“Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the villageColumns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending,Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.Thus dwelt together in love those simple Acadian farmers,—Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free fromFear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics.Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows;But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners;There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.”
“Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the villageColumns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending,Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.Thus dwelt together in love those simple Acadian farmers,—Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free fromFear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics.Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows;But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners;There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.”
“Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the villageColumns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending,Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.Thus dwelt together in love those simple Acadian farmers,—Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free fromFear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of republics.Neither locks had they to their doors, nor bars to their windows;But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners;There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.”
Naturally we turn, at first, to look at books taken to America by early English and Dutch settlers. They and their near descendants, when using a bookplate at all, mostly adopted an armorial plate. Copper-plate engraving was, of course, in vogue then, and most of theirex librisare from copper-plates. There are a few from wood-blocks. Of comparatively late plates, some are steel plates; but the copper are usually the more satisfactory; the steel being so difficult to work. In comparing a number of the earlier specimens of bookplates in America an interesting point involuntarily arises. From whichof two views is anex libristhe more interesting? Is it a work of art or a piece of history? In spite of all that skilled designers and cunning workers in metals may say, the majority will probably value most what for want of a better name may be called the historical aspect. When the Tudor, Stuart, and Guelph Exhibitions were held in London, somewhat unfortunately so many of the expert critics, in writing of portraits, groups, or historical scenes, seemed only able to write from a pure art point of view. As an instance, not connected with any exhibition, I had, but am afraid that I have lost it, a somewhat seedy-looking oil painting, perhaps 18 × 12 inches, which depicted an earnest, bent old figure on horseback returning the salute of a wonder-struck old countryman and his good dame. Following the keen old horseman is another horse, bearing the groom with despatch-bag. The scene is, in fact, a contemporary representation from life of “The Duke” just before passing out of Birdcage Walk for Apsley House. In the left background is the Wellington Monument, as many of us remember it, and on the right the Hercules statue. These accessories fix the date as in the last few years of the great Duke’s life.
What thousand-guinea portrait, plastered with elaborate uniform and robes and saturated with a learned artist’s technical postures and perfections, could have so perfectly pourtrayed the most interesting figure ever seen in London half a century ago? Field-Marshal Moltke was respected throughout Germany as Der Schweiger—the Silent. Wellington, too, and the late Lord Salisbury as well, did not revel in long-winded talk. Once, in the Duke’s last years, he had become very unpopular with the ignorant crowd. Stepping out of the House of Lords into Old Palace Yard, he was met by the howls and threats of an angry mob. His groom was there with the aged Duke’s horse for him to ride home as usual. By a sign, sending away horse and groom, the calm old veteran walked into and with the mob. Before he and they came to Apsley House, the wild threats and jeers had become good British cheers. The old man spoke no single word, but only pointed to his study windows, which had lately been barred up owing to a mob breaking the glass.
I bought this painting from Charles Dickens’ friend, old Mrs. Haines, as it hung in her inner parlour or sanctum. I also bought from the old lady an old crockery clock-case, depictingthe young Pretender and Flora MacDonald; also a separate figure of Flora MacDonald. The old dame talked the while of her recollections of uninteresting (!) folk, such as Lord Byron and Charles Dickens. To hear her talk of her own father, a Thames waterman, landing Byron at the Tower stairs, carried one in fancy almost back to Wenceslaus Hollar’s London, with its picturesque quaintness. Describing Dickens’ appearance when first he came to London, she spoke of him as having somewhat the look of a groom. Then she pointed with pride to the plain chair in which Dickens, in later years, spent many an hour of many a day reading her husband’s library books.
This house, No. 24, Fetter Lane, has long been pulled down, and the foregoing remarks are from my memory of my last call there about nineteen years ago. In an article shortly afterwards (5th January, 1884) in thePall Mall Gazette—I have just looked it up in one of my commonplace books—are many curious particulars, and two good illustrations: “The walls are lined all round with books that have long been forgotten by the world, all arranged with some attention to regularity. A little angular counter protects them from the profane touch of curio-hunters. This is covered withold books, prints, tarnished silver, glass cases, tattered engravings, and paintings cracked and stained. In one corner Dame Haines sat down. ‘Here,’ she said, ‘I have seen Dickens sit many hundreds of times, and here he used to lean his shoulder on the counter. Ah!’ she went on, making a movement with her hands, and with ecstasy expressed on every one of her wrinkled features, ‘I can see him now, with his pleasant face, his quiet, rippling laugh and his gentle ways.”
Now, the earlier bookplates hailing from the more northern colonies of America differ generally from those of southern colonies. Most of the early northern families were of stern, unimaginative mettle, rather despising as unholy anything so “worldly” as anex libris, and bringing few suchgewgawswith them in their trunks. On the other hand, what bookplates they in time adopted were home-made, and if not fine works of art, they were of essential interest as a bit of history.
The southern colonies, on the other hand, were frequented by a more polished and wealthy class, bringing along with them the trappings and social trinkets of their old society.
