copies, published December, 1892. 
New and enlarged edition, November, 1893. 




2Jtirctt&b6)3»cpauP(K^Patib6/€rq,/J.@.2t» 









ii« 




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." 



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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-Hbris 
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 i73 

Printers' Mark Style 181 

Heraldic-allegoric 187 

Heraldic-symbolic 202 

Pictorial Non-Heraldic Plates 214 

The Choice of a Book-plate and Book-plate 

Collecting 285 

The Book-plate's Petition 316 

Bibliography of English Book-plates 33 1 

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 i 

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 loi 

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 BoutaU 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 166 

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 
Byfield. (Reproduced by gracious permission.) . . . i8i 

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 



XVlll 



List of Illustrations. 



To face f age 

Portrait Book-Plate of Walter Herries Pollock. 
Photo-etching by Walker and Boutall, from a pen 
drawing by Agnes Castle -°° 

Book-Plate of James Carlton Stitt. Photogravure of 

a design by Simon Gribelin, adapted 290 



Illustrations in the Text. 



PAGE 

Rylands,J.Paul Dedication, i?>6 

Heath, F. R xiv 

Constitutional Club Li- 
brary xvi 

Pepys, Samuel . . . . 7, 53 

Fincham, H. W 29 

Monastery of Buxheim . 33 

Pomer, Hector .... 35 

Pinson, Richard .... 37 

Fawkes, Richard. ... 38 

Scott, John 39 

Treshame, Sir Thomas . 45 

The Bysshe Plate ... 49 

The Eynes Plate ... 51 
Gwyn, Francis, of Lansa- 

nor 58 

Wentworth, Thomas . . 59 
Brodrick, St. John ... 60 
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-HuU .... 73 

John 4th Duke of Bedford 75 

Lloyd, The Rev. J. . . . 77 
Charles, Jth Baron Corn- 

wallis 78 

Bancks, John 79 



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 



91 
92 

93 

94 
9t 
96 

97 



99 

103 
105 
106 
107 
108 
109 
no 
III 
112 

113 
118 
120 
121 
122 
123 
125 
127 
129 

135 
138 



List of IlliLstrations. 



XIX 



Townley, Charles 
Wilson, J. . . 
Farr, Samuel, M.D. 
Broughton, A., M.D- 
Neild, Jas. . . . 
Boteler, William . 
" Strawberiy Hill " plate 
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 
Archseological Society 

The, Co. Kildare 
Aid^, Hamilton ... 
Baring-Gould, The Rev. S 
Evans, Sir John, K.C.B. 
Middleton - Wake, The 

Rev. C. H. . . . 
Loftie, The Rev. W. J, 
Angell, Samuel . . 
Sykes, Christopher . 
Fitzgerald, Edward . 
Seaman, H. G. . . 
Locker, Frederick 195, 196, 
Locker-Lampson, Godfrey 



17 



139 
140 
142 

143 
144 

145 
146 

147 
148 
149 
150 
151 
153 
154 
155 
156 

158 
161 

163 
165 
166 
168 
169 
,293 
173 
174 
175 
177 
178 
179 

180 
181 
182 
183 

184 
185 
188 
189 
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 . 228. 
Besant, Walter . 
Ferris, John . . 
Warren, The Hon 

Leicester . . 
Dobson, Austin . 
Gosse, Edmund . 
Alma Tadema, Lawrence . 
Brown, James Roberts 
Jackson, Robert . . . . 
Marks, Walter 



203 
204 
205 
207 
209 
211 



215, 220 
. 217 
. 218 
. 219 
. 221 
. 222 
. 223 
. 224 
. 225 
. 226 
. 227 

247, 255 

. 229 

230 

231 
233 

234 
237 
240 
241 
242 



B. 



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 261 

Manning, William . . . 263 

Kitchin, George .... 264 

Vicars, Arthur .... 265 

Castle, Egerton .... 269 

Keverstone Library, The . 271 

Bell, A. G. and N. . . . 273 

Patterson, Jane .... 274 

Hogg, Warrington . . . 275 

Goddard, W. Knightley . 277 

Pain, Barry 279 

Pollock, Walter Herries . 280 

Haggard, H. Rider ... 281 

Loftie, The Rev. W. J. . 282 

Frampton, Christabel, A. . 283 

Parsons, The Rev. D. . . 287 



Mayo, The Earl of . . . 288 

Ponsonby,TheHon.Gerald 289 

Hamilton, Walter . . . 291 

Martin, J. S 294 

Home, Herbert P. . . . 295 

Keene, Charles .... 296 

Rylands, Harry .... 297' 

Spokes, Russell .... 298 

Castle, Egerton .... 301 

Davies, F. Trehawke . . 304 

Crosby Hall Library, The 309 

Huth, Frederick Hemy . 310 

Sweetman, Elinor . . . 311 

Vallance, Aymer. . . . 327 

Wright, W. H. K. . . . 330 

Brackett, W. H 342 




ENGLISH BOOK-PLATES. 

(ex libris.) 

INTRODUCTION. 

IHERE 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 super- 
libros — as such luxurious marks have been spe- 
cially termed — is however a subject by itself.^ 

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 
supei'-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 

' 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 litt^rale- 
ment : des livres, d'entre les livres, faisant partie 
des livres, avec le nom du propri6taire. Ces mots 
s'inscrivent ordinairement en t^te de chaque 
volume d'une bibliotheque, avec la signature du 
propridtaire." 

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 1 800, 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.' 

^ The earliest occurrence seems, according to Warren, to be 



Introduction. 7 

With reference to the EngHsh 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 RichardTowneley, of rowneley, 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 Isham'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" (1771), 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 1791. 
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 was 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 



lo 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 

o 

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 
" correct " to have a book-plate for use in the 
library in ver}' 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, 6r 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. 1 3 

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 !^ 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 

^ 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 maj'' 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.^ 

They were considered worthy of an essay in 

' 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. 1 5 

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," (ist 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 Bibhophile," above mentioned,^ dealing with 
super-libros, the other " Les Ex-libris Frangais, 
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. 

' See p. 4. M. Guigard has. since then issued a " Nouvel 
Armorial du Bibliophile, Guide de I'Amateur des Livres 
Armorids, contenant la reduction de 2,500 Armoiries et riches 
reliures armorides. 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,^ 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 libris, 
is the mottoselected by the author for this fascinating 
manual,^ 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 

' " 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. 

^ Culled from the ex-libris, dated 1697, of a certain old 
Austrian lawyer, J. Seyringer.. , < 



Introduction. 1 7 

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. i, English 
Dated Book-plates, 15 74- 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/ 

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.^ 

Three more volumes, of great interest to ex- 
librists, have appeared since the publication of Mr. 

' A Second Series of "Examples of Armorial Book-plates" 
has lately been published by Mr. Griggs, 1891-92 (see Biblio- 
graphy Appendix). 

