Coming to the adjoining frontier province, we find that the plates
engraved in Lorraine are rather less influenced by German art and the
ponderous German heraldry. Many beautiful ex-libris bear on their faces
the name of the city of _Nancy_ as their birthplace, and well-known
artists for their fathers.
A few of the leading engravers of ex-libris who sign themselves as of
_Nancy_ are J. Valdor (G. Grangier’s plate); C. Charles, 1739; Nicole on
a large number of dated plates, from 1743 to 1767; Colin, and two named
Collin, whose signatures appear on a number of fine plates. The D.
Collin, who produced the interesting plate of “_R. Willemet_,
Apothicaire à Nancy,” describes himself as “Graveur du feu Roy de
Pologne.” Further particulars concerning these artists will be found in
the chapter on artists and engravers.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF FRANÇOIS DE CHANTEAU.]
The Duchy of Lorraine (formerly known as Lotharingia) was at one time an
appanage of the House of Austria, but after several dynastic changes it
was conferred, for life only, upon Stanislaus I., the dethroned king of
Poland.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LÉON GERMAIN OF NANCY.]
Stanislaus held the titles “Duc de Lorraine et de Bar,” and on the large
book-plate for the public library of the city of Nancy, the inscription
reads “Fondée par le Roy de Pologne, duc de Lorraine, en MDCCL,” whilst
the supporters of the central shield are two eagles, each carrying an
escutcheon, the dexter eagle bears the arms of Lorraine (_or, on a bend
gules, three allerions argent_), the sinister eagle carries the arms of
Bar. On the death of Stanislaus, in February, 1766, the Duchy was united
to the crown of France.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE BY NICOLE OF NANCY.]
The city of Nancy was the capital of Lorraine. Here Stanislaus resided:
he did much to embellish the city, where his memory is still highly
respected, his portrait is preserved in the library, and a public square
is named after him, whilst, as we have seen, D. Collin mentioned on his
works that he had been “engraver to the late King of Poland,” a
statement which, at first sight, appears to have little relevance to
French book-plates.
The handsome plate which has been re-engraved for this work, and forms
the frontispiece, belonged to the Prince de Marsan, of the house of
Lorraine. It is a grand specimen of the Louis Seize style, but
unfortunately it is neither signed nor dated.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF PETER DOBREE.]
The inscription reads “Ex Libris Serenissimi Principis DE MARSAN a
Lotharingia.”
The eight quarterings on the shield are the arms of--1. Hungary; 2.
Anjou-Sicile; 3. Jerusalem; 4. Aragon; 5. Anjou (modern); 6. Gueldres;
7. Brabant; 8. Bar. On the dexter inescutcheon are the pure arms of
Lorraine as borne by the Dukes of Lorraine. The whole within a bordure.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF FREDERICK LE MESURIER.]
The collars around the arms are those of the French _Ordres du Roi_,
namely the orders of Saint Michel and the Saint Esprit.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF PETER DE HAVILLAND.]
As the Channel Islands have long belonged to Great Britain it is
obviously incorrect to class them under the Frontier provinces of
France. And yet some mention must be made of them, for many book-plates
used there have a distinctly French character, whilst a list of the
names of some of the leading families (of French origin), will show that
a collector might easily be led to mistake their plates for French:
Allès, Le Patourel, Metivier, Mauger, Le Dieu, Bichard, Andros, Bonamy,
Brock, Blondel, Beauvoir or De Beauvoir, Carey, Cary, or Careye, De
Carteret, Effard, de Jersey, de Havilland or Haviland, Gosselin, Dobrée,
Perchard, Le Mesurier, Mesny, Millais, Milais, Milet, Priaulx, De
Sausmarez or Saumarez, Fautret, De Vie, Lihou, Guille, Le Marchant, Le
Febvre, Le Roy, Le Pelley, Tupper, Le Gros, Lemprière, De Lisle, Falla,
De Putron, Renouf, Le Gallienne, Naftel.
I give reproductions of three such plates, one a fine specimen of
engraving, of Peter Dobree, a family long settled in Guernsey, the other
a more modern plate of the Le Mesurier family, to which the fleur-de-lys
and the motto give a French appearance. The motto is the same as that
used on his book-plate by David Garrick, who was himself of Huguenot
descent. The third is a plate of Peter de Havilland, a member of a very
old Guernsey family, now represented by General de Havilland. There is a
plate of this family by Skinner, of Bath, dated 1742. (See pp. 159, 160,
161.)
There are several instances of ancient French titles being held by
residents in Great Britain, or our Colonies, which titles are also
recognized by our heraldic authorities. As their book-plates would
undoubtedly pass for French, a few explanatory notes about them may be
given.
The Barony du Bois de Ferrieres may be instanced. The Du Bois was a
Walloon family, whilst the De Ferrieres branch was of Huguenot descent,
which removed from France to Holland at the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes. The family motto was _Tout par et pour Dieu_.
The Marquis de Lapasture was created a French nobleman in 1768; his
descendants settled in England.
The Baron de Teissier, created by French patent in 1819, was also
permitted by royal authority to use that title in Great Britain.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE DE VISME FAMILY.]
Another descendant of an ancient noble French family identified with
this country was the Marquis Ruault de Longueville de Bucy, who was
educated at Eton and Cambridge, and served in the Bechuanaland
Expedition with Methuen’s Horse.
This marquis (the 11th in descent) belongs to a family whose history is
full of curious and romantic vicissitudes. The first Marquis de Bucy et
Merval was created in 1602, he being the direct descendant of the
ancient feudal Lords of Bucy, successive holders of the Marquisate were
Lords-in-Waiting to Louis XIII. and Louis XV. Charles Marc, the 8th
marquis, was a Captain in the French King’s Musqueteers, a court post of
considerable importance under the _ancien régime_. During the Reign of
Terror he escaped to England, but his wife, Marie Ruault, Marquise de
Gamaches, in her own right, was captured and guillotined with Marie
Antoinette.
The 9th Marquis, son of the above, was invited by Napoleon I. to return
to France, which he did, served as Major in the celebrated Cuirassiers
de la Garde, and died a soldier’s death at Waterloo. He was the
grandfather of the present holder of the title.
The motto of the family is singularly appropriate to its history: _Pour
le roi souvent--pour la patrie toujours_.
The next family to mention in this connection is one which, though
thoroughly identified with this country, carries arms proclaiming their
French origin to even the most casual observer. Indeed the Counts de
Vismes (or de Visme) asserted their descent from royalty itself, as
evidenced by the first quarter, _d’azur semée de fleur-de-lys or_, for
France ancient, whilst the motto _Mont Joie St. Denis_, and the
supporters, two angels, also indicate French royalty. (See page 163.)