Mr. E. N. Hewins, in his extremely valuabletreatise on American bookplates, gives the book-label of the Rev. John Williams, dated 1679, as the earliest dated example. This is particularly interesting, as the said John Williams was a native. He was born at Roxbury, in Massachusetts, his grandfather having settled there in about the year 1638.
John Williams graduated at Harvard in 1683, was ordained in 1688, and became the first pastor of Deerfield, a frontier town. On the night of February 28th, 1704, Deerfield was attacked by about 300 French and Indians. A great number of citizens were captured; two of John Williams’ children and a negro servant were killed; and then he, with his wife and remaining children, were forced to march for Canada. On the second day out, his wife, falling exhausted, was at once slain with a tomahawk. Urged on, they marched 300 miles to their destination.
After a long while John Williams was ransomed, and came back to his faithful charge of Deerfield in 1706. One daughter, Eunice, was still kept a captive, and her after history was very remarkable. She was only a child of eight when captured; but in time she forgot the English language, became a Roman Catholic, and married an Indian. She lived toa great age, and several times visited her relations, but refused to give up any of the habits or dress of Indian life.
Another early native-wrought labelex librisis that dated 1704 for the books of Thomas Prince. He, too, was of an old stock, his grandfather having emigrated from Hull in 1633.
Thomas Prince became pastor of the Old South Church in Boston. A fine scholar and linguist, he made valuable collections, both manuscript and in print. Some of these stored in the tower of the Old South Church, of great interest for the early history of America, were unfortunately destroyed by the British forces in 1775.
Now we find a bookplate known to have been engraved on copper by a native engraver.
Nathaniel Hurd, whose grandfather, emigrating from England, settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts, was probably the first American who engraved copper-plates. His best designs had humour and character. One of his well-known plates represents Hudson, the forger, in the pillory. He engraved a seal for Harvard University. Hurd was born in 1730, and only lived to 1777.
Hewins gives Hurd’s plate of ThomasDering, 1749, as the first American plate by an American engraver which is both signed and dated.
Much interest among bookplate collectors has, of course, centred round the plate of George Washington, both on account of its being George Washington’s, and being rare. It is a good armorial Chippendale plate. Learned inquirers have failed to establish who engraved it, and on which side of the broad Atlantic!
The plate of the next worthy to be named is a fine armorialex libriswith the motto: “nec elatus nec dejectus.” The owner of this plate was Isaiah Thomas, born in Boston in 1749, and dying at Worcester, also in Massachusetts, in 1831; he was, at six years old, apprenticed to Zachariah Fowler, ballad printer. In 1770 Thomas became partner with his former master. Together they issued theMassachusetts Spy, “open to all parties, but influenced by none.” Thomas was soon left alone in his undertakings. A few days before the battle of Lexington, in which he bore his part, he packed up his press and types, and took them by night to Worcester. There he resumed the issue of theSpy, which, at all events in 1888, was still being regularly issued. In 1786 he got from Europe the firstfount of music ever used in New England. In 1788 he opened a book store in Boston. In 1791 he issued the Bible in folio. He gave his own fine collection of books, amounting to 8,000 volumes, to the Worcester Antiquarian Library.
Of him William Lincoln wrote; “His reputation will rest on manly independence, which gave through the initiatory stage and progress of the Revolution, the strong influence of the press he directed, towards the cause of freedom, when royal flattery would have seduced, and the power of government subdued, its action.”
The wreath and armorial bookplate of John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, is almost more pleasing to behold than one could expect to have been chosen by one of the very sternest old Puritans that ever breathed; but, after all, John Quincy Adams was a scholar and man of affairs, who from early boyhood had travelled much, and in good company. All this would give him some ideas of good taste. “J. Q. A.” seems to lead involuntarily to the thought of another wreath and armorial bookplate of a not less interesting character.
The lawyer, Josiah Quincy, was born in 1744,in Boston, and died at sea in 1775; but much happened in that short spell of years. He was one of the first to say in plain terms, “that an appeal to arms, followed by a separation from the mother-country, was inevitable.” Early in 1773, when already suffering from consumption, he took a voyage under doctor’s orders; but, returning to Boston, he was present in the Old South Meeting-house on December 16th, and as the men, disguised as Indians, rushed past the door on their way to the tea-ships, he exclaimed: “See the clouds which now rise thick and fast upon our horizon, the thunders roll and the lightnings play, and to that God who rides on the whirlwind and directs the storm, I commit my country.”
The plate, with armorial shield and crest, of Dr. John Jeffries may be remembered, though no draughtsman or engraver’s name is tied to it, as the bookplate of the man who, in Boston, in 1789, delivered the first lecture on anatomy ever given in New England.