^ 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 \i^x&pour 
mimoire. 

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 2 1 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, 
amongwhom manyof 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 loth, 1 89 1, the initiatory steps being taken by 
the present honorary secretary of the Society.^ 

" 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 

' Mr. W. H. K. Wright, F.R.H.S., Borough Librarian, Ply- 
mouth. ^ 



Introduction. 2 1 

constitution of the Society the first number of the 
Joitrnal 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 
sim.ultaneously 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. 2^ 

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 [pace M. 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 sufificiently 
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. 

Ea7'ly Georgian : (Jacobean) or " Grinling Gib- 
bons," ranging mainly from the first years to the 
middle of the century. 

Middle Georgian : 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 






BOOK-PLATE OF MR. H. W. FINCHAM. 

Adapted from an illuminated initial letter in a 14th century missal.' 

laborious productions of the mediaeval monastic 
scriptoria embodied in the character of their illu- 

^ 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,^ 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." 
' " 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 practicaland 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,' "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 Jgel 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, 

^ " 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 Dlirer. 
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 Dlirer for his 
friend Bilibald Pirckheimer, the Nuremberg jurist. 

This woodcut (to which Herr Warnecke ascribes 
the date 1 503) 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} 

^ Diirer also engraved a likeness of Pirckheimer which (we 
have it on the authority of Mr. Wheatley), was also used as a 
l)Qok-plate. This is an interesting example of the "portrait" 
class. 



Introduction. 



35 



The second, which bears the inscription, Liber 
Mieronymi Ebner, whilst less eloquent in treat- 
ment^ IS of special interest as being the first dated 
ex-hbris on record, 15 16. Both these designs 




PAJSITA KAe\P/< TbiZ KASAPOCC'* 
OMNIA MVNDAMVNDIS 
D.mCTORPOMERPRtK»&lj\VR« 



BOOK-PLATE OF HECTOR PuMER, LAST PRIOR OF 
ST. LAWRENCE, NUREMBERG. 

Designed by Albert Diirer, engraved by R. A., 1521.^ 



' 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/ 
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 artist's 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 

^ The first appears as a frontispiece in Warren's "Guide"; 
the second occurs among M. Bouchot's illustrations ; 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 indubitab'e 
book-label of this kind that has yet been discove* ed 
dates from 1574. 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 Caroli Albosii Eduensis. 
Ex labore quies. 1574."^ 




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 

"^ 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,"' 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. 

^ 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, ccsteris 
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 Tudoresqtie, 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 (1590-1625). 

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 VOL, and now re- 
poses in the King's Library, British Museum.^ 
As might be expected in anything that ever ap- 
pertained to the pompous Primate, it is a very 

^ This plate is reproduced in Mr. Griggs' "Second Series of 
Armorial Examples." See Biblio. 



The Tudoresqiie 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 1 5 1 8, 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. He 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 Mediocritas firma. Under all is the legend : 

N. Bacon eques aiiratus et magni sigilli Anglice 
Custos librum hunc bibliothecce 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 Collector's 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 i8th of ]\x\y, 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 inihi 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 Sywell in Com : 
Northamptonice A rmigeri, quondam pencionarij in 
ista dome. Viz. in Anno Domini 1599 sed dedit iji 
A7i°. Dni. 1613.^ 

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 Ttcdoi'esque style remained appa- 
rently in some favour until the early days of the 
Restoration, and indeed, at first inspection, does 
not diffei 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, 

^ 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 JiOOK-PLATE. 
E 



The Carolian Style. 



51 



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, 



' 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. (From Griggs' "Examples.") 




Scunvu&l Pe^j- qf£ rtwifrton in Ifuntnwbmslare. 
tjS Secretary ^the JhniraUijto his MaB'Kina 
Charles the Second :Desc0n2ed of ij anlientfamuu 
afPepyfafCatamhcmi in CamSiidgj-fure,' 



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,^ 
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." 

' 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 Tudoresque, 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.)' 
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 " Periivig 
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 

' 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 Gentilitije," 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 Colombilre, about 1639. In any 
case this system does not appear to have been generally 
adopted by Enghsh 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. 
169S. 

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 WENIWORTH, 

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. 
1703. 



however, supporters are in attendance, the mant- 
lings assume necessarily somewhat lesser propor- 
tions, and spread themselves aloft on either side of 
the helm.^ 

' These two types of the Restoration style (e.g., Gwyn and 



The Restoration Style. 



6i 



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 \\ by 5-1 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 
fane ; Semper eadem, together with the legend : 
" 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 
situ, 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-Hbris 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 (i 722), 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-ljbris 
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 "). 

|E have now arrived at a period in the 
history of the EngHsh 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 Amte 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, 
K'., late Gierke Comtroler (sic) of the Green G loath 
to King Gharles and King James the Second, 
1 701.'- 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." 

' Given in Griggs' "Armorial Examples," ist Series. (See 
Biblio.) 



70 



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 oi 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. 7 1 

The book-plate of Henry Maister, of Kingston- 
upon-HuU 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' have merely the Jacobean frame. 
^ [Not being of the Restoration type. — E. C] 




BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY MAISTER, OF KINGSTON-UPON-HULL. 

1719. 




Edgebton * Smith: 



Early Georgian Style. 



75 



But another step in the external decoratidn*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 iipon 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 
" 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 severtteenth 
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- 
tian 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 bombS cartouche, the 
fanciful shells, the cupids already semi-allegorically 




THE BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN BANCKS. 1 740. 
Engraved by G. Bickham. 



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 



8o 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 Rigence 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. 



i^^^^ 




^'UlCiBSf^^^ ^ii.'^^^Sm 


^^^ 


^^M 


I^M^ 


!^m^ 




i^^ 


^^mI 


itm^i^^ 


^^^^^% 


3^K^^ 


^^ 


^M 




THE MIDDLE GEORGIAN, "CHIPPEN- 
DALE" OR "ROCOCO" STYLE. 

IT 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 F"rench 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 pecuHar 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 
Blondel, Cottes, Ctwillier ; painters like Watteati 
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 Sietir de la Joue, and Jtiste 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 
hy James Gidbs (the architect of St, Martin-in-the- 
Fields, St. Mary-le-Strand, and of the Radclifife 
Library, Oxford), about the year 1731, 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 " 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- 




>^%&2^^ >^^^;^^t^ 



BOOK-PLATE OF WILLIAM WILBEB FORCE, 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 English 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 ^tf;«($/ 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 gemis 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 bombi and volute work, somewhat heavy, 
predominates over the lighter, ragged, rock-and- 
shell, tenuous flower arrangement of 1 750. 

The ex-libris of William Wilberforce is typical 
of the early and purer style. ^ 

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. 