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF G. DE VISME.]
The family of De Visme is descended from the sovereign Counts of
Ponthieu (dating since the eighth century) of the Blood Royal of France,
and the head of the family has, by usage on the continent, borne the
title of prince. The title of Count de Visme has also been recognized by
the successive governments of France, although the family has long been
resident in England, and has furnished many distinguished officers to
our army.
Here is another plate of a Frenchman settled in England, and rather more
English than the majority of Englishmen themselves.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE CHEVALIER DE CHATELAIN.]
The Chevalier de Chatelain was a prolific author: poems, essays, and
letters without number, flowed from his pen; he translated some of
Shakespeare’s plays into French, and endeavoured to explain Victor
Hugo’s works to our countrymen. Finally he wrote poems in praise of his
deceased wife, Madame Clara de Chatelain, _née_ Clara de Pontigny.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE BARON DE MORIENSART.
(A Specimen of Flemish Heraldry of the seventeenth century.)]
Probably few people have read the praises of this good lady, but she
appears to have been a remarkable person, an accomplished musician, a
clever linguist, and, what is more to the point, she was for
thirty-three years the loving wife of the chevalier, who was enabled,
through her amiability, to claim and obtain the Dunmow Flitch in 1855
for their marital felicity.
As for the chevalier himself, he appears to have been a kindly, fussy,
well-read old gentleman, seriously afflicted with the _cacoëthes
scribendi_.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER X.
ECCLESIASTICAL EX-LIBRIS.
So long as the government of France was monarchical, it was largely
influenced by the priests, and her most famous statesmen were such
princes of the Church as Richelieu, Mazarin, De Retz, Rohan-Soubize, La
Rochefoucauld, and Talleyrand-Périgord. Whether their power was always
exercised solely for the good of France is not a question to be
discussed here, but, speaking generally, it is certain that they did
much to encourage the progress of art, science, and literature.
Some of the finest libraries in old France were formed by cardinals and
bishops; Richelieu and Mazarin founded free libraries open to the
general public, and many of the wealthy religious houses and monastic
institutions had collections of the rarest illuminated MSS., such as
Livres d’Heures and early Liturgies, of which, alas! most were wantonly
destroyed, or dispersed, during the mad period of the Revolution.
It must be admitted that humility was a virtue not much studied by the
cardinals or their satellites, their books were sumptuously bound, with
their arms ostentatiously emblazoned on the covers, and their
book-plates were also of the most pompous description.
When ex-libris became fashionable theirs were the largest and the most
elaborate, the insignia of the Church being added to their family arms,
and nothing was omitted which could show how vastly superior these men
were to their predecessors, the poor fishermen of Judea.
First among the Church dignitaries, who were also statesmen, comes the
name of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu, who formed a valuable library,
partly by purchase, but principally by robbery or intimidation. To do
him justice, however, he dedicated in his will his books to the use of
the public, and his grand-nephew saw that his wishes were obeyed. The
first idea of creating a free public library in France was due to J. A.
de Thou, who, dying in 1617, left all his valuable collections _ad usum
publicum_: but his will was ignored, and his books were dispersed.
Richelieu followed his example, and later on the Cardinal Mazarin, his
successor, realized the idea by leaving his magnificent library, with
funds to maintain it, for the free use of the public.
Mazarin, that “Laquais parvenu au Cardinal,” the councillor and the
minister, if not the husband, of Anne of Austria, the man who, with all
the cares of an unruly state on his shoulders, still found time to
accumulate two enormous libraries. Of these the first was compulsorily
sold in 1652, but the second remains, and now forms the nucleus of the
Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris. It was of this collection that Loret
wrote:
“Mais, surtout, la bibliothèque
Contenant maint œuvre à la gréque,
Et des rangs de livres nombreux
Persans, latins, chinois, hébreux,
Turcs, anglois, allemans, cosaques,
Hurons, iroquois, siriaques,
Brefs tant de volumes divers
D’auteurs tant en proze qu’en vers,
Qu’on peut, sans passer pour profane,
Alleguer que la Vaticane
N’a point tant de livres de prix,
N’y tant de rares manuscrits.”
Mazarin confided his books only to the most expert binders; Le Gascon,
Saulnier, and Petit were employed by him, whilst he kept a number of
clever binders constantly at work in his library under his own
supervision. His favourite style was red morocco, stamped on the sides
with his arms, surmounted by the cardinal’s hat, and in the angles a
monogram, either C. J. M. (Cardinal Jules Mazarin), or simply J. M.
“Livres tant rares que vulgaires
Dont chascun jusqu’aux plus coquins
Revestu d’un beau marroquin,
D’une ravissante manière.”
Thus bound, emblazoned, and identified, the books of Cardinal Mazarin
certainly needed no ex-libris, nor does it appear that he used one.
Bishop Huet, who gave his books to the Jesuits, has already been
mentioned as the cause of several fine ex-libris.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE FOR THE LEGACY OF GILLES MÉNAGE.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE FOR THE DONATION OF BISHOP HUET.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF BISHOP QUIQUERAN DE BEAUJEU.]
The arms which Gilles Ménage had stamped on his bookbindings (_d’argent,
au sautoir d’azur chargé d’un soleil du premier_) were also placed on
the ex-libris prepared by the Jesuits, to be placed in the books left to
them by Ménage. The plate is less elaborate than that of Bishop Huet,
but is equally interesting. Ménage was born on August 15, 1613, and
displayed an intense love of books from his earliest youth, and what was
somewhat remarkable, he inserted the date on which he acquired each book
on the title page. Although a great scholar, he possessed little
originality; his own most important work was his _Dictionnaire
Etymologique_, whilst that which has best preserved his memory amongst
general readers is the curious collection entitled, “_Menagiana_: ou les
Bons Mots et Remarques Critiques, Historiques, Morales et d’Erudition,
de M. Ménage. Recueillies par ses Amis.” This is indeed a mine of
information; it contains much valuable ore in the shape of epigrams,
parodies, and anecdotes, but great labour is required to separate the
gold from the quartz. Here is the poem “Le Fameux La Galisse,” which
Goldsmith imitated, and here, too, is the famous saying of Ménage, “La
première chose qu’on doit faire,” so often quoted on book-plates. Ménage
died July 23, 1692, which year is given on the Jesuits’ book-plate.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF BISHOP CAUMARTIN.]
To assist in identifying ecclesiastical ex-libris, it must here be
mentioned that they carry the head-dresses peculiar to the hierarchy of
the Catholic Church, which are to be distinguished as follows:
_Cardinal._--A red hat having a wide, flat brim, with a cord on each
side, from which hang five rows of red tassels.