We may turn now from surgeons to a doctor of divinity. The plate of Samuel Farmar Jarvis,D.D., here reproduced from my copy of Bingley’sVoyagers—in which Jarvis has written: “To my dear Edrica Faulkner a small token of regard from her affectionate
friend Saml Farmer Jarvis. Siena, Septemb, 24. 1832.”—is described by Hewins as: “Armorial. Literary. Mottoes ‘Hora e sempre,’ and ‘Sola salus servire Deo.’ The shield rests against a pile of books, and, above, the cross and crown are seen in a blaze of glory.”
S. F. Jarvis, son of the bishop, was born at Middletown, in Connecticut, in 1786, and from his tastes and scholarship his name is well worthy of record where books are concerned. In 1826 he sailed for England, and spent nine years in literary study, exploring many of the great libraries of Europe. The fruit of these labours may be seen in some valuable works afterwards published. His fine collection of paintings and interesting library were sold after his death in 1851.
Leaving now the armorial plates, and coming to a literary name which is almost as familiar a sound in London as in New York, we find the bookplate of Oliver Wendell Holmes, a charming original design—a nautilus shell, with the motto “per ampliora ad altiora.”
“If you will look into Roget’sBridgewater Treatise,” said the autocrat one morning, “you will find a figure of one of these shells and a section of it. The last will show you the series of enlarging compartments successively dwelt in by the animal that inhabits the shell, which is built in a widening spiral.”
“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, as the swift seasons roll!Leave thy low-vaulted past!Let each new temple nobler than the last,Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,Till thou at length art free,Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea.”
“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, as the swift seasons roll!Leave thy low-vaulted past!Let each new temple nobler than the last,Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,Till thou at length art free,Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea.”
“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, as the swift seasons roll!Leave thy low-vaulted past!Let each new temple nobler than the last,Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,Till thou at length art free,Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea.”
A very curious plate is that of Laurence Hutton, the author. The plate consists mainly of a full-length portrait of William Makepeace Thackeray, with “Laurence Hutton” inscribed under it! The author ofVanity Fairstands in an arched doorway, which leads to bookcases and books. Laurence Hutton was born in the city of New York in 1843. As a writer he is well known on both sides of the ocean, and for twenty years he always spent the summer months in England.
Turning from peace to war, the bookplate of Lieutenant E. Trenchard, of the United States Navy, represents another side of life. In this plate, as, happily, in almost all bookplates of American origin, the name is there clear and unmistakable. Behind the horizontal oval bearing the name, are flags, cannon, cannon-balls, and an anchor. The owner of this platewas born in New Jersey in 1784, and on April 30th, 1800, he was appointed a midshipman in the United States Navy, and became lieutenant on February 18th, 1807. In the war of 1812 to 1815 he commanded theMadisonin some of her engagements on Lake Ontario, and also rendered distinguished service at the blockade of Kingston. These were stirring times, and the following exact quotation from, not improbably, the only copy in existence of a tiny printed manual, is of real interest. Following Article II. are many other regulations. Then,Firelock Manual of the Sergeants, and the full name of every member of this patriotic band.
CONSTITUTION.Instituted March 7, 1805. Revised February 24, 1807.PREAMBLE.At the present crisis, when war is spreading its ravages over the European world, and states and empires are buried in its ruins, and whilst all Governments must depend upon their military strength for their existence, it becomes indispensably necessary to every young man to make the art of war a study, that he may be ever ready to turn out in defence of the honour and independence of his country.WE the undersigned Non-Commissioned Officers of Infantry of the third Brigade, first Division, Massachusetts Militia, impressed with a sense of the aboveremarks, have associated for the purpose of meeting and practising the Manual Exercise, and all such Company Manœuvres as we can unitedly collect, that are necessary for us to understand; thereby forming a Military School, which we hope will ever be a source of improvement to its members. We have, therefore, subscribed to the following articles as our Constitution, and do most solemnly pledge our honours to abide and be governed by them in every respect.ArticleI.This Association shall be styled “The Soul of the Soldiery.”[B]ArticleII.No one shall be a member unless he actually holds a Warrant in the Infantry of the third Brigade, first Division, Massachusetts Militia.
CONSTITUTION.
Instituted March 7, 1805. Revised February 24, 1807.
PREAMBLE.
At the present crisis, when war is spreading its ravages over the European world, and states and empires are buried in its ruins, and whilst all Governments must depend upon their military strength for their existence, it becomes indispensably necessary to every young man to make the art of war a study, that he may be ever ready to turn out in defence of the honour and independence of his country.
WE the undersigned Non-Commissioned Officers of Infantry of the third Brigade, first Division, Massachusetts Militia, impressed with a sense of the aboveremarks, have associated for the purpose of meeting and practising the Manual Exercise, and all such Company Manœuvres as we can unitedly collect, that are necessary for us to understand; thereby forming a Military School, which we hope will ever be a source of improvement to its members. We have, therefore, subscribed to the following articles as our Constitution, and do most solemnly pledge our honours to abide and be governed by them in every respect.
ArticleI.
This Association shall be styled “The Soul of the Soldiery.”[B]
ArticleII.