' 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 




^/^^k^f^^€£^zan c^ 



BOOK-PLATE OF HENRY SWEETMAN. 
Circa 1745. 



almost every element of pure early Chippendale 
style can be found in the plate of Benja7nin Hatley 
Foote (a very perfect and typical example) ; in 
those of Henry Sweetman and of Henry Walters, 




f_:^j€'rua/n7,{^9iyd^La:Mfyu tyW>^/< 



BOOK-PLATE OF BENJAMIN HATI.EY FOOTE. 1 743. 



Early Rococo. 91 

— -all of which are anterior in execution to the 
middle of the century. 

The ex-libris of Matthew Smith, which, on 




S^^i^7/?y^^^^i/^:€'9^ Esa 

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 mantHngs, as a general rule, are 




BOOK-PLATE OF MATTHEW blMI'J H. 

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 



" 1 



or "torce."^ The book-plate, therefore, of Sir 
Charles Frederick, K.B., has a somewhat unusual 
physiognomy. I give it here as an instance (on 




GMitim 2)fljn. 



>F.S.Tvfftj J't^/jx/^jt 



1300K-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 

' 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. CAMPBEI.L AJ3. lli^tT' 

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 buijd in good examples 
remained graceful, but in many cases became singu- 



Later Rococo. 



95 



lady 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 







/y6o . 



BOOK-PLATE OF JAMES VERB. 
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 
■s. wide-spanning and interesting comparison be- 
tween two book-plates in the same family, one 



96 



English Book-plates. 



designed in early Queen Anne, the other in late 
George II. manner.^ 

In decorative art the Rococo is always quite 




LuLColns Inn 1161.^ 

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- 

' 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-PI.ATE 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 Xodk, 

H 



98 



English Book-plates. 



as though the rock-work were dripping wet, and 
among the adjuncts were Hmp, dangHng weeds. 
As' this treatment (artistically very effective) is 




BOOK-PI,ATE 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 





"' L^<^^^^y^ 



BOOK-PLATE OF ELIZE GULSTON. 
Circa 1765. 



in art, was a symmetry on opposite sides of the main 
axes. Perfection was most nearly approached 



lOO 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 exr 
libris of James Vere, Jun''., 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 













;-4f:J;Sl^« 



^ Later Rococo. loi 

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 1798 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. Gn 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 English Book-plates. 



THE LATER GEORGIAN (FESTOON) 
STYLE. 

HIS style, also denominated by various 
people as " Wreath and Ribbon," 
"Wreath and Spi'ay," might as appro- 
priately be termed " Urn," or "Spade," 
or better still, (to balance the " Chippendale " ap- 
pellation,^) "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, 

' Also to be symmetrical with "Grinling Gibbons" should 
ever this term be accepted as synonymous with " Jacobean." 



^^L 




BOOK-PLATE OF THE HATFIELD HOUSE LIBRA R^V 

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 
^'xrusped," and more especially when "wedged," 
is unmistakably based on the urn outline. 



io6 



English Book-plates. 



" Adams " ' or " Festoon " plates, began to make 
their appearance about 1770, and the style en- 




BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES DICKINSON, ESQ. 

Circa 1785. 

dured until the beginning of this century. The 
greater number belong to the 1780-90 decade. 

' 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 



gian 



The leading characteristic of the "later Geor- 
ian " 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 




/,a^?m/ C^a^ 



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 



io8 



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- 



, oeAii.ua 



i:5«<»r 




•*''0 CHOB** 



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 




"-^^J. 



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 1 793, the year in which this particular 
Larking (of Clare House, East Mailing, Kent) 



no 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, 
Bedington. 

DOOK-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 



I 12 



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 




POOK-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." ' 

' 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. 



113 



It is difficult to understand what it was that in 
those days so often suggested tombstone arrange- 
ments as suitable for insertion among books. This 




'^i^au,^^^^ c/iiauifc^ 



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. 

I 



114 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/ 

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, 17S5, a coat of arms 
was granted to the family of which the following is 

' This "silver tray" arrangement was specially cultivated 
by an engraver (1780-95) who signed S. Neele, Sculp'. 




^ /X/iA (^^r^rr/i_ 



" 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 60° and 240° west, bounded on 
one side by America and on tlie 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 
intentat^w 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 1 793 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 



ii6 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. 



PICTORIAL PLATES. 




I. "literary" (book-piles and library 
interiors). 

GAVE it as a broad fact that with the 
exception of mere name-labels and 
until recent times, book-plates have 
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 



ii8 



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 r 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 bon 
boii,rgeois, 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.^ When 
the books are represented in their proper habitat, 

' 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." 




m 






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 




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. 



''Library Interior." 12.^ 

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. 







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 



126 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."^ 

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 Samwell book-plate ; but, to judge from 
the character of its escutcheon, it must ha.ve 
been engraved during the first decade of this 
century. 

The plate pf 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 

^ 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. 



" Pile of Book sr 



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. 

She idea of using a likeness of the owner 
as a personal mark in books is, on the 
whole, very obvious. We have seen 
that Durer'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 ^ of John Racket, 
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 
Joannis Hacket Lichfieldens et Coventrjens Episcopi, 
1670. 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 

' 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. ^ In the larger one the portrait appears 
in an oval frame bearing the words : Sam Pepys 
Car. et Jac. Ang. Regib A. Secretis AdintralicB. 
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. 

' 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.^ 

In Mr. J. P. Rylands' "Notes" is given an ac- 
count of certain hand-painted ex-libris by Thornas 
Barritt, the saddler-antiquary, and of etched copies 
of the same, dated 1 794. 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 : l^tOfert ^ntiqua 

in 3pncum. 

Portrait plates are few and far between. Among 
modem instances I may quote the book-plates of 
Mr. W. T. Thoms, 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. 

^ 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 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, cornucopiee 
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." ^ 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- 

' 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 doctor's library and various musical instru- 
ments, over which, in accordance with Thomas 
Drummond's motto Aurora est apta musis, 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 1 746 or 1 747, 
which in design recalls Gravelot's manner, was 
made for Strange's 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. 

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'." 



138 



English Book-plates. 



The plate of Henrietta Frances, Countess of 
Bessborough, is here given not orily as an exam^ 
pie of Cipriani and Bartolozzi allegorical work, but 
also as an instance of a pictorial .visiting card (an 




artoIetiL ', 



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. 



139 



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"^ 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 

' This last refers to the protective Act of Parliament passed 
in 173s (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. 




141 




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 1 7 70, 
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 Htibbald. 

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 




■ -1 7 6<^ 

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. 



143 



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- ©r 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 




gX^^^^^<S^ 



^'^ 



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. 



H5 



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 



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 Walp'ole 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 Northunibrian 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 1 797, 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'., 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 in 
general, and of book possession in particular).. 