_Archbishop._--A hat similar in shape to that of a cardinal, but green
in colour, with a cord on each side, from which hang four rows of green
tassels.
_Bishop._--The same hat as an archbishop, but with only three rows of
green tassels.
_Abbé._--A black hat, with a cord on each side, from which hang two rows
of black tassels.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF H. CHABEUF, OF DIJON.]
As a matter of fact, the distinction between the hats of archbishops and
of bishops appears not to have been generally observed, as we find on
the book-plates of most of the bishops that they carried four rows of
tassels, that is, ten tassels on each side of their shields. Menestrier
admits that the number of tassels is immaterial, but he lays stress on
the colour: “Les chapeaux sont rouges pour les Cardinaux, verts pour
les Archevêques et Evêques, noirs pour les Protonotaires, et autres
dignitez au dessoux des Evêques.” These colours are shown in the usual
heraldic manner.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF L. B. BARBIER.]
Here are a few examples of clerical plates. _Caumartin_, a bishop, after
whom they have named a street in Paris; _Chabeuf_, a modern bishop of
Dijon; _Barbier_, an abbot; and _J. F. Seguret_, a canon of the
cathedral church of Alais. The last is an old plate, and is remarkable
because it contains no ecclesiastical emblems, the arms and supporters
being purely heraldic. The same remarks apply to the plate of the Abbé
Quarré de Monay, Canon of Autun, which is dated 1776, and is a
characteristic specimen of the plate of the period. Observe the large
coronet, the oval shield in a cartouche, the heavy pendent festoons, and
the solid square base, all distinctive features of the style Louis XVI.
(See reproduction, page 188.)
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF CANON SEGURET.]
The plate of Dominique-Barnabé Turgot de Saint Clair, bishop of Seez,
dated 1716, is a good example of the ecclesiastical plate of the period,
in which the mundane coronet is as conspicuous as the bishop’s hat.
Bishop Turgot died on December 18th, 1727, leaving a valuable library,
which was sold in Paris in 1730.
The ex-libris of the library of the college of Eu, founded by the Duc de
Maine in 1729, may be inserted here, as belonging to an educational
establishment. It must be confessed that the plate has a very warlike
appearance, for it carries the arms of the founder of the college, Louis
Auguste de Bourbon, Duc de Maine, who was Captain-General of the
Artillery, hence the warlike devices which surround the pedestal. Being
a Bourbon, his arms were France, debruised by a baton.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF BISHOP BARNABAS TURGOT.]
The plate is an interesting example of the artistic regularity which
marks the early period of Louis XV. (See next page.)
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE COLLEGE OF EU.]
The armorial plate of the Abbé de Bourbon-Rothelin shows by its
inescutcheon, and its supporters, that the owner was a descendant of
the royal house of Bourbon. Charles d’Orléans, Abbé de Rothelin, a son
of Henri d’Orléans, Marquis de Rothelin, was born August 5, 1691, and
died July 17, 1744. He was an ardent collector of medals, books, and
manuscripts, and was esteemed one of the most learned men of his day. At
his death, his library, which was especially rich in early theological
works, was sold and dispersed, but his collection of medals was acquired
entire for the museum of the Escurial. (See reproduction, page 187.)
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF M. LE CURÉ DUBUT.]
The arms, stamped on the sides of the books bound for him resembled
those on his ex-libris, but without the columns in the background.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE ABBÉ DE GRICOURT, 1750.]
A very large ecclesiastical plate is that of Franciscus Tristanus de
Cambon: Episcopus Mirapiscensis. This plate is in the best style of the
early period of Louis XVI., and is signed _J. Mercadier. Inv. et sculp._
The shield is surmounted by the coronet of a count, over which is the
bishop’s hat.
The plate of Archambault is a handsome specimen of the work of Sergent,
signed “Sergent scul. Carnuti.” The date is very faint, but appears to
be 1773.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF D’ARCHAMBAULT.]
“Affaires du Clergé” on the open book, the tables with the commandments,
the mitre and crozier, sufficiently indicate that the owner of the plate
was connected with the Church.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATES OF J. A. LE MERCIER.]
_Des Livres de M. Dubut_ is the title of the pretentious book-plate of
the Curé de Viroflay, signed Le Roy, and dated 1782.
Here we have the arms of this pious son of the Church going straight to
Paradise on a thunder-cloud, under the protection of two rather
mundane-looking ladies. The world, the flesh, and--but no--the cross of
St. Louis in the background prevents the completion of the trio. (See
page 181.)
In a somewhat similar style of thunder-cloud decoration is the dated
plate of the Abbé de Gricourt, already referred to.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE REV. FATHER INGOLD.]
The plates of J. A. Le Mercier show that at first over his arms he bore
the coronet of a count, but that later on, probably during the
revolutionary period, he had that erased to make way for a meaningless
finial ornament, on the lower half of which the back part of the coronet
can still be seen.
A modern addition to the French literature on book-plates is a
sixteen-page pamphlet, entitled, _Les Ex-Libris Oratoriens_, published
in 1892 by Charles Poussielgue, in the Rue Cassette, Paris.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE LIBRARY OF THE METROPOLITAN CHURCH OF
LORRAINE.]
This is a brief sketch of some ecclesiastical ex-libris, written by a
priest, the Rev. Father Ingold, of L’Hay, near Paris. The pamphlet
contains some facsimile illustrations, of which three are reproductions
of exquisite plates designed by M. Claude Thièry, of Nancy. These are
the plates of the library of the Oratory of Tours, of the library of the
Massillon School, and lastly that of the author, Father Ingold, said to
be copied from an original miniature, dated 1466. The Ingold family was
of Alsatian origin, and the plate is essentially German in its design,
the helmet being surmounted by the characteristic proboscis.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF L’ABBÉ DE BOURBON-ROTHELIN, 1691-1744.]
This artist, Claude Thièry, who died in 1895, excelled in small delicate
hand-work, full of minute detail, in the manner of Callot; his own
ex-libris is an admirable specimen of his style. A facsimile of it is
given as a frontispiece to Henri Bouchot’s _Les Ex-Libris_. It
represents a fifteenth-century student at work amongst his books, with
the inscription: “Cestuy livre est à moy Claude Thiery, ymaigier du
moult hault et puissant seigneur Monseigneur François Joseph Empéreur.”
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF L’ABBÉ QUARRÉ DE MONAY.]
By permission of Father Ingold a few of his illustrations of clerical
ex-libris are inserted here, namely, those of Quiqueran de Beaujeu, of
Joan de Montmeau, of François Jannart, and the simple little stamp
illustrated below, which was used by the priests for marking the books
in their own collection in the College of Lyons.