No one shall be a member unless he actually holds a Warrant in the Infantry of the third Brigade, first Division, Massachusetts Militia.
A splendid non-armorial and naval plate is the bookplate with the name “Stephen Cleveland” under the engraving of a fine man-of-war of the old time in full sail.
Stephen Cleveland went to sea in 1756, being seized in Boston, and pressed for a British man-of-war. His father, a clergyman, founded, in 1750, at Halifax, the first Presbyterian church in Canada. On the Declaration of Independence Stephen Cleveland was given a captain’s commission, and brought over from Bordeauxvaluable munitions of war. His commission is said to have been the earliest issued by the American Government.
Of quite modern plates a good specimen is that of a well-known New York collector, Mr. Eduard Hale Bierstadt. The style is allegorical; a piping shepherd, naked, but for a sergeant’s sash! Books and flowers, with the motto: “nunc mihi mox aliis.”
A very pleasing, particularly because unpretending, plate is that of “Melvin H. Hapgood. Hartford, Conn. U.S.A.” It is but little more than a very finely ornamented label including a very small shield-of-arms.
“Thomas Bailey Aldrich His Mark” is the inscription on the frame bordering a rectangular modern bookplate. Inside is a bird over a mask, and, failing more serious emblems, the idea of the bird as a young rook is not inappropriate to the familiar expression “his mark.”
A more pretentious plate, and well illustrated by Mr. Hewins, is that of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Henry Dubbs, professor in Franklin and Marshall College. In the middle is a shield-of-arms fastened in front of a spreading oak tree. The several inscriptions are: “1880 Joseph Henry Dubbs D:D:—ex recto decus—” and the migrations of the family noted as follows: “Styria 1446; Helvetia 1531; America 1732.”
Of modern American library interiorex librismay be mentioned James Phinney Baxter’s, with an easy-chair, a table, an old clock, and rows of books. Louis J. Haber’s plate bespeaks ease and comfort. Here, as usual, are the rows of books, and the old motto: “My silent but faithful friends are they.”
Albert C. Bates’s bookplate reproduces an early woodcut of a Leyden University old library, with its chained books.
A beautiful plate, mentioned by Mr. Hewins, is the colouredex librisof Gerald E. Hart, of Montreal, representing the interior of a cell in some medieval monastery, with a tonsured monk sitting on his stone bench, illuminating a manuscript. The Gothic window admits light through its highly coloured design, and rows of vellum lie beside the desk of the old monk.
Leaving library interiors, we note, amongst scores of other good literary bookplates, that of the Rev. Wm. R. Huntington, Rector of Grace Church, New York City, a design adapted from a frontispiece by Walter Crane for the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, and inwhich a curly-locked youth is, with a huge key in hand, opening the door of a house. Upon the roof are seen two cupids, making pleasant sounds with lyre and voice. With this plate is the charming motto: “In veritate victoria.”
Many pleasing Americanex librisare not personal at all. The bookplate of the Grolier Club is in itself a beautiful object, befitting a society which, although only founded in New York less than twenty years ago, occupies such a unique position in literary circles.
Of a far different style is the allegorical plate inscribed: “This Book belongs to the Monthly Library in Farmington. Laws. 1. Two pence per day for retaining a Book more than one Month. 2. One penny for folding down a Leaf. 3. 3 shillings for lending a book to a Nonproprietor. Other Damages apprais’d by a Committee. 5. No Person allowed a Book while indebted for a Fine.”
The following lines probably refer to the allegorical drawing:—
“The youth who Led by Wisdom’s guiding HandSeeks Virtue’s Temple, and her Law Reveres:He, he alone in Honour’s Dome shall stand,Crown’d with Rewards, and rais’d above his Peers.”
“The youth who Led by Wisdom’s guiding HandSeeks Virtue’s Temple, and her Law Reveres:He, he alone in Honour’s Dome shall stand,Crown’d with Rewards, and rais’d above his Peers.”
“The youth who Led by Wisdom’s guiding HandSeeks Virtue’s Temple, and her Law Reveres:He, he alone in Honour’s Dome shall stand,Crown’d with Rewards, and rais’d above his Peers.”
At the foot of the plate is “M. Bull’s and T. Lee’s sculp.” This said Martin Bull wasan interesting village character. For thirty-nine years he held the post of clerk of probate, and for eight years was town treasurer. He also worked as a goldsmith, manufactured saltpetre for the army, and conducted the church choir! This interesting local library was founded in 1795, and then was called “The Library in the First Society in Farmington.” In 1801 it acquired the name engraved over the bookplate.
John Collet of Little Gidding—A book that was in the Battle of Corunna—Henry Howard—Sir Percivall Hart—John Crane and the Battle of Naseby.
John Collet of Little Gidding—A book that was in the Battle of Corunna—Henry Howard—Sir Percivall Hart—John Crane and the Battle of Naseby.