Non-armorial Landscapes. 149 

The taste for deserted temples, frowning medieeval 
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 



150 



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 



,if:if;ia':t.':\ni';innr:inf;inr;iriinn)n]LwQr;inr(i 




^iuL'i:*'i:iC!'jiyuu^iyuwi:/i:/iyiyLWui:'ui:j 



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. 




It is almost impossible to divide this 
group into very definite styles, for on 
the one hand, a chief characteristic of 
the purely 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-Sinkey 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- 



U7TU8 CX LIBHX£ 




(^litlmi iSatleg 



J^ Jf^. 



Melfastiensu 



IS23 



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 fulfills 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 Jatter.^ 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 

' 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 



156 



Ejtglish Bovk-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 TroUope, 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 ; T^rd Argent, the colophon mark of Fust and 
Schoeffer in f esse ; \th the printer s mark of William, 
Caxton covering the field. — Crest, a cubit arm, vested 
azure, ciiffed 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 



158 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 



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. W. 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 



i6o 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. 
Sherborn's 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. i6i 

Heritable Master of the Household in Scotland, 
both offices which are hereditary in his Grace's 




^^™/l 




■ 1 


^i^^^fcS 


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« 






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pf^ a\\'^ 


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^W 


^ux"- 


MIHI- 


DEUS^^^ 


IlL^w^ - - |||| 



J.E.FRESCOTT,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/ 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.^ 

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 

^ His name was Anselm Baker. He died nth January, 
1885, aged 52. 

^ 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 mediseval models. 




IR05HIM)IjCOn-5^Efflffl® 



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 
reHef block had of course to be engraved on wood, 




BOOK-PLATE OF LYON KING OF ARMS. 
By J. Forbes Nijcon. 



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 Southwark/ 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 cribU 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 

' (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, P7'ospuiens, 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 




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) — 

Plaui Shield (with or without crests resting on 

plain torces) to be again distinguished according 

to shape of escutcheon. 




^1^4. loxy^A. 



BOOK-PLATE OF THE LATE LORD TENNYSON. 
(Motto and signature autograph.) 



Modern Armorial Plates. I'ji 

Shields zuitk 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 r 




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. K. 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 
composition. Its very essence is heraldic. It 




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 eareo nee citro (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 




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 



EnglisJi Book-plates. 



exceedingly beautiful, and which recalls in almost 
every characteristic, except its mobility, the super- 




BOOK-PLATE OF THE ARCH.^OLOGICAL 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. 



REe.-iN^€KSTEL' 




|W«BB?«KW5i^->»^^!SiJ?^«5.*iV»«<JS5iJ.^^ 



»/i.,«m«..» 



Her Majesty's Book-plate for the Windsor Library. 

(^Reproduced by Gracioits Permission.') 



]8i 



PRINTERS' MARK STYLE. 

|IKE the foregoing, this style, which I 
propose to name with reference to a 
very frequent type of early printers' 
n} ^ - ^vr!f" =s.n 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 pointilU 
background, and that oi John Scott, with escut- 
cheon, crested helmet, and name, filling a square 



l82 



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 ^r&2X savanf 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. Lottie, 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 tj-pical 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 




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 owner's 
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 
Bateman. 

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 engraved on a fifteenth 
century seal used by one Nicholas del Rylands, an 
ancestor of the present owner. 




I:PAVL:RyLflNDS:FSA; 



BOOK-PLATE OF J. PAUL RYLANDS, F.S.A. 



1 87 




HERALDIC-ALLEGORIC AND HERALDIC- 
SYMBOLIC. 

It is impossible to draw any really logical 
line of demarcation between "Allegoric" 
and " Symbolic " or " Emblematic " com- 
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 owner's 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 on the 
rim of the seal-like frame the unmistakable initial. 
The plates of Samuel Angell and of Edward 




BOOK-PLATE OF MR. CHRISTOPHER SYKES. 

By Sir J_ E. Millais. 



Design by JV. 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.^ 



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, 

^ For the loan of the original block I am indebted to Mr. 
Bain, the well-known bibliopolist in the Haymarket. 



192 English Book-plates. 

of Omar Khaiyam. It is supposed that in the 
Angel Thackeray intended to pourtray Mrs. Brook- 
field/ 

Another unique plate is one designed in 188 1 by 
Randolph Caldecott. Says Mr. Blackburn in his 
recollections of that most delightful of humourists 
and draughtsmen : — 

" 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 ha,ve 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- 

^ 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 ean see him now.'- — 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. 




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 
Avere 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 LOOKER. 
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.,^ has selected for allegorical 

^ 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. 




BOOK-PLATE OF FREDERICK LOCKER. 

By H. Stacy Marks, R.A. 




BOOK-PLATE OF GODFREY LOCKER-LAMPSON. 

By Kate Greenaway. 



Designs by Stacy Murks. 201 

purposes a favourite subject of his — the professional 
" Fool" absorbed in thoughts of melancholywisdom. 
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. 

|YPICAL 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.,^ — "Luke Limner," — one of our keenest 
ex-Hbrists. 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 cotich^e, 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. 

^ 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. 410.1880. 



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," ^ " 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 

' Journal of the Ex-Libris Society, vol. i. part 5. 



CO 
Q 

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cc 

Li. 



O L D l°^° T O 

j 



BURN 
DRINK 



CO 

O 

o 




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m 

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z 

D 
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o 
o 

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Of r^ BOOKS "P /^ READ 

l—L^ FRIENDS ' ^^^ TRUST 



^lof)n Leigfjton. JF.^.a. \ 



BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN LEIGHTON— " LUKE LIMNER." 

By the owner. 



Designs by ''Luke Limner." 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 



2o8 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- 



212 



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 




Ijnry %. Ifolkarii. 

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. 213 

Romer). As a support to this bowl which bears 
the melancholy philosophical inscription : " Ich 
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 disabuses in whom M. 
Bouchot sees a special category of book-lovers. 





PICTORIAL NON-HERALDIC PLATES. 

"emblematic" and "genre." 

IROADLY 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. Folkard'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- 




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 



2i6 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-hke 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. 2 1 7 

of Life " (which also stood for the initial letter of the 
owner's 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-PI.ATE 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 




BOOK-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 IVhite. 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 tmd 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 rertim. 
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/ 



In., omnibus rebus TieqmeTW 

EXl-IBnl5 




BOOK-PLATE OF GLEESON WHITE. 
By Alan Wright. 

' 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 ailleurs is an invention of 
my own, and represents the discontent following the above- 
mentioned conflict. It is modelled on the repos ailleurs of St. 



222 



English Book-plates. 



very personal, and often excessively quaint. As I 
have stated before, Mr. Erat Harrison is a special 




CM\PLI-E-DOBLEi 



BOOK-PLATE OF MR. CHARLES E. DOBLE. 
By T. Erat Harrison. 