Father Ingold complains, however, that in most of the ancient abbeys and
monasteries in France the officials who had charge of the books were
content simply to inscribe the name of the establishment in MS. on the
title-pages, and did not use book-plates. He gives a long list of these
inscriptions (all in Latin), some of which contain allusions to
interesting historical and bibliographical facts; but as all these
entries are _written_ in, they cannot be considered ex-libris in the
sense that we attach to the expression.
[Illustration:
EX
BIBLIO
PRIVAT A.
COLLEGYI
ORATOR
LUGD
]
A work of the greatest utility to those interested in the study of
ecclesiastical book-plates is the “Catalogue des Incunables de la
Bibliothèque Publique de Besançon,” par Auguste Castan. This was a
posthumous book, published in 1893, by J. Dodivers, Grande Rue,
Besançon.
The author was Conservateur de la Bibliothèque de Besançon, a position
which gave him ample opportunities for the pursuit of bibliographical
studies, to which he devoted his life. The library of Besançon is
particularly rich in unique early printed books, and in MSS. It contains
no less than 985 volumes or pamphlets, printed during the fifteenth
century, amongst which are examples of the rarest works from the early
printing offices of Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF J. F. JANNART.]
These are all fully described by Mons. Castan, who gives biographical
accounts of their printers, the watermarks on their paper, their
bindings, notes concerning their former owners, and, what is more to our
purpose, descriptions of the ex-libris found in them.
Of these there appear to be about 500, all being carefully indexed, but
the confusing French practice is adopted of including manuscript entries
of ownership amongst what we term book-plates.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JOAN DE MONTMEAU.]
Several fine old armorials are reproduced, such as those of the
“Bibliothèques des Grands-Carmes de Besançon, Claud Boisot Canon
Cantoris Maj. Bisuntini Prioris Commen De Calce 1749.” (Two varieties.)
Nameless armorial of Laurent Chiflet, and a few typographical “Ex
Bibliotheca” and book-stamps. The plate inscribed “Bibliothèque des
Grands-Carmes de Besançon” is one of the reproductions; it was found in
a folio, printed in Venice, dated 1481, in which was also a written
inscription “fr. B. Bouchier, Conventus Vallenceynarum 1522”--by which
was meant the Convent of the Carmelites at Valenciennes. (See next
page.)
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE CARMELITES OF BESANÇON.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF DR. FRANÇOIS ROBERT SECOUSSE.]
Those who have been educated in France will remember the solemn annual
distribution of prizes. The preparations that were made for weeks
beforehand; the erection of the grand stand in the courtyard of the
college for the authorities and visitors; the excitement of the day
itself; the arrivals of the proud mothers and sisters; the stately
procession of the principal, the under principals, the professors, and
last of all, the poor, wretched, badgered _pions_ (resident class
masters) up to the entrance to receive the Préfet of the Department and
his staff, resplendent in court dresses stiff with gold embroidery; the
prosy speeches, full of platitudes and truisms, addressed to the four or
five hundred youngsters simmering in the August sun in closely
buttoned-up military uniforms; the report of the principal that the
conduct of all had been most exemplary, with other stereotyped phrases
equally stale and devoid of truth; and then the solemn march up of the
successful prize-winners, and their return laden with books (destined
never to be read), gorgeously bound in purple and gold, or blue and
silver. In each book was carefully inserted a book-plate, giving the
name of the _lycée_, or college, the date, name of prize-winner, and
nature of the examination.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PRIZE LABEL OF DIEPPE COLLEGE.]
The custom is so universal, and has been so long established, both in
lay and clerical seminaries, that no class of book-plates is so common
in France as these.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF ALEXANDER LA MILLIERE.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XI.
THE HUGUENOTS.
Members of the Reformed Church in France had to submit to persecutions
similar to those endured by their co-religionists in other European
countries.
It is as well to remember that living as we do in a Protestant country,
our historians have been strongly biassed in their favour, and that
whilst the horrors of St. Bartholomew’s Day are always depicted in the
most lurid manner, little or nothing is said about the bloodshed and
cruelties inflicted by the Calvinists on the Catholics in those parts of
the country where they happened to be numerous and powerful. The two
factions hated one another for the love of God; it was a cruel period,
and, as Baron Rothschild remarks in his “Characteristics from French
History,” “There was nothing to choose between Protestants and Catholics
in their savage hatred of each other. The Protestants butchered the
Catholics whenever they had an opportunity, and all that happened at St.
Bartholomew was that the Catholics made a good score.” And this view
naturally presents itself to any unprejudiced reader of the history of
the period.
After frightful massacres and civil wars, the accession of Henry IV.
(himself a Calvinist) to the throne of France in 1589, gave promise of a
more tolerant spirit, and in April, 1598, he promulgated the famous
Edict of Nantes giving the Protestants a certain amount of religious
freedom. This wise measure was confirmed by his successors Louis XIII.
in 1610, and Louis XIV. in 1652. But later on, Louis XIV., under the
influence of Madame de Montespan and the Romish Church, saw fit to
revoke the Edict of Nantes in October, 1658, an act which was in its
consequences one of the most disastrous for the commerce and prosperity
of France.
It was the aim of Louis, and his ministers, to compel the members of the
Reformed Church to abjure their heresies, and return to the Catholic
Church, and in some remote country districts, or places where the
Huguenots were few and isolated, the plan succeeded. But in the main it
failed, as all forced religious conversions ever have failed, a lesson
which kings and priests have always before them, and yet never seem to
learn.
The forced exile of the Huguenot Ministers, after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, was the signal for flight to thousands of French
Protestants of both sexes, and of all classes and ages, and in spite of
the penalties proclaimed against emigration, and the punishments
inflicted upon those who were arrested in the attempt to leave their
country, an enormous number of persons did effect their escape to the
various Protestant States in Europe, and even to the then newly-settled
American colonies, but principally to our shores.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE FRENCH PROTESTANT HOSPITAL.]
They brought with them the art of manufacturing silk, and founded a
prosperous colony in Spitalfields, where their descendants yet remain.
Glass making, jewellery, and other trades in which taste and skill are
required, were also understood by them; they rapidly became naturalized,
and useful citizens, and the names and histories of many of our wealthy
families attest their Huguenot descent.
The term _Huguenot_ seems first to have been applied to the Calvinists
about 1560, on the occasion of the Alboise conspiracy; some say the word
was derived from the German _Eidgenossen_, signifying a sworn
confederacy, whilst others say it was founded on the name of Hugues, a
Genevese Calvinist.