IN a work treating of bookplates some space devoted to the subject of inscriptions in books can hardly be out of place. In the view of the real book-lover—and no others are asked to look at this volume—a book, until actually destroyed, is a very living reality. As he takes it carefully into his hands he thinks of the wondrous thoughts and deeds that may be unfolded between its covers. He also thinks, if it be an old book, of the host of scenes of other days through which the book has passed. Bookplates in it of former owners are of interest; but so, too, in a very striking manner, are any manuscript names and notes of former owners.
After these few words, the following few notes will probably speak for themselves.
The following curious inscription is at the beginning of a precious Little Gidding large folio volume in the British Museum. The pressmark is l 23. e 2:—
“Johannes Collet,FiliusThomæ Collet,PaterThomæ Gulielmi Johannis,Omnium superstes,NatusQuarto Junii 1633,Denasciturus,Quando Deo visum fuerit,Interim hujus proprietarius.————John Collet.”
The armorial bookplate of Robert Chambers is of interest, as I have it in a copy of the Bible which has passed through terrible experiences, as related inThe Times, 23rd October, 1902, and given more fully below:—
“The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised.By His Majesty’s Special Command.Appointed to be read in Churches.“Edinburgh, Printed by Sir J. H. Blair and J. Bruce, Printers to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1799.”
“The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments: translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised.
By His Majesty’s Special Command.Appointed to be read in Churches.
“Edinburgh, Printed by Sir J. H. Blair and J. Bruce, Printers to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty. 1799.”
It carries the following inscriptions:—
“this Bibleis a token of respect toWᵐ Chambersfrom his Sister Maryon the 23ᵈ of Septr 1805and hopes he will esteem itand By the Grace of it’s Authorfind in it a faithfullCompanion a Wise Counselera Comfortable and Sure Guidethrough every Dispensationof Life that it may Pleasethe Almighty to Place—him in—”
“Wᵐ Chambers his Book / Gibralter Octʳ 24ᵗʰ 1806”
“In case of Death By Accident I trust the Person Whoever this Book may fall in their hands that will send a Line to the Person mentioned in the above hand. Intimating the same Octʳ 24 1806 Wᵐ Chambers”
Then, happily, in another inscription, signed “R. Chambers,” we get the story completed:—
“Wᵐ Chambers of the 42ⁿᵈLost his Life by Accident Feby20ᵗʰ 1807 at Gibralter this Biblefell to the care of his ComradeAndrew Leach and becamehis Companion through manytroubles they landed at LisbonSept 2ᵈ 1808 and from theirthey Marched to Salamancain Spain from which theyretreated under the greatesthardships to Corunawhere on the 16ᵗʰ of Jany 1809they were preserved in a mostdreadfull Conflict with theEnemy and on the 27 landedSafe in England he sentthis object of his Care andConsolation to me April 10ᵗʰ1809R Chambers”
“Wᵐ Chambers of the 42ⁿᵈLost his Life by Accident Feby20ᵗʰ 1807 at Gibralter this Biblefell to the care of his ComradeAndrew Leach and becamehis Companion through manytroubles they landed at LisbonSept 2ᵈ 1808 and from theirthey Marched to Salamancain Spain from which theyretreated under the greatesthardships to Corunawhere on the 16ᵗʰ of Jany 1809they were preserved in a mostdreadfull Conflict with theEnemy and on the 27 landedSafe in England he sentthis object of his Care andConsolation to me April 10ᵗʰ1809R Chambers”
“Wᵐ Chambers of the 42ⁿᵈLost his Life by Accident Feby20ᵗʰ 1807 at Gibralter this Biblefell to the care of his ComradeAndrew Leach and becamehis Companion through manytroubles they landed at LisbonSept 2ᵈ 1808 and from theirthey Marched to Salamancain Spain from which theyretreated under the greatesthardships to Corunawhere on the 16ᵗʰ of Jany 1809they were preserved in a mostdreadfull Conflict with theEnemy and on the 27 landedSafe in England he sentthis object of his Care andConsolation to me April 10ᵗʰ1809R Chambers”
On a fly-leaf at the end of the Bible are the three following separate inscriptions:—
“Col Wild, MaltaServᵗ Name John Bacchens”
“William ChambersBorn Anno DominiSepᵗ 13ᵗʰ 1782”————“Mary Chambersher Book April 19 1809”
Robert Chambers has cut the printed name off the foot of his bookplate and pasted it above, so as not to cover the earlier inscription: “Wᵐ Chambers his Book, Gibralter Octʳ 24ᵗʰ 1806.” I have just bought this relic of Corunna—where Sir John Moore ended his glorious life amid the fires of victory—from Mr. William Harper, a second-hand bookseller of the true old-fashioned type, a man to whom a book is an object of reverence. He catalogued the late Edward Solly’s interesting library. His old chief, Andrew Clark, bought it at the sale, of which I quote the catalogue title in full, from good Andrew Clark’s own marked copy: “removed from Gray’s Inn. A catalogue of the valuable Library of 3000 vols. containing several excellent works on Topography, Theology, Law, History, and Miscellanies; many of the best editions of the classics, a very curious collection of old Bibles, In nearly all languages, illuminated missals, breviaries, and old MSS. in good preservation, And various works, in nearly all classes of Literature, many being exceedingly curious and scarce, Which will be sold by Auction by Mr. Geo. Berry at the auction rooms, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, on Thursday, June 29th, 1854, and FollowingDay, at 11 for 12 oclock, each day, without reserve, By direction of the Executors of the late Robert Chambers Esq. Barrister at Law. May be viewed the day prior and Morning of Sale; and Catalogues had at the place of Sale; And of the Auctioneer, no. 8a, Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square. H. D. Pite, Printer, 37 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.”
“Q. F. F. Q. S.
Hunc librum pro summo suo in Tyrones apud eum Literas discentes studio, D Robertus Spence Ludimagister in Schola illustri Edinburgensi Jacobi Regis Scotorum ejus nominis Sexti, Gulielmo Binning discipulo suo, hoc anno Syntaxi Latine operam navanti, tanquam latæ a condiscipulis victoriæ palmarium, & futuræ diligentiæ & industriæ incitamentum, dono dedit.
Prid: Id: Ian:MDCCXXVIII”
is inscribed at the beginning of a copy of phrases “linguae latinæ, ab aldo manutio p.f, conscriptæ: ... londini excusum pro Societate Stationariorum. 1636.”
“M.DC.VIIIIllustrissimo Northamtoniæ Comiti Dno Henrico Howarderegiæ Maiestati a secretis et sanctiaribus consiliis.Quinque Portuum præfecto vigilantissimoin noui formosissimi ineuntis Anniauspitium Perceuillas HarteLL: MM. DD:”
This inscription was in a book in splendid English sixteenth-century binding, which belonged then to the Royal Society, and has the well-known old bookplate of the Royal Society. Nothing now remains but one cover and three fly-leaves.
The Henry Howard of this interesting inscription was born at Shottesham, in Norfolk, on February 25th, 1539, being the second son of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and the younger brother of Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk. His father dying when he was but seven years old, he was left to the care of his aunt, the Duchess of Richmond, and lived at Reigate, a manor of the Duke of Norfolk’s, under the tutorship of John Foxe, the martyrologist. On Queen Mary’s accession the Duke of Norfolk, the grandfather, was released from prison, and he dismissed Foxe. Howard was now put under the care of a zealous Catholic, John White, Bishop first of Lincoln and then of Winchester. Soon came another turn of the wheel—Mary died! Elizabeth turned White out of his bishopric, herself took charge of Howard’s education and sent him to King’s College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1564.
In 1572 his brother, now Duke of Norfolk,was accused of plotting to marry Mary Queen of Scots, and Banister, the Duke’s confidential agent, declared in his confession that Henry was the subject first proposed for the hand of Mary Queen of Scots. Henry Howard was at once seized, but proving his innocence to Elizabeth’s satisfaction, he was released, and a pension assigned to him. To follow him would be to write an elaborate book; but, in short, his life of seventy-four years was too full of variety to be peaceful or pleasant. He was constantly suspected of strong Roman Catholic sympathies, and he was often in close correspondence with Mary Queen of Scots, although, as regards the tendency of his influence, he himself at least said that he gave her the prudent advice to “abate the sails of her royal pride.”
At all events, much romance must always attach to the name of anyone who, like Henry Howard, was oft exchanging tokens with Mary Queen of Scots. In the latter years of Queen Elizabeth he entered into a secret correspondence with James of Scotland, who wrote to him often on intimate terms, and who, on hearing of Elizabeth’s death, sent Howard a ruby as a token. On January 1st, 1604, Howard became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and soonafterwards Baron Howard of Marnhull, Dorsetshire, and Earl of Northampton. In the next year he was made a Knight of the Garter, and in 1608 he was appointed to the office of Lord Privy Seal.
Sir Percivall Hart, Chief Server, and Knight Harbinger to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, died in 1580, leaving a son, Sir Percivall Hart, who married twice, first to Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Manwood, Knight, Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer, by whom he had a son, William; and his second wife was Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Stanhope of Grimston, Knight, by whom he had issue Sir Henry Hart, Knight of the Bath, who died in his father’s lifetime, having married Elizabeth, daughter of—— Burdet, and a widow of Sir Simon Norwich, by whom he left Percyval, Francis, George, and Elizabeth, who died young; Percyval and Jerome, who died without issue; and George, who married Elizabeth, daughter of—— Berisford, and left two sons, Percival and George, and two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth.
William Hart, only son of Sir Percyval by his first wife, succeeded his father in the possession of Lullingstone, and died on March 31st, 1671, aged seventy-seven, and was buriedthere. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Weldon, of Swanscombe, Knight, who died in 1677, and lies buried there, by whom he had no issue, upon which the Manor of Lullingstone descended to Percyval Hart, Esq., eldest son of Sir Henry Hart, Knight of the Bath, eldest son of Sir Percyval Hart, Knight, by his second wife as abovementioned. He was afterwards knighted, and left issue by Anne, his wife, one son, Percyval Hart, Esq., who was of Lullingstone, was sheriff in 1707, and Member of Parliament for the county in the ninth and twelfth years of Queen Anne. He died October 27th, 1738, aged seventy, and was buried in Lullingstone Church, having by Sarah, his wife, youngest daughter of Henry Dixon of Hilden, Esquire, an only daughter and heir, Anne, then married to her second husband, Sir Thomas Dyke of Hexham, in Sussex, Baronet.
The notes given below, and many more, all evidently in the hand of John Crane, are in a 1649 copy ofReliquiæ Sacræ Carolinæ:—
Look back in the Record Office to the time of Naseby fight. There is written as follows:—
1645, June 23ʳᵈ.—Ordered in the Comon’s House this day that the 23 members here named are added to the committee whereMr. Tate hath the chaire, and are to meete tomorrowe morning att 7 of ye clocke in ye Queenes Court, and to appoint persons to transcribe those particulars (in the several letters and papers taken at Naseby field) that are most materiall, and to consider what shall be done with the Portugall Agent, and to examine Mr. Browne & his sonne (if ye House sitt not) when they are brought up.
This Mr. Tate has been indexed as Zouch Tate, M.P. for Northampton, chairman of the committee for regulating the armies.
Baker’sNorthamptonshirerelates that John Crane, of Loughton, Bucks, Clerk of the Household to James the First and Charles the First, was living in 1651 at the age of seventy-five and lived long after that. He married Mary, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham. They had many children, including a son John and a daughter Anne; the latter marrying Francis Arundell of Stoke Park.
On the blank lower half of the page preceding theEikon, and on the title of theEikon:—
“Some tyme after the King was murtherd by accident I was in ye company of one of Mr. Tate’s servants (with my wife & several others) whose master was one of those appoynted to examine the kings letters I askedhim whether he ever saw aney of ye kings writing, he told me that his master tate committed severall of those letters to his custodie, and that those letters ye Parlt. put forth in print were written with ye king’s own hand, I asked him whether they printed all they had, he said no they burned maney, I asked ye reason, he said because they vindicated the king from maney things they charged upon him & that if those letters had bin printed they would have bin very much for the kings advantage & that they caused to be printed only those they thought would make against him, and that it was pittie they were burned. This my cosin Zouch Tats man spake at my sister Arundells at Stoake in ye company of maney with me John Crane junior. This he had told me before, but I loved to hear him againe.”
“Ex libris Joannis Holleri Brixi:In Domino confidoQuisquis es inuentor nostrite quæso libelliHuic reddas cujusque nomen adesse”
is the contemporary inscription over the bookplate reproduced on another page:—
“Bibliothec攓Novacellensis.”“T”
It appears in a copy of D. Radvlphi Ardentis Pictavi, Doctoris Theologi per antiqui illustriss. Aquitaniæ Ducis Gulielmi huius nominis quarti, Concionatoris disertiss in Epistolas et Euangelia (et vocant) Sanctorum, Homiliæ, Ecclesiastis omnibus animarum curam gerentibus plurimum necessariæ, et ante annos propè quingentos ab Auctore conscriptæ, nunc primum in lucem editæ.
Quibus annecti curauimus eisusdem Homilias in Epistolas et Euangelia, quæ in communi Sanctorum legi consueuerunt. Then the printer’s block of two birds in fighting attitude between an upright staff separating them, with the motto: “Resparia crescunt concordia,” and the date 1560. Below the printer’s block: “Antverpiæ, In ædibus Viduæ & Hæredum Joan. Stelfii. M.D.LXX. Cum Priuilegio.”
Nova cella, or Newstifft, a beautiful Bavarian cloister of the Præmonstratensian Order in the diocese of Freysing, near the junction of the Moselle and Iser, was, in the year 1141, founded by three brothers: Otho, Bishop of Freysing; Henry, Margrave of Austria, and Conrad of Salzburg. They dedicated it to the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. Alas! in the time of the Thirty Years’ War it was quite destroyed. On one blank leaf is pasted thebookplate here given, and on another is written, “Ex libris/T. H. Foster/In Festi Purificationis/ B.V.M. 88/+”. The book is in its original stamped binding, with clasps.
Now this short gossip onex librismust draw to a close.
In one sense—that of variety—the study of bookplates can be elaborated in a never-ending course. You can set your mind on collecting, arranging, and studying the bookplates of lawyers. Again, you can limit that, and collect only the bookplates of barristers, as distinguished from solicitors; you can limit your attention to judges; you can confine it to a century, a country, or even a county; you can strive to put together all the Chippendale bookplates ever made; you can strive to collect every portrait-plate, every plate with a ship, every landscape-plate, every military bookplate, or collect military bookplates, at the same time excluding every aspirant below a general! The varieties are endless; it is merely a question of ringing the changes. Perhaps one of the most sensible divisions, in a small way, is that of collecting the plates of the various members of certain families.
Memorable words were spoken in March, 1891, by John Leighton,F.S.A., the first chairman of the Ex Libris Society: “The Society should be select, and in no way connected with profit, other than the pleasure to be derived in making the past patent to the present and future.”
The present writer is not a bookplate collector; but an honoured member of the Council of the Ex Libris Society has kindly lent most of the numbers of the Society’s Journal, from the date of its foundation. One or two of several years he had lost, and very many of the numbers had not, till now, made the acquaintance of a paper-knife. There is, I need hardly say, much in the Journal of interest, and reflecting highly on the ingenuity of Mr. W. H. K. Wright, fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
In turning over the numbers of the Journal a fond, vain wish seizes one; and it is this—Oh! that I could strike out the trade journal element, or relegate it to certain pages, wholly apart from the interesting historical and antiquarian portions. Alas! how could this be expected, seeing that leading members of the Society were professionally busied with bookplates? Perhaps this has all been remedied.
Then, too, in turning over numbers one cannot help thinking that a bookplate of simpletaste was sadly discouraged. In the first place, a “fanciful” design was directly recommended; and in the second place, by constantly urging that each member of the Society must sport at least one bookplate of his own, and must be ready to exchange. Thus anyone who has joined the Society, and whose own library may be limited toBradshawand theStock Exchange Year Book, must start anex libris, not to place in the primary proper place for bookplates, but to post to Dick, Tom, and Harry, similarly placed. Again, unless he wish to be ignored, he must make every effort to have as grand and fantastic a plate as his neighbour.
A volume has just, on going to press, come into my hands, which, although printed as late as 1850, is deliciously redolent of old-world life. The work is the Life of James Davies, a village schoolmaster, written by Sir Thomas Phillips. London: John W. Parker, West Strand, 1850. On the inner cover, facing the half-title, is a most charming black silhouette profile portrait of a lady of some ninety years ago, subscribed “ever your sincere Friend Sarah Jones.” Above is written, “S Jones born 9ᵗʰ April 1771.” In, of course, another hand, is written at the foot, “Died July 18ᵗʰ: 1852.” The portrait is of the wife and widowof the Rev. William Jones, as shown by several marked passages of the book. Her husband was in pastoral charge, and she his devoted helper, where James Davies was the earnest and evidently very unpedantic pedagogue: “It was in the summer of 1815 that James Davies removed from Usk to the Devauden, and received the charge of rude, ragged, and boisterous mountain children, whom he long instructed by precept and example.”
This biography, the work of Sir Thomas Phillips, a neighbouring squire, is illustrated with very good engravings, and altogether recalls at every turn, scenes worthy of good George Herbert and Nicholas Ferrar.
Les Ex Libris Français, by A. Poulet-Malassis. Paris, 1874.
A Guide to the Study of Bookplates, by the Hon. John Byrne Leicester Warren. J. Pearson, London, 1880. pp. iii. and 238.
Revue des Ex Libris Alsaciens, by A. Stoeber. Mulhouse, 1881.
Die Deutschen Bücherzeichen, by F. Warnecke. Berlin, 1890. pp. 255.
Composite Bookplates, by E. B. Ricketts. London, 1890.
Les Ex Libris, by H. Bouchot. Paris, 1891. pp. 104.
Bibliography of Bookplates, by H. W. Fincham and J. R. Brown. Plymouth, 1892. pp. 24.
Heraldic Bookplates, by A. M. Hildebrandt. Berlin, 1892.
French Bookplates, by W. Hamilton. London, 1892. pp. 175. Also in Bell’sEx Libris Series, 1896. pp. 360.
English Bookplates, by Egerton Castle. London, 1893.
Rare Bookplates of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, by F. Warnecke. London, 1893.
Dated Bookplates, by W. Hamilton. London, 1894.
The Processes for the Production of Bookplates, by J. Vinycomb. London, 1894. pp. 96.
Illustriertes handbuch de Ex Libris kunde, by G. A. Seyler. Berlin, 1895. pp. 88.
Wardour Press Series of Armorial Plates.London, 1895, etc.
Ex Libris Series, J. W. G. White. London, 1895, etc.
American Bookplates, by C. D. Allen. London, 1895.
Bookplates, by W. J. Hardy,F.S.A.London, 1897.
Artists and Engravers of British and American Bookplates, by H. W. Fincham. London, 1897.
Bookplates Old and New, by J. A. Gade. New York, 1898.
Bookplates and their Value, by J. H. Slater. London, 1898.
Die Schweizerischen Bibliothekzeichen, by L. Gerster. Kappelen, 1898.
Odd Volumes and their Bookplates, by W. Hamilton. London, 1899.
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,V,W,Z