Aldegonde. The lamp and book are merely attributes of 
Theoria. You perceive that Labor 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 







1 ^^^^^^IB^^i^ 




m^xZidr^s ^^^^^S^^^^-^i»l 




fEDWARD-ONSLOW-FORDi 



BOOK-PLATE OF E. ONSLOW FORD. 

By T. Erat 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 
m^^llet and chisel stands for Sculpture proper, 




(^-a°[giaaE°isfaaMJMi°ig°^5iB 



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 ■x^aXewa, to. v.a.Xa.. There 
is an unfortunate mistake in the original drawing. 

Another musical rebus appears on the book- 
plate of Mr. Charles Sharp, of the Liverpool 




FOBfgUN1VFAV€TAUI>JlCr 



i^ mJc — •! L—..J Jlcap " JPU^<B»Jl.<r> II p»>) 1.^^ 1 1 rmA L«7»~ 



m 



BOOK-PI,ATE 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 



FjRLr£R7.CRfin£ 



f{ Book ofV^wej unJerneslk t^e OougJi, 
l^jHgofWn»,a.JgafofBT»aJ— S^CKon. *?' 
, JatiAtma sJDging'iri tKeWildeTness_^*'j 

OK.VX/i'lcleTnesi were RiTadise enow 



BOOK-PLATE OF WALTER CRANE. 

By the owner. 

spirited TurnbuU 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 




ROOK-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 




BOOK-PLATE OF THE I.ATE JOHN TERRIS. 



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 JV. 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 




BOOK-PLATE OF AUSTIN DOBSON. 
By Alfred Parsons. 



" At the Sign of the Lyre ; " ' and Mr. Warren's, by 
William Bell 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 Hfe. 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*\'JK'».,.., 




BOOK-PLATE OF EDMUND GOSSE. 
By E. A, Abbey. 



cipal study), the lowest scroll is inscribed Rtiinex, 
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 ftii, " 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 ! ' 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 timbra. 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 Sjin coloti,rs 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. i^f) 

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 
so a " 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 V o hemes ; 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 




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 
frzictus — which has done duty on many a book- 
plate of various countries, from the sixteenth 



244 Englis/i 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). 




BOOK-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 J. D. Batten. 245 

The wicked who borro7veth and returiieth not again. 

The second, composed for Mr. Money Coutts, 
has a humbly pious motto in explanation of a pure 
symbolic figure — 

Da mi/ii, Domine, scire quod sciendum est. 




BOOK-PLATE OF JAMES WINTERBOTHAM. 

By J. 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 Shorter'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 




vi(^ijifc.Tl[i'^-'' 



" Buulis are enough." Xay, hiiij. 

They are not human ; 
I'd 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. Rae 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 ELKIN 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 MACDONAI.D. 

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 triiobite (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, 




(3^Xcvbrtg-Fratrctgrig-Peb^crarIrAilI-®CTtt 



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 




6oWynnstay-GardensKensington| 



BOOK-PLATE OF ARTHUR SOMERVFXL. 
By L. Leslie Brooke. 



manner, in the various plans of Mr. Arthur Somer- 
velPs 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 owner's 



i fe-A ihris'Stopford 



AagiLJti • Brooke 







T j^ccgccij 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 



Oneof the Books oj] 



Henry-nsherCox 




I3ALBCRTPLACC'- 

»<?*- 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, 
tor instance, having belonged to " Peter Muilman, 
of King Street, London, and Kirby Hall, Castle 
Hedingham, Essex," on which are represented the 




^^ }¥■:, 



11 my' \ir-ff 



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 1775. 

One of the best-known plates of this kind, 
probably the earliest in date, is the ex-libris 
Tabularii Publici in Ttorre 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.' 

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- 







RICH- STVRPHILPOTT.M-A- 
PREBENDARY ?OF8\A/ELLS • 



BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. R. S. PHTLPOTT. 

By Edmund H. New. 

well-known and charming manner, of Shake- 
speare's house at Stratford-on-Avon. There is no 
verj' special appositeness in the choice of such a 
subject for the purpose of a personal book-token ; 

^ A facsimile of this interesting plate is included among Mr. 
Hardy's illustrations. 



Designs by Ediiuuid 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 Tihis Andronicus — 

" Come and take a choice of all my library 
And so beguile thy sorrow P 

The quaint little back view of " River House, 
Hammersmith," on the other hand, drawn by Mr. 



EX(^aEDMUNDl ^ 




'ORiWlSDOM- 1 S BETTER 
THAW RL/BlESANDAtL 
THETHINCSTHATMA.Y 
BE-DE5IRED-AREN0T-TO 

;JB&C0MPARED-UNT0-HE4^ 



i;OOK-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." 



258 



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 







gteH:^6g>HaF^^yg^j^M 



BOOK-Pt.ATE OF A. V. PATOX. 

By C. M. Gei-c. 

all sorts and conditions of men, from Royal Acade- 
micians to simply "clever persons," on the walls of 
thi? 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. Gen 



259 



shows a deplorable misconception of the " fitness 
of things." Blazonry should never be allowed to 
look insignificant and slovenly; it loses all 7'aismi 
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 




book-pi.ate of s. h. heath. 
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 



26o 



English Book-plates. 



pseudo Japanese Havour in the fretted rendering 
of the cloud, the planning of the hills without dis- 
tance, which recalls at once Mr. Aubrey Beardsley's 
Jill dc siecle mannerism. The same is observable 




BOOK-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. 



Desii^iis bv 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 



CX€/r6ri<s 




\'ffTam^anfii/ig 



BOOK-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 ongi- 




BOOK-PLATE OF OEORGE KITCHIN. 
Ry F. C. Tilnej". 



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 




BOOK-PI.ATK OF ULSTER KING OO' ARMS. 

By the Rev. ^^^ Fitzgerald. 



Design by JF. Fitzgerald. 267 

various sentiments which support the composition, 
from the Baconian adage — 

"Reading maketh a full mafi.'" 

to the Shakespearian request — 

" Come and take a choice of all my Library T 

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 
" full of his subject." 

The other was made for Mr. Georg-e Kitchin, 
son of the Dean of Winchester. 

Mr. Arthur Vicars, F.S.A., who succeeded the 
lateSir Bernard Burke in the i^o'iWxowo'i Ulster King 
of Arms 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/ 

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 

' 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" liOOK-PLATE. 
}3y Agnes Castle. 



^oftooK-irworth- anythmd- that- It- notworth^'l 




BOOK-PLATE OF THE KEVERSTONE LIBRARY. 

By Warrington Hogg. 