That the sobriquet _Huguenot_ was well known and understood as early as
1622, is shown by the existence of a rare tract entitled “La Trompette
de salut aux Huguenots de ce temps, 1622,” written in verse in the
following vein:
Huguenots, l’Eglise Romaine
Vous purgera tous du venin
De la doctrine de Calvin
Et vous ôtera de peine.
In glancing over a collection of British book-plates we shall be struck
with the French appearance of many names, such as the following: Arabin,
Barré, Boileau, Dampier, Ferrier, Martineau, Maturin, Labouchere,
Delarue, Harcourt, Vignoles, Curtois, Poignand, Lempriere, Drinquebier,
Drucquer, Duhamel, Lemercier, La Mallière, Leschallas, Monteuuis,
Laprimaudaye.
David Garrick, we know, was of Huguenot descent, and carried a French
motto on his book-plate.
The name of Le Keux occurs as an interesting one in this connection, as
representatives of the family still exist, whilst its pedigree has been
traced back to one John Le Keux, who married Antoinette Le Quien in the
French church at Canterbury as far back as 25 December, 1645.
In this pedigree it is curious to note how frequently members of the Le
Keux family allied themselves in marriage with the descendants of other
French refugees: thus we meet with the names Didier, Mariscaux,
Mariette, De Ribeaucour, Paillet, and Debonnaire. In 1783 was born John
Le Keux, and in 1787 Henry Le Keux; both became eminent engravers: John
died in 1846, and was buried in Bunhill Fields Cemetery. He was the
father of the late John Henry Le Keux, who was born in 1812, and died
quite recently (February 4th, 1896), in Durham. His fame as an engraver
exceeded that of either his father or his uncle, and although he did not
produce many book-plates, those he did were indeed works of art.
As will be seen from the pedigree published in the _Miscellanea
Genealogica et Heraldica_ the Le Keux family had for generations resided
in, or near Spitalfields, but in 1863 Mr. J. H. Le Keux married a Durham
lady, and henceforward resided in that city till his death.
In the north-east of London there exists an institution which, in a
quiet and unostentatious manner, does good work amongst a very deserving
class of the community. This institution, known as the French Protestant
Hospital, is in reality a home for a certain number of elderly people,
all of whom are descendants of French Protestants who have at various
times sought refuge in England. In 1708 Monsieur de Gastigny, a French
Protestant refugee in the service of the Prince of Orange, bequeathed
£1,000 for the purpose of founding a hospital. Many other refugees also
contributed, so that within a few years the scheme for a Huguenot Asylum
took definite shape, and in 1718 the founders commenced the building,
and obtained a charter of incorporation under the title of “The Hospital
for poor French Protestants and their Descendants residing in Great
Britain.”
Amongst the inmates the asylum was more lovingly known as “La
Providence,” a title it still deserves, owing to the beauty of the
building and its grounds, and the kind and generous treatment of its
inmates by the Governor and the Court of Directors.
Although the book-plate in use in the library of “La Providence” is an
English production, it belongs to an essentially French religious
community, and so is entitled to a place here (see page 199), especially
as it bears the well-known and oft-quoted motto from _Menagiana_. Of a
somewhat similar nature is the ex-libris, dated 1868, of the library of
the Society of the History of Protestantism in France, founded in 1852.
There is also the well-known Huguenot Society of London, a powerful body
which aims at preserving the old religious and national spirit amongst
the descendants of the refugee families, and has done much service in
preserving the ancient history and traditions of the Huguenots.
A glance at its roll-call suffices to recall the fact that many names
held by families long since thoroughly anglicised, are of French
origin.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE SOCIÉTÉ DE L’HISTOIRE DU PROTESTANTISME
FRANÇAIS, 1852.]
Indeed an amusing chapter might be written on the curious modifications
of certain old French names, by which they have gradually acquired an
anglicised appearance in print, whilst still preserving some little
similarity to their original pronunciation. Cottew (Côteaux), Cussans
(De Cusance), Dampier (Dampierre), Dobree (D’Aubraye), Ducane (Du
Quesne), Margary (De Marguerie), Perowne (Piron), Rainier (Regnier),
Shoppee (Chapuis), Woollett (Viollet), and many others might be cited.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE LIBRARY OF THE HUGUENOT SOCIETY OF
LONDON, 1572-1685.]
The Secretary of the Huguenot Society of London is Mr. G. H. Overend,
F.S.A.
There is also a German Huguenot Society, a Huguenot Society of America,
and another for South Carolina, besides La Société de l’Histoire du
Protestantisme Français, all of which tend to preserve the traditions of
the Huguenots, and to encourage the study of their history and
genealogy.
In the United States there are also numerous families claiming Huguenot
descent; take Gabriel Duvall as an instance, born in Maryland, 1752,
Member of Congress, Comptroller of Currency, 1802, Associate Justice,
U.S. Supreme Court, 1811. Died 1844. He had a book-plate dated 1778.
A more modern example is the book-plate of the late Mr. Daniel Ravenel,
curious on account of its heraldic bearings, which its owner in simple
good faith, and in ignorance of all the laws of heraldry, thought
himself entitled to assume, as he would have done a trade-mark. In the
innocence of his heart the good gentleman accompanied each copy of his
book-plate with the following curious explanation:
“THE DANIEL RAVENEL BOOK-PLATE.
“My coat of arms (according to d’Hozier and other celebrated
authors on Heraldry) consists of a field gules,[3] with six
crescents of gold, each surmounted by a star of the same placed
two and two, with a gold star at the base of the shield.
“This shield rests on a larger shield, showing, first, the
fleurs-de-lis of France: second, a cross, denoting persecution:
third, an open Bible, denoting the cause: fourth, a palmetto tree,
showing where freedom was found.
“On one side of this large shield is a spray of marigold, the
Huguenot emblem, and on the other side, a spray of wall-flower, the
French name for which is _Ravenelle_.”
Mr. Ravenel died in September, 1894; he was a direct descendant of René
Ravenel, a Huguenot _emigré_ from Bretagne, who settled in South
Carolina in 1685.
Another of Mr. Ravenel’s ancestors was the first pastor of the little
French Protestant church in Charleston, S.C., of which Mr. Ravenel was
one of the elders at the time of his death. Indeed, everything connected
with Huguenot history had a charm for him, as was shown by his zeal in
collecting books, maps, manuscripts and coins dealing with it. He was
almost as keen in searching for records concerning his native state of
South Carolina, in addition to which he possessed one of the most
interesting and valuable collections of book-plates then known in the
United States.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF DANIEL RAVENEL, 1890.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XII.
BOOK-PLATES OF MEDICAL MEN.
“Honour a physician with the honour due unto him for the uses which ye
may have of him” says the old book, and having considered the plates of
those whose duty it is to attend to the cure of souls, we may now
briefly consider the ex-libris belonging to the kindred profession whose
aim it is to cure the body of all the ills that flesh is heir to.
In many early plates we find doctors are content to describe themselves
simply as Doct. Med., but later they displayed ghastly views of dead
bodies in dissecting-rooms surrounded by curious students; or sick
patients in bed with skeletons beckoning them away.
Such plates may be interesting in a collection, but designs so
lugubrious are totally unfit to perform the duties of book-plates even
in a library devoted entirely to medical works. What, for instance, can
be more incongruous than the plate of Matthew Turner, with its handsome
coat-of-arms in a Chippendale frame and the quotation from Cicero:
“_Salutem hominibus dando_,” as compared with its accessories, a
grinning skeleton in a cupboard on the left of the shield, whilst below
it are several naked little urchins dragging a dead body on to a
dissecting-board, a dissecting-saw lies in the foreground, close to the
serpent-twined rod sacred to Æsculapius.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF DUMONT DE VALDAJOU.]
Even more curious is the design (wretchedly engraved) on the plate,
inscribed _J. B. Swett_. The owner was Dr. J. Barnard Swett of New
Buryport, Mass.; and no doubt the plate was engraved in America about
120 years ago, or even earlier.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JOS. PHILIP GRUMET, M.D.]
Here indeed the ludicrous element comes in, for though the dead body is
present, the whole design is so quaintly bad that it is impossible to
criticise it with any severity. All the usual emblems of medical science
are present in this plate, which was reproduced on p. 289 of Mr. C. D.
Allen’s “American Book-plates.”
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JOS. MAR. AMA. CORREARD, M.D.]
J. C. Harrer, M.D., also had a skeleton, accompanied by books, pots of
ointment, etc., whilst Daniel Chodowiecki, the celebrated engraver,
signed a plate, dated 1792, for one C. S. Schinz, Med. Dr., in which the
design is of a sensational character, meant to proclaim the healing
powers of the owner. “In the foreground (I quote Lord de Tabley, not
having the plate myself) Æsculapius is pushing out a skeleton draped in
a long white sheet, with a scythe across its shoulder. The god is
sturdily applying his serpent-twined staff to the somewhat too solid
back of this terrible phantom. Behind, and beneath a kind of pavilion,
lies a sick person in bed, his hands upraised in silent thankfulness.”
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF ALPHEI CAZENAVE, M.D.]
This Schinz was probably a German, although he might have belonged to
the north-east frontier of France, but we will now turn our attention to
plates which undoubtedly belonged to French medical men.
_Dumont de Valdajou_ Chirurgien carries arms, perhaps specially granted,
for he boldly proclaims below his shield “Brevété du Roy,” but even that
would not excuse him in the eyes of a strict king of arms for assuming
as supporters two angels, a distinction officially reserved for the
French Royal family alone.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONS. R. WILLEMET.]
Another armorial plate is that of Jos. Philip: Grumet; above the shield
shows the badge of Æsculapius, an attribute common to many medical
book-plates.
But why Dr. Correard should have appropriated not only the general
design, but also the actual arms on this shield, is a mystery; indeed,
it is not easy to decide which of these two plates is the actual
original.
Colin, graveur de feu Roy de Pologne, as he proudly describes himself,
engraved a pretty and appropriate little vignette for a chemist of
Nancy, Mons. R. Willemet; a reduced copy of this was done for Mons.
Soyer-Willemet.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONS. SOYER-WILLEMET.]
Another plate by the same engraver was done for D. Laflize, also of
Nancy. This melancholy design is one of those to which exception has
already been taken.
Amongst modern medical plates, that done by Mons. Henry André for the
Doctor F. Bargalló of Paris is probably the most striking in its
originality, and the most pleasing in its execution.
First of all are the owner’s initials, F. B.: in the B. the whole name
will be found; the accent over the “o” is intentional, and indicates the
Spanish origin of the name. The professional attributes are the cup and
the serpent, whilst the poppy points also to the study of botany, an
all-important branch of medical education.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF D. LAFLIZE, OF NANCY.]
The lighter studies and amusements are indicated in the books, the
music, and the portfolio of engravings. The dainty little female figure
emerging from the album gives some indication of the date by the style
of her costume. There is a strong relation between the motto and the
attributes on the design. Thus the wicked books that corrupt youth may
be likened to the serpent; silly books that bore one resemble in their
effect the sleep-producing power of the poppy; whilst the good books
that console and amuse us have an affinity to the powers of a
health-giving draught of restorative medicine. Thus, then, we have the
_venenum_, the _somnus_, the _solamen_, of the motto. Such is the
explanation politely sent me by the owner, which I give, as nearly as a
translation can render, in his own words.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF DR. F. BARGALLÓ.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XIII.
CANTING ARMS AND PUNNING PLATES.
Many of these quaint devices on British coats-of-arms are distinctly of
French origin.
Thus the Montagues bear in their arms three fusils in fesse, the sharply
serrated points of which suggest mountain peaks--the original name of
the family having been Montacute. The French word for hedgehog is
_hérisson_, therefore the hedgehog is the charge of the family of
Harrison; the swallow is in French the _hirondelle_, hence the swallow
is placed on the shield of the Arundels:
“More swift than bird hight Arundelle,
That gave him name, and in his shield of arms emblazoned well,
He rides amid the armëd troop.”
Instances might be almost indefinitely multiplied; these are amongst the
best because the most obvious, others, which are so recondite as to
require lengthy descriptions, defeat their own purpose.
The French expression _les armes parlantes_ is more musical than ours,
and examples of canting arms are perhaps as common in French as in
English heraldry, whilst punning book-plates are numerous amongst modern
specimens, especially those belonging to men of arts and letters.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF C. J. L. COQUEREAU.]
The Gallic cock is naturally a favourite charge, and may be found
frequently in conjunction with such names as Lecoq, or Coquebert, or
Coquereau, yet it by no means follows that these can be strictly termed
canting arms, for, as Salverte remarks in his “Essai sur les Noms,” “Le
même usage à été alternativement cause et effet,” so that whilst
numerous armorial ensigns were borrowed from the bearers’ names, so
also, in many cases, surnames were borrowed from the arms. He,
therefore, who bore a cock on his shield may well have become known in
the course of time as Jean Le Coq.
One of the funniest bits of canting heraldry ever printed occurred in
the “Daily News” (London) of 5th April, 1892. The Paris correspondent,
writing of Ravachol, the murderer, said: “His family have a place in the
‘Armorial de Forez,’ the peerage and gentry book of Saint-Chamond, where
Ravachol was born. His ancestors are set down in that volume as dating
from 1600. _Their shield bears argent with a fess azure, three roses or,
and a head of cabbage or, with a radish argent._ On the maternal side
the motto is a canting one, being ‘Rave-à-chou,’ which is doubtless the
origin of the curiously striking name of Ravachol.”
It would be amusing to see how the writer would “trick” the shield he
has vainly endeavoured to describe; besides, as was proved at the trial,
the murderer’s name was not Ravachol, nor was he even a Frenchman by
birth.
In 1768 Monier designed a very handsome plate for _Louis Vacher_, in
which not only does a cow appear on the shield, but both the supporters
are also cows, in allusion to the owner’s name.
A plate recently found in an old French book bore the inscription: “Des
livres de M. Fauveau, avocat au Parlement.” The arms were, Party per
fess azure and or, in chief three scythes (_faux_) argent, and in base a
calf’s head (_veau_) gules.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LOUIS VACHER, 1768.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF P. COCHON.]
There is no term of opprobrium more offensive to a Frenchman than that
of _cochon_, although ignorant English tourists occasionally apply it by
mistake to a cabdriver. But here we have a gentleman of the old school
who rejoiced in the name, and put a little pig in his field in order
that there might be no mistake about it. The moon and stars are thrown
into the bargain, as being of secondary importance.
This plate of Jacob Houblon, Esq., is unmistakably the work of R.
Mountaine, and we may therefore fix its date as 1750, or thereabouts.
Although the workmanship of the plate is English, the _armes parlantes_
it bears are obviously of French origin, the hop vine signifying
Houblon.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JACOB HOUBLON, ESQ.]
Samuel Pepys in his diary mentions that the five brothers Houblon came
to supper at his house on May 15, 1666. They were rich merchants, one of
them later on coming to be Lord Mayor of London, and the first Governor
of the Bank of England.
According to an epitaph in the church of St. Mary Woolnoth, in London,
their ancestor was one Peter Houblon, who came over from Flanders.
The late Lord Palmerston was descended from a Sir John Houblon, who was
Lord Mayor of London in 1695.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JOHN VIGNOLES.]
As recently as 1894 the death of a descendant of the family was
announced, that of Mr. Richard Archer Houblon, J.P., of Cambridgeshire,
aged eighty-five years, whose estate was valued at over £50,000, whilst
but a short time since a Colonel Archer Houblon was in command of a
battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment.
Of somewhat similar origin, but from the grapevine, come the arms of the
Vignoles family, a branch of which, long settled in England, produced
the well-known civil engineer.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF J. L. ROBILLARD.]
On a shield borne by _Robillard_ are two billiard cues in saltire
between four billiard balls.
For M. Champfleury, the artist, Aglaüs Bouvenne has drawn a flowery
field (a _champ fleurie_), and for the Comtesse de Noé a Noah’s ark,
whilst Paul Cordier plays on his own name in a charming little vignette
representing a rope-maker (_cordier_) at work in his rope-walk.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF PAUL CORDIER.]
A plate composed and engraved by Evart Van Mayders for Mons. F. Raisin,
has a fox vainly climbing over a book to reach some grapes (_raisins_),
and exclaiming, in disgust, “They are too green.”
Although the late M. Eugene Rimmel lived many years in England, and
wrote a charming “History of Perfumes” in our language, he was a
thoroughly patriotic Frenchman. His countrymen ever found a friend in
him, and his exertions on behalf of their sick and wounded during the
terrible war of 1870-71 should keep his memory for ever fresh. His
book-plate is a quaint little medley of the useful and the ornamental;
the distilling apparatus, and a fountain of perfume, surmounted by a
crest of rose-buds, suffice to indicate the scent, but not the descent,
of Eugene Rimmel.
M. Milsand, of Dijon, used a book-plate containing an imitation of a
bank-note, having on it the figures 1000 and 100 (_mille cent_), whilst
Charles Monselet has a pretty little sketch, by Devambez, of a corner of
his library with some books heaped up (_Livres amoncelés_). The plate of
M. Wolf explains itself better in English than in French. “_Quærens quem
devoret_” (see page 229).
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF EUGENE RIMMEL.]
M. Aglaüs Bouvenne represents a dog balancing the monogram of Alexis
Martin (page 158), whilst Mons. L. Delatre confides a book, in
sumptuous binding, to the mouth of another, with the motto, “Honneur a
qui rapporte.” A pretty idea, but surely not a very practical one (see
page 240).
It is his whim! _C’est sa toquade_, as M. Cousin remarks on his plate
(see page 231).
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES MONSELET.]
In their treatment of his dread Satanic Majesty the French display
delightful grace and delicacy.
Indeed, _Le Diable Boiteux_ of Le Sage is very much of a gentleman;
Mephistopheles in Gounod’s opera is a far more interesting personality
than his pupil Faust; whilst in “Orphée aux Enfers” Offenbach certainly
contrived to enlist our sympathies on behalf of Pluto.
Many a French shop is dedicated to the Evil One, but in every case the
inscription is respectful, as, for instance, _Au Bon Diable_. It is
almost a term of endearment, the expression “un mauvais petit Diable,”
whilst no proper English word can convey the sense of rollicking fun
contained in _Diablerie_.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONS. WOLF.]
As in literature, so in art, the Devil of the French, may be grotesque,
bizarre, comic, terrible, yet in all he is a superior being, in short a
Gentleman in Black, never the hideous, repulsive individual we are
accustomed to see portrayed (with two horns and a tail) in English comic
art.
Nothing could more eloquently convey the French conception of the
character than Sir Henry Irving’s inimitable representation of
Mephistopheles at the Lyceum a short time since. Does not this
book-plate recall his appearance in the part?
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONS. A. CLERICEAU.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONS. B. COUSIN.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XIV.
PHRASES OF POSSESSION.
“Gentilz Ouvriers, qui d’un soing curieux
Allez cherchant es plus vieilles reliques
Venez icy, et aux proffitz publiques
Imitez en les plus laborieux ...”
J. BULLANT.
(From the ex-libris of H. Destailleur.)
Herein an attempt has been made to gather in such French phrases of book
possession, and inscriptions on book-plates, as may be deemed
interesting, quaint, or humorous, avoiding in this instance all mottoes
or war cries which are obviously of heraldic origin.
Little Victor Dupuis is very like Master Tommy Smith in the habit he has
of scribbling nonsense verses in his school books; one very popular
quatrain in the good old days of the French monarchy was:
“Ce livre est à moi
Comme Paris est au roi.
Qui veut savoir mon nom
Regarde dans ce rond.”
Or, he would threaten borrowers with dire penalties:
“Ne me prends pas
Ou on te pendras.”
Becoming more ambitious, he would launch out into a Macaronic verse:
“Aspice Pierrot pendu
Quia ce livre n’a pas rendu.
Si librum reddidisset
Pierrot pendu non fuisset.”
Or, another way, as the cookery books say:
“Aspice Pierrot pendu
Quod librum n’a pas rendu.
Pierrot pendu non fuisset,
Si librum reddidisset.”
Or, in Alsatian German:
“Dieses Büchlein ist mir lieb,
Wer mir’s nimmt, der ist ein Dieb,
Wer mir’s aber wieder bringt,
Der ist ein Gotteskind.”
Or, he would descend into trivial details, thus:
“Je mets ici mon nom
Ce n’est pas sans raison
C’est pour plaire aux curieux
Et non pas aux envieux
De ce Livre tant beau
Qui eclaire comme un flambeau
Tout homme savant
Aussi bien que l’ignorant
Michel Dupray
son livre
acheté le 26 de Juillet
1775
chez Wagstaff 9 Sols”
Finally, arrived at a mature age, he would order a book-plate,
inscribing on it an expression of his love for literature in some such
manner as did M. Leonis Schück, upon his ex-libris designed by Hirsch:
“C’est par l’amour des lettres qu’il faut être conduit à l’amour
des livres.
“O mes chers livres! Je les ai tous choisis un à un, et je les aime
tant!”
Others have expressed their sentiments in moral platitudes:
“C’est la meilleure munition que j’aye trouvé à cet humain
voyage.”--MONTAIGNE. (Bibliothèque de M. le Baron de T----.)
“Le plaisir de l’esprit passe celui des yeux.” (De la Bibliothèque
de M. de Cailly.)
“Un livre est un ami qui ne change jamais.”--On the plate of
Guilbert de Pixérécourt, and others.
“Les lettres nourissent l’âme.”--Lemoine.
“S’occuper c’est savoir jouir.”--A. E. Tscharner, and others.
“Amis vieux sont bons en tous lieux.”
But one of the most useful axioms is that borrowed from “Menagiana” vol.
iv.: “La première chose qu’on doit faire quand on à emprunté un livre,
c’est de le lire afin de pouvoir le rendre plutot.” Hugo de Bassville
employed this, with the addition of “Rendez le livre s’il vous plait,”
whilst such ardent book-lovers as David Garrick and George Augustus Sala
have placed it on their book-plates; it figures also with perfect
propriety on the fine ex-libris of the “Bibliothèque de la Providence”
(the French Protestant Hospital at Victoria Park), and on those of
Frederick Le Mesurier, and John Meybohm.
Following these come a long list of verses directed against book
borrowers in general, commencing with the verse attributed to Guilbert
de Pixérécourt, although he does not use it on his book-plate:
“Tel est le triste sort
De tout livre preté
Souvent il est perdu,
Toujours il est gâté.”
(On the book-plate of Louis Mohr, 1879. See page 237.)
The two epigrams below were written by Guillaume Colletet, and have been
quoted on several ex-libris, though curiously enough their author did
not use one, but was content to sign his name in his books, which were
numerous:
“A MES LIVRES.
Chères delices de mon âme
Gardez vous bien de me quitter
Quoi qu’on vienne vous emprunter.
Chacun de vous m’est une femme
Qui peut se laisser voir sans blâme
Et ne se doit jamais préster.”
(Book-plate of Ch. Mehl, designed by Gustave Jundt, of Strasbourg.)
“AUX EMPRUNTEURS DE LIVRES QUI NE LES RENDENT POINT.
Emprunteurs, pour vous parler net,
Ma bibliothèque connue
Est un meuble de cabinet
Qu’on ne crotte point dans la rue.”
Both these verses were first published in the “Epigrammes du Sieur
Guillaume Colletet.” Paris, 1653.
“Un livre preté, comme la vieille Garde, ne se rend pas.”
Charles Frédéric Hommeau, whose ex-libris represents the interior of his
library, gives notice to borrowers that they must return his book in
fourteen days and in good condition. In order that there may be no
mistake as to his meaning, he has the rule engraved at the foot of his
plate:
“LEX BIBLIOTHECAE.
_Intra_ quatuor decim dies, commodatum ni redderis, neque belle
custodieris, alio tempore dominus: Non habeo dicet.”
Indeed he loved not borrowers, for he adds, “Ite ad vendentes, et emite
vobis!”
M. Auguste Stoeber, author of the “Petite Revue d’Ex-Libris Alsaciens,”
used the following lines for the German books in his library:
“Leih ich dich hinaus,
Bleib nicht zu lang aus;
Komm zurück nach Haus:
Nicht mit Flecken oder Ohren,
Wie sie machen nur die Thoren,
Und geh ja mir nicht verloren!”[4]
The late Rev. Mr. Carson possessed a handsome book-plate designed for M.
Abel Lemercier, which is one of the largest modern French plates,
measuring, as it does, 8½ inches by 5½ inches.
It is especially remarkable on account of the number of mottoes it
contains, commencing at the top with “Le gaing de nostre science, c’est
en estre devenu meilleur et plus sage,” followed by four or five other
maxims, which have been already quoted.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LOUIS MOHR, 1879.]
This plate is not dated, but it is signed M. Potemont inv., R. Martial
sc. It combines some of the characteristics of a “library interior” with
those of a “book-pile,” and is altogether a sumptuous and imposing,
though somewhat cumbersome design.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF VALENTIN MOURIE.]
On a singular old library interior plate, headed “Du Cabinet Littéraire
de P. Cellier, Libraire, quai St. Antoine, à Lyon,” were found the
following instructions to book borrowers:
“Les livres qui auront souffert quelques dommages, comme déchirés,
tachés, et sur lesquels on aura écrit dans les marges et sur les
gardes avec la plume ou le crayon, seront payés a leur valeur,
c’est-à-dire, tout l’ouvrage entier; un seul volume perdu ou
mutilé, emporte tout l’ouvrage.
“S’il s’égare quelques uns de ces livres ainsi marqués, on prie
ceux, entre les mains de qui ils seront, de les faire rendre à
l’adresse ci-dessus.”
A Frenchman resident in this country, early in the century, had a
roughly printed label, in which the inscription was surrounded by a
small woodcut border. The inscription is curious for its errors; it runs
thus: “J. Admans, son livre, mil huit sens seize. Rue de Palais.
Cantorbery.”
M. Gouache, whose plate informs us that he resided at number 13 in the
Boulevard de la Madeleine, quