IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION.
A collector will probably find it more difficult to identify and
classify the ex-libris of France than those of any other country. The
number of anonymous plates of comparatively early date is so large, the
coronets of nobility are so irregular and so frequently misappropriated,
and the great Revolution created such a general confusion in family
history and in heraldry, that the identification of anonymous French
ex-libris is embarrassing in most instances, impossible in some. In the
rare cases where the book-plate remains fixed in the book to which it
originally belonged, some little assistance may be derived as to its
date and possible ownership, and at least one point may be settled with
tolerable certainty, namely, that the engraving has really been intended
for, and has served as, an ex-libris; whereas, when once extracted from
its book, many an early armorial ex-libris may be easily mistaken for a
woodcut used on a dedication, or for an illustration extracted from
some old treatise on heraldry.
[Illustration: STYLE HENRI IV. (1589).]
[Illustration: STYLE LOUIS XIII. (1610).]
The French name the styles in vogue at certain periods after their
kings, as the style Henri IV., Louis XIII., Louis XIV., Régence., Louis
XV., and Louis XVI.; but it must not be assumed that these styles
exactly synchronize with the reigns of the monarchs whose names they
bear; neither are they so easily classified or differentiated as are our
British styles. The following designs, however, are never found earlier
than the periods whose names and dates they bear.
The Henri IV. and Louis XIII. styles are very similar, an oval shield
surrounded by an ornamental cartouche, either having angels or mermaids,
or garlands of flowers, worked into the frame, both sides of which are
alike, or only differ in small details of light and shade, etc. Of the
two, the later style is the simpler and less decorative.
[Illustration: STYLE LOUIS XIV. (1643).]
The style Louis XIV. is but a development of the above. It is grander,
more pompous, more ornate. The cartouche projects further from the edge
of the shield, it terminates at the top in a large shell, in which
sometimes a female face is shown, or it may be a canopy is suspended
above by festoons of flowers. The ornamentation is still symmetrical,
and the foliations of the frame are precise and formal, every line
having a definite purpose in the design.
[Illustration: STYLE RÉGENCE (1715).]
In what is called the style Régence (some time after 1715) all this is
changed, a light arabesque design is found, quite _à la_ Watteau,
graceful and frivolous. Little urns on little brackets, tiny heads
springing up from nowhere, dainty festoons trailing round and about
without any definite aim in life, and finials at top and bottom which
finish nothing because nothing has been commenced.
[Illustration: STYLE LOUIS XV. (1730).]
Pretty, but short-lived, the style Régence gave way to what is known as
the Louis XV. This has been stigmatized as _Rococo_, but little we heed
the sneer; it has given us the loveliest of book-plates, and fortunately
this was the period when libraries and book-plates were most in fashion
in France. Curiously enough our artistic neighbours claim this style,
with all its graceful convolutions and irregularities, its scorn for
anything approaching regularity of form, as essentially French, whilst
we, with equal certainty, assign its invention to Chippendale and name
it after him. Without stopping to discuss the question of precedence,
that name will suffice to indicate to any British collector the style
Louis XV.: a pear-shaped shield in a framework ornamented with rockwork,
flowers, branches, and ribbons, a coronet, probably very much on one
side, not a straight line anywhere, and no two parts of the design
similar, the supporters being shown with the same disregard for method
or heraldic convention.
The reaction from this style to that of Louis XVI. is again clearly
marked. Straight lines and formal outlines reappear with solid square
bases to support the shields. Above the shields the coronets are clearly
and neatly shown, and from them hang, in graceful curves, wreaths of
flowers, festoons of roses, palm branches, or laurel leaves. On the
bases, in some cases, the names of the owners appear, in others
geometrical ornaments, Greek key patterns, or simple festoons. This
style, somewhat formal and severe, yet essentially French, lasted until
the Revolution.
Under the first Empire there was no style, or what was worse, a bad
style, stiff, formal, semi-Greek, semi-Egyptian, and wholly false.
The Restoration brought little improvement--a Gothic revival, here
borrowing, there stealing, from all the styles that had been in vogue,
and spoiling all in turn.
And so it lasted until the fall of the second Empire, since when a
revival has set in of national life, of national art, and of art in
book-plates.
In attempting to identify anonymous and undated French plates, the first
point to be noticed is, whether the tinctures and metals are clearly
defined in the conventional manner; if they are, the plate will not be
earlier than about 1638 or 1639, when this system was first generally
adopted.
[Illustration: STYLE LOUIS XVI. (1774).]
The heraldic shield, thus emblazoned, with more or less embellishment,
allegorical and pictorial, flourished, from 1639, for just 150 years. In
1789 almost all the old symbols of nobility and titles of honour in
France ceased abruptly; crowns and coronets were thought little of at
that date, but--and this was worse--a little later on they were thought
so much of as greatly to imperil the lives of those who bore them.
Indeed, the revolutionary period affected book-plates very severely from
1789 until the end of 1804, when Napoleon, having obtained the dignity
of emperor, wished to restore some appearance of a court. He therefore
revived heraldry in a modified form, and placed it under certain clearly
defined regulations.
But the new nobility of the Empire cared little for heraldic insignia,
and still less for books or book-plates, consequently for the next ten
years the crop is small and comparatively uninteresting. As a rule the
plates of the Empire are easily identified; if heraldic, by the
simplicity and regularity of the design, and by the peculiarly
characteristic cap, or _toque_, designed by David, Napoleon’s favourite
artist, which was used on most of them in place of crest or coronet.
The non-heraldic plates of this period are also very plain, often indeed
being merely printed labels, as in the case, for instance, of that of
Marshal Suchet.
On the Restoration of the Bourbon, Louis XVIII., all the Napoleonic
badges and devices were swept away, and no satisfactory regulations were
devised to replace them. The old nobility, or what remained of them,
returned to France and resumed their ancient titles and armorial
bearings, but the general public refused to treat them seriously, and
_heraldic_ book-plates have been on the wane ever since. Of late years
nearly all men celebrated in arts or letters have adopted either
allegorical, pictorial, or humorous ex-libris, whilst modern plates
which contain the grandest coats-of-arms frequently belong to those who
are least entitled to bear them.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF M. DE THILORIEU.]
The task of identifying unknown ex-libris of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, those which bear a simple coat-of-arms without
name of owner, or of artist or engraver, requires some patience, a
collection of books of reference, and a knowledge of at least the
rudiments of heraldry. The collector will soon learn to distinguish
early French woodcuts from German, one marked difference being that
nearly all German work was cut in relief, whilst French artists worked
in the hollow, thus producing an engraving which feels rough where the
ink lies. The crests on German plates are also very unlike those used in
France; indeed, crests are comparatively rare on French book-plates,
whilst the Germans frequently introduce several on one achievement;
another very distinctive feature being the two large proboscis, or
pipe-like horns, rising from the sides of the helmet, the _Chalumeaux_,
of such constant occurrence in German crest heraldry, but rarely, if
ever, found on a purely French ex-libris.
A typical example of this peculiar ornament will be found on the
ex-libris of _Hieronimus Ebner_, of Nuremberg, dated 1516, which is
attributed to Albert Dürer; this is reproduced by M. Henri Bouchot, page
25. Another example of this ornament will be seen on the Alsatian plate
of Le R. Père Ingold de l’Hay.
The mode of engraving the armorial tinctures and bearings will probably
show, as we have seen, whether the plate is earlier or later than 1639.
Should the plate carry the name of artist or engraver, the date may be
arrived at approximately by reference to the list of Artists and
Engravers.
Or, assuming that the plate has neither the name of the owner nor that
of the artist, it may carry a motto, in which case several works may be
consulted for information. One of the most modern is “Le Dictionnaire
des Devises,” by Alphonse Chassant, which contains an enormous number
of war cries, mottoes, and devices, adopted by distinguished families,
not only in France, but in other nations. For readiness of reference
these are arranged in alphabetical order, according to the first word of
the sentence.
Another useful reference book is “Historic Devices, Badges, and War
Cries,” by Mrs. Bury Palliser (London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston,
1870). This contains not only war cries and mottoes, but illustrations
of some hundreds of family badges and devices, which are of great
assistance in deciding the ownership of foreign nameless plates.
Finally, assuming a French plate to have no other distinctive mark than
a shield with heraldic bearings, the first work to consult should be the
heraldic dictionary of the engraver Paillot, “La vraye et parfaite
science des armoiries ou l’indice armorial de feu maistre Louvan Geliot,
advocat,” par Pierre Paillot; Paris, 1660. In this M. Paillot has
arranged in alphabetical order all the terms used in heraldry, with
cross references to those in whose arms the various charges occur. Thus,
supposing an ex-libris has a shield on which appears a lion rampant, by
consulting his work under the words “lion” and “rampant,” some reference
will probably be found to the family in which this ex-libris took its
origin.
Although this work dates from the seventeenth century, it may often be
consulted with advantage for modern arms, as in many good old families
the principal charges have not been altered very materially. Another
advantage in Paillot’s “Armorial” is the fact that he has not confined
his attention only to princes and the nobility, but has, on the
contrary, given the preference to the gentry, the minor public
officials, and middle-class families.
There is a similar heraldic table, but on a limited scale, in the
“Armorial du Bibliophile,” by Joannis Guigard. This work contains
illustrations of many hundreds of French coats-of-arms, copied from the
bindings of books, all of which are fully described. There is also an
index to the principal charges borne on the shields of most of the great
book collectors of France, information which is fully as useful to the
collector of ex-libris as to the collector of ancient bindings.
There are other works also, such as “Les Grands Officiers de la
Couronne,” by Père Anselme, and the “Armorial” of Chevillard, but they
are not so well adapted for book-plate collectors who have only limited
time, and probably but a rudimentary knowledge of French heraldry.
On a few early plates the names of French towns may be found latinized,
thus:
Abbatis Villa for Abbeville.
Ambiani “ Amiens.
Andegavum “ Angers.
Angolismum, or } “ Angoulême.
Engolismum }
Argentina, or } “ Strasbourg.
Argentinensis }
Atrebatum “ Arras.
Aurelia “ Orleans.
Avenio for Avignon.
Bisuntia “ Besançon.
Buscum Ducis “ Bois-le-duc.
Cadomum “ Caen.
Carnutum “ Chartres.
Divióne “ Dijon.
Dola “ Dol.
Duacum “ Douay.
Ebroicum “ Evreux.
Ganabum and } “ Orleans.
Aurelia }
Gratianopolis “ Grenoble.
Landumum “ Laon.
Lugdunum, or } “ Lyons.
Lugd. }
Lutetia Parisiorum “ Paris.
Massilia “ Marseilles.
Matisco “ Macon.
Milhusini “ Mulhouse.
Nanceium “ Nancy.
Nannetes “ Nantes.
Parisii “ Paris.
Pictavium “ Poitiers.
Rothomagum “ Rouen.
Sylva Ducis “ Bois-le-duc.
Tholosa “ Toulouse.
Turones “ Tours.
Vesontio “ Besançon.
These are the towns most likely to be met with; should others occur, not
here enumerated, the collector may consult _A Topographical Gazetteer_,
by the Rev. Henry Cotton, D.C.L.
Which is the best system of classification?
This question has often been asked, and no satisfactory reply to it has
yet been given.
It must, indeed, remain to a large extent a matter of individual taste,
depending on the leisure and pecuniary means of the collector, the
extent and value of his collection, and the special circumstances (if
any) for which the collection has been formed. There are three principal
systems, each of which has its advantages and its drawbacks, 1. The
simple alphabetical. 2. The national, with subdivisions. 3. The
arrangement according to the styles of the designs.
No doubt the purely alphabetical arrangement, according to the family
names of the plate owners, is at once the easiest to plan out, and the
simplest for the purposes of reference. It also lends itself well to the
tracing of family history, and the comparison of the modifications of
heraldry in successive generations.
In libraries, public institutions, and very large private collections,
this alphabetical method must almost necessarily be adopted, each plate
being as readily accessible for reference as is a word in a dictionary.
But it involves a large number of albums to allow sufficient room in
each letter for additions, and the plates are all mixed in one
heterogeneous mass, with little regard to age, style, or beauty in
design. In the department of engravings in the Bibliothèque Nationale in
Paris, there are upwards of sixty large volumes full of ex-libris,
arranged alphabetically. This collection was commenced about twenty
years ago, and, under the energetic supervision of M. Georges
Duplessis, it has rapidly increased, and the alphabetical arrangement
has been adopted to facilitate easy reference and comparison.
But M. Henri Bouchot, who, being an official in the print department
there, speaks with authority, remarks that enthusiastic collectors are
also students of history in their special branches, and will (that is,
if their leisure permit) be certain to prefer some more regular and
distinctive system of classification than the simple alphabetical
arrangement.
He therefore recommends the second plan, namely, the division by
countries first, and next, the arrangement in strict chronological
order. There are, however, many difficulties in the way of this
seemingly ideal plan. One may, it is true, soon learn to distinguish,
with a fair amount of accuracy, between French, German, Italian, and
British book-plates; but with other nations the distinctions are less
marked, and Spanish, Dutch, Swiss, or Belgian plates can be easily
confounded with those of their immediate neighbours.
Again, in dealing with plates which have neither name, artist’s
signature, nor date, the chronological subdivisions can only be decided
by a constant comparison of the styles in use at various periods, and by
well-known artists and engravers.
This practice gives the collector a great insight into the progress of
art, and the development of taste, yet it demands both time and patience
to carry it out. Finally, it is true, the collector will have formed a
continuous series of heraldic devices illustrating family history more
completely than can be arrived at in any other manner. It is only by
this constant study and comparison that the student of French ex-libris
can hope to acquire a knowledge of their details, so as to be able to
arrange his collection with a due attention to time, place, and
families.
The third system advocated, namely, the arrangement according to the
styles of the designs on the plates, may be interesting from an artistic
point of view, but is certainly not very methodical.
A collector might divide his French plates under the following heads:
1. _Heraldic._ Subdivided thus: Before 1639. From 1639 to 1789. From
1789 to 1804. From 1804 to the restoration of the Monarchy. Modern
plates. Plates having printed dates to be kept apart from those not
dated.
2. _Pictorial._ Subdivided thus: Woodcuts. Copper plates. Etchings.
Lithographs. And, again, as library interiors, portraits, war trophies,
ladies’ plates, landscapes, punning plates, etc.
3. _Artists._ A collection of signed plates carefully arranged under the
names of their artists would, no doubt, be of great interest for
comparison and study, but rather more for the lover of engraving _pur et
simple_ than for the lover of ex-libris, or for the student of heraldry
and family history.
The great difficulty of any system of classification by the design is,
that some plates might very properly be placed under three or four
categories, so that, unless the collection be carefully indexed, the
trouble is great in seeking hurriedly for any particular plate. The
labour involved in writing an exhaustive index can only be appreciated
by those who have once made one, and many who start zealously to work at
the outset, let the new additions fall in arrear, and the whole scheme
is then abandoned as being too troublesome.
In conclusion, I can only repeat that the choice of the system of
arrangement depends more upon the tastes of the collector himself than
upon any other consideration; but that, on the whole, the balance of
advantages appears to incline in favour of the alphabetical
classification under surnames, keeping each family as distinct as the
information, heraldic and other, on the plates will allow.
Plates of royalty and nobility should be kept apart from the commoners,
and arranged, _first_, in order of rank, _second_, alphabetically by
name. The method most generally in use at present for preserving the
plates, when arranged, appears to be what is known as the ex-libris
case. If this arrangement be adopted, then each plate must be separately
mounted on a card of the correct size. These cases and cards can be
purchased ready for use from Mr. W. H. Batho, of 7, Gresham Street,
London, and the advantages of this arrangement are that any plate or
plates can be withdrawn without injury, and additions can at any time be
made, whilst the backs of the cards may be utilized for MS. information
about either the plate or its former owner, and newspaper cuttings can
be affixed. If the plates are to be inserted in albums, the following
regulations should be carefully observed:
Arrange the plates on one side only of each leaf in the album, allowing
ample room for additions in each division of the alphabet. On no account
fasten the plate down firmly on the paper, fix it only at one or two
corners with a hinge made of gummed paper, or of the outside strip which
surrounds sheets of postage stamps.
This method allows of the easy removal of any plate without damage,
either to the plate or the album, as often as may be desired. The
convenience of this will be readily appreciated by veteran collectors,
who know how often one wants to exchange one plate for another, and how
many good examples have been damaged in the attempt to remove them when
once they have been firmly fixed down with gum or “stickphast” paste.
Albums are more convenient for large plates than the cases. They are
also better adapted for showing off several varieties of a plate on one
page, whilst, for collections in large numbers, they are certainly
rather cheaper.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE BIBLIOPHILE JACOB (PAUL LACROIX).]
[Illustration]