Designs by IVarrington 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- 



jgoc;^f^^ 




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 

T 



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 



JANC PATfCRJOisJ^ 




pRo^e 



BOOK-PLATE OF JANE PATTERSON. 
By R. Anning 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. Aiming Bell. tT]'] 

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. 

preciated 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 fi.gure 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 (^c/^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. Anning Bell. 279 

The ex-libris drawn by M. Paul Avril for Mr. 
Ashbee, a keen man of books an^ 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. Anning 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 



28o English Book-plates. 

designer — so well known in connection witli 
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, 



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 fictionist — 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 




'^alte^J^rrie^^Mack^.cLM, i . 



Hieroglyphic Plates. 



281 



reproduced (by a. very indifferent process) in " The 
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 




BOOK-PLATE OF H. RIDEK 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 Philae, 
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 
Horus, the son of Isis. 




HIEROGLYPHIC BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. \V. J. LOFTIE. 
By the owner. 



E:x LIBRIS 

CHRISTABLL 
A rRA/APTON 




RAft 



BOOK-PLATE OF CHRISTABEL FRAMPTON. 

By R. Anning Bell. 




ON THE CHOICE OF A BOOK-PLATE, 

WITH A FEW WORDS ABOUT BOOK-PLATE 
COLLECTING. 

|T 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 stud)). 
Comparison with the Early Armorial example on 
page 58 shows pretty conclusively that the model 
selected by that gentleman was the plate of Gw)n 
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 owner's personality. 
This simplicity would no doubt be " highly cor- 
rect " if only an exact knowledge of blazon formed 




CurwE R. J>u£Ii«. 



BOOK-PLATE OF THE EARL OF ILWO. 

Drawn by Lady Mayo, engraved by Curwen, 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 




^888. ^ 

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. 

u 



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 




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 
would 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 alig-ned 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 insuh 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,' 
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 




BOOK-PLATE OF J, S. MARTIN. 

Of Edinburgh. 

Gadshill Place Library, nothing more — but a 
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 



hei^:t]he:bpoi4 






i:sovc3m':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 'an 
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 
applicabihty. 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 Printer's 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, 




BOOK-PLATE OK HARRY RYLANDS. 
Hy 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 ' — look on the boards, shall I say, of 

' 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 




BOOK-PLATE OF RUSSELL SPOKI^S. 
By Harry Soane. 



" Micrographic 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 owner's 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 the super-libros 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, 
U Acadim-ie de VEspee 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 

jl5ostrum tie armis quaerere, is that of the 

Kernoozers 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 anou)- 
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 Unus 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 
Mi.scellany." With a view to personal adapta- 
tion, the following few examples are offered for 
consideration. 

X 



3o6 English Book-plates. 

— Liber Bilibaldi Pirckheimer, {1503). Sibi et 
Amicis. 

— Thames Prince Liber, (1704). 

— E Bibliotheca Baronis du Baltimore, (1751). 
— Ex Catalogo Bibliothecce Caumartin, (1750). 

— Unus ex collectione librorum Domini Johannis, 

Georgii Eimbeckenii, (1720). 
— Grolierii et amicorum. 
— Mei Golierii Ltip'dunens. et amicortmi. 

o 

— Michaeli Begon et amicis. 

' — Ex bibliothec Reg. in Castel. Windesor. 

— Pro Bibliotheca . 

— Pertinet ad Bibliothecam . 



— Ex Museo D. Claudii Ruffier, (1690). 
— Bibliotheca Palatina, (1730). 
— Bibliotheca M. H. Theodori Ba7^on. (1720). 
— Ad Bibliothecam Jo. Jac. Reinhardi, (1695). 
— Lnsigne Libroru7n . 

— Symbolum Bibliothecce Johannis Bernardi Nack, 

(^759)- 
- — Ex supellectile libraria Bened. Giti. Zahnii, 

— Sigillum Horatu Comttis de Or/ord, {1791). 

— Ex-libris Bibliothecce personalis , (1750). 

— Ex-libris Bibliotheccs domesticce Ricardi Towneley 

de Towneley in Agro Lancastrensi Armigeri. 

Annol^^""^'"'. 73- 

YDomini, 1702. 

— E libris Hen. Aston, (1740). 

— Bibliotheccs Gerhardijics Pars sum,. 

— Sum Johannis 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 Audley oweth iowneih) this Booke, 

(1633). 
— / belong to . 

— This is Giles Wilkinson his book. 

— Logonian Library [i.e. of John LoganJ. 
— Austi7t Dob son his book. 
— One of the books of . 

Besides the statement of ownershija, 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 
be but one opinion among book-lovers on this 
subject : the Sibi et Amicis, the M or N ^/ ami- 



3o8 English Book-plates. 

cortcm formula 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 Nunqtiant 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 rhost 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 meaninp-. 

Although this personal character is one which 




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-hbris 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 



* %* LIBRIS 




I31H MaH 



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 " Reproductio7i. 3 1 1 

tion between 77ieu7ii et hiiun), to maintain their 
private tokens. The available choice of composi- 




BOOK-PLATE OF ELINOR SWEETMAN, 
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 fac-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/ 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 

^ 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 contentioh 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 Hving 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 rather 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/ 
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 
" 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 

^ " The Library," by Andrew Lang. Macmillan, 1881. 



3i6 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," ^ 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 Qiierouaille 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 ; 

I have been oft where else was none 

Save the great wig of Addison ; 

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, 



' "Notes and Queries," 6th S. III. 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. 3 1 7 

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 Thiiale. 

'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 

y^'\\\\ frontispiece ax\^ colophon ? 

With vagrant Es, and /s, and Cs, 

The spoil of plunder'd Folios ? 

With scraps and snippets that to Me 

Are naught but kitchen company 1 

Nay, rather, Friend, this favour grant me : 

Tear me at once ; but do?it transplant me ! 

'•'■Cheltenham, Sept^ 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- 



31 8 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 Rem oval of Book-pla tes. 319 

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 as 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 handlinof. 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," ^ a tolerably complete index 
enabling the student to trace the nam.e 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 

' "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. 



Identijication 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/ 

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 

^ 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 displayed 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 Durer 
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 book-plates ; 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 ineftective 
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 130), 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. 




BOOK-PLATE OF AYMER V.ALLANCE. 
By the owner. 



TYPES OF SHIELDS. 



Tops of Shields. 

1. Eared. 

2. Eaied-couped, 

3. RQund-eared. 

4. Scroll-eared. 

5. Cusped and square-eared. 

6. Prick-eared. 

7. Convex. 

8. Wavy. 

9. Concave. 

10. Braced, cusp inwards. 

11. „ „ outwards. 

12. Wedged. 

13. Engrailed one cusp. 

14. „ two cusps. 

15. „ three cusps. 

16. |„ and peaked. 

17. Nicked. 



Bases of Shields. 

18. Braced outward. 

19. Ogee. 

20. Angular. 

21. Three lobed cusped. 

22. Round. 

23. Pointed. 

24. Nowy. 



Shields. 

25. Heater. 

26, 27, 28, 29. Square. 

30. Kite-shaped, triangular. 

31. „ Norman square top. 

32. „ Convex top. 

33. „ Pear. 

34. 35. Roman. 

36. Gothic, concave. 

37. „ engrailed. 

38. „ peaked engrailed 
with bouche. 

39. Gothic, rounded, with 

bouche. 

40. Italian cartouche. 

41. Spanish, bighted. 

42. 43, 44. Dutch, German. 

45. Concave. 

46, 47. Ovoid. 

48, 49, 50, 51. Elizabethan. 

52, 53. Stuart. 

54, 55, 56, 57- Queen Anne. 

58, 59. Rococo. 

60. Georgian Spade. 

61; „ cusped and wedged. 

di. College of Arms. 

63, 64, 65, 66, 67. Victorian. 



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USu l^ k2Q; L^ ^ V23y U24^ 




25/ Us. 27 




28 



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gigi^(e)©SS 





'LITERARY BOOK-PLATE" OF W. H. K. 



WRIGHT. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 01: 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. i, 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 
the shapes of shields. Plates. 

Liverpool, privately 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, 8 vo, 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 H. Literary Book-plates. 
Series HI. 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, 1891. 



"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. 1 862- 1 867 

Fourth Series. Book-plates, armorial, iv. 409, 518 
v. 65, 210, 286; ix. 160; exchanged, X. 519. 1868-1873 

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. 

^6, 76 ; heraldic, vi. 369, 543, vii. 28, 36, 76, 233, 435, 

515 ; earliest known, vii. y6, 235 ; mottoes on, vii. 427, 
viii. Ill, 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, 4 1 6 ; their removal, ii. 445 , 49 1 , iii. 3 1 ; 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 ; v/ith 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. 68, 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, 
72, ; heraldic, 10, 429 ; parochial, 69, 152 ; typographical, 
288, 352, 415 ; their antiquity, 512. i'88o-i88s. 

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 ; Grzeme, ii.49, 98, 
154; 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. 1886-1891. 



Bibliography. 335 

Eighth Series. Book-plates, Boyer, i. 7 ; royal, i. 126, 
17s; 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: BilHngsley, Egerton, 1707; Snell, 299. 

1868. 

Vol II., illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book- 
plates : Barker, 505; Beddington, 244; Bowden, 525; 
De Burgo, 1720, 287 ; Cary-Elwes, 556 ; Furneaux, 170 ; 
Gomm, 184; Haslewood, 128; Hilliard, 87; Loririier, 
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, lOi, 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 ; Glutton, 300 ; Collins, 274 ; 
Fletcher, 214; Gidley, 19; Hayman, 54; Heysham, 
375; Heywood, 202 ; Humphry, 314; Littleton, 166 ; 



33^ 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 ; Bering, 1630, 285 ; Elizabeth, 
Countess of Exeter, 268 ; Murray, 347 ; Shank, 235 ; 
Smith, 347 ; Walpole, 364. 1886. 

Vol. IL, illustrated. Examples of Armorial Book- 
plates : Bartlett, 294 ; Biss, 152 ; Draper, 24 ; Owen, 368 ; 
Scheurl-Tucker, by A. Diirer, 104-5, 120; Gibson, 196. 

1888. 

Vol. IIL, 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"' 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 
CuUum and Dame Susanna, 1760; John Cullum, 
Rev'' Sir John Cullum, Richard Merry, Thomas Gery 
Cullum, Sir Tho^ Gery Cullum, Mary Hanson 1773, 
Thomas Gery Cullum, Rev"* 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'' 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. L Notes on Book-plates, 75-77 ; Book-plates 
(W. Hamilton), 117-I18; Book-plates, 189; Notes on 
Curious Book-plates, 236-237 ; another Chapter on 
Book-plates (Alfred Wallis), 256-259. 1880. 

Vol. n. 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," 77. 1 88 1. 

Vol. IV. Last Words on Book-plates, 106- 1 1 1. 1881. 

Vol. V. Book-plates, 85-86. 1882. 

Vol. VII. Book-plates, early reference to, 231. 1883. 

Vol. XIIL Book-plate, 231, 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 an(l 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. n. 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. \\ 



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, 1890-1891. 



"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. 



Bibliography . 339 

Vol. II. Book-plates, i8 ; 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), iio-iii. 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, 112-114, 159- 
161. The original and imitation Washington Book- 
plates. Practical suggestions for Book-plates, illustrated, 
377. New York, Scribner, 4to, 1886. 



340 Rnglish Book-plates. 

The Curio. American book-plates and their en- 
gravers (Richard C. Lichtenstein), illustrated, 11-17, 
61-66, 110-I14. New York, R. W. Wright, folio, 1887. 



The Gentleman's Magazine Library. Literary 
Curiosities. Book-plates, 82, 85, 325. 

London, Elliot Stock, li 



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 Encyclopedia. New Edition, Vol. IL, 
309. Book-plates. 

London, W. and R. Chambers, 8vo, 1889. 



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. 341 

Saturday Review. The Ex-Libris Society, 27 
Feb., 1892. English Book-plates (Castle), a review, 
21 Jan., French Book-plates (Hamilton), a review, 
II Feb. More about Book-plates, a review of Hardy, 
10 June. 1893. 

The Collector. Some Historic Book-plates (Dr. 
J. H. Dubbs), illustrated, v. 151-152, 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 Arch^ological 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. 6i, 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. BRACKET'!. 

By Oliver Brackett. 




INDEX. 



g^BBEY,E.A,234,23S, 

ftr^R'D "Adams" style, 26, 
U'KiilfAS jQ3^ jQg 

Adams, Robert, 105. 

Adaptations, 27, 171, 286. 

"Aerial " plates, 156. 

Aid^, Hamilton, 181, 184. 

Alboise, Charles d', 37. 

" Allegoric " plates, 23, 27, 79, 
117, 133. 134, 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. 



"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, 

III. 
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. 

Bell am, 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. 

"Borabd" 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, 

31. 36, 38, 39) 178, 2i3> 

313. 
Boxall, Sir William, 188. 
Brackett, Oliver, 342. 
Brackett, W. H., 342. 
Brandenburg, Brother Hilde- 

bran'd, of Biberach, 33. 
Bree, Rev. W. T., 126, 129. 
Brierly, Sir O. W., 203, 204. 
Brodrick, St. John, 59, 60, 6r. 
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, 33. 

Byfield, Mary, 182. 

Bysshe, 49, 52. 

Caldecott, Randolph, 192, 

i93> 195- 
Campbell, Hon. Archibald, 

59, 61, 289. 
Campbell, Mrs., 217, 218. 
Campbell, T., 93, 94. 



Carlander, C. M., ig. 

Carlyle, Thomas, i68. 

" Carolian " Style, 25, 42, 48, 
62. 

Carter, Thomas, 67. 

"Cartouche," 51. 

Cassell's Encyclopsedic Dic- 
tionary, 5. 

Castle, Agnes, 268, 269, 280, 

3°°. 30 1> 311- 
Castle, Egerton, 268, 269, 301, 

332- 
Caulfield, 150, 151. 
Chamberlayne, Miss E., xiii. 
Chambers, Sir W., 102. 
" Chambers's Encyclopaedia," 

34°- 
"Chippendale," 16, 26, 67, 

79) 81, 83, 102, 133. 
Chippendale, Thomas, 83. 
" ChippendaHsm," 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. 
Colombifere, Vulson de la, 57, 

167. 
Colthurst, Augustus, 151. 
Cook, 143. 
Cook, Capt. J., 114. 
Cooper, J. D., 195. 



Index. 545 

Corbett, Matthew Ridley, 208, 



CornwaUis, 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, 

3°4- 
Day, Robert, 19, 150, 175, 

177. 
Dibdin, T. Frognall, 156. 
Dickens, Charles, 168, 171, 

.293> 294- 
Dickinson, Charles, 106, 

109. 
"Die-Sinker" style, 114, 153, 

154, 168. 
Doble, C. E., 222, 223. 
Dobson, Austin, 146, 233, 290, 

316, 317- 
Drummond, Dr. T., 137. 
Diirer, Albert, 12, 34, 36, 130, 

324- 
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," i, 2, 4, 5, 28, 30, 

286, 305, 325. 
"Ex-Libris Journal," 14, 20, 

21, 204, 308, 323, 340. 
" Ex-Librism," 294. 
Ex-Libris Society, 20, 21, 239, 

323, 324- 
Eyiies, 51, 52. 

Faithorne, W., 130. 

Family book-]jIates, 309. 

Fane, 62. 

Farr, Samuel, 142. 

Fawkes, Richard, 38, 130, 

181. 
Feminine plates, 62, 100. 
Ferguson, C, 165. 
"Festoon" style, 26, 76, 100, 

106, III. 
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, 

lOI. 

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, 

69, 75- 76, 79- 
Georgian, Later, 26, 102, 107, 

117. 
Georgian, Middle, 26, 79, 8r, 

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, 

235.. 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, 

331- 
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., loi. 
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, 

299. 303. 324- 

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, 

27S-. 

Holbein, 36. 

Holies, Lady H enrietta Caven- 
dish, 9, 136. 

Holme, C, 259, 260, 263. 

Home, H. P., 295, 303, 304. 

Housman, L., 308. 

Howitt, 148, 149. 

Hubbald, 98, 100, 141. 

Huth, Henry, 310, 312. 

Hutton, Lawrence, 19. 

Identification of plates, 322, 

323- 
" 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, 

133. 134- 
Jewers, Arthur, 20, 44, 47. 



348 



English Book-plates. 



Jones, Inigo, 68. 

Keene, Charles, 295, 296. 
" Kemoozer," 13. 
" Kemoozer'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, 

253. 2S9> 30°- 
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, 

230, 239, 245, 263, 267, 

268, 269, 278, 297. 
Lichtenstein, R. C, 19. 
" Liraner, Luke," 203, 204, 

205. 



"Lining," 61, 72, 87. 
"Literary" plates, 117, 126, 

33°- 
" Little Masters," xiii, 36. 
Lloyd, Rev. J., 77, 79, 133. 
Locker, Frederick, 195, 196, 

197, 201. 
Locker- Lampson, F., 196. 
Locker-Lampson, Godfrey, 

199, 201. 
Loftie, Rev. J., 184, 185, i86, 

280, 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. 
Mdnestrier, 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, 

i52> 157. 162, 168. 
"Modern Die-Sinker" style, 

114, 153. 154, 3°5- 
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. 
Oxford . 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. 
Baton, A. V., 258. 
Patterson, Jane, 274, 278. 
Pepys, Samuel, 7, 53, 56, 119, 

131, 132, 325- 
" Periwig" style, 57. 
"Permak's Bleacher,'' 321. 
Perotte, 82. 
Perris, J., 230. 
"Personal" plates, 10, 214, 

3°3- . 
"Perugini, Madame," 219. 
Petra Santa, Sylvester de, 48, 

S7, 167- 
Philpott, Rev. R. S., 256, 257. 
"Phiz," 212. 
"Phrases of Book-possession," 

3°4, 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. 



350 



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, 29s, 296. 

" Printing Times and Litho- 
grapher," 339. 

" Process " reproduction, xiii, 

159- 311- 
" Processes," 311, 325. 
Proprietary formulae, 306, 

soy- 
Punning plates, 221. 

"Queen Anne" style, 68, 75, 

76, 77, 96. 
Queen, H.M. The, 182. 

Raby, Baron, 59. 
Railton, H., 255, 256. 
"Rebus" plates, 171, 221, 

279. 
" Regence " style, 80, 300. 
Removal of book-plates, 313, 

314, 3'S. 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. 

Roffet, 31. 



Rogers, Samuel, 109, no. 
Royal Historical and Archxo- 

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, 

231, .233, 234. 
"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. 



351 



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, \V. 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. 

71- 
Somervell, Arthur, 252. 
Southwell, 52. 
" Spade " style, 102, 107,114, 

I42._ 

" Special " plates, 299. 

Spokes, Russell, 296, 298. 

" Sports," 23. 

Spray, 112. 

Stitt, Carlton, 290. 

Strange, Sir Robert, 12, 135, 

136, 137- 
Strawberry Hill Plate, 143, 

146. 
"Studio, The," 341. 
"Styles," 16, 23, 26, 28, 

319- 
" Super-libros," 4, 299. 
Sweetman, Henry, 88. 
Sweetraan plate, 3ir, 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, 

235- 
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. 
Thoms, 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. 

TroUope, Anthony, 155, 156. 
"Trophy" plates, 92. 
"Tudoresque" style, 25, 42, 
47, 48, 56- 



352 



English Book-plates. 



Turnbull, A. H., 226, 227. 
Tyers, James, iii. 
Types of shields, 328, 329. 

"Urn" style, 26, 102, iii, 
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> i77. 

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, i45j 187, 231, 
3°5> 308. 323, 325. 331- 



Watteau, 82, 133. 
Wedgwood, Josiah, 105. 
Wentworth, Thomas, Baron 

Raby, 59. 
West, 182. 
" Western Antiquary," 2 r, 241, 

337. 
Wheatley, H. B., 34. 
Wheeler, E. J., 240, 243, 244. = 
" Where Art Begins," 324. 
White, bleeson, 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. 
AVright, W. H. K., 19, 20, 21, 

330. 337- 
Wyndham,Wadham, 121, 125, 

134- 

Yates, Edmund, 174, 177. 
Yeatman, Rev. H. W., 163, 
167. 



Zaehnsdorf, 293. 



^-xj 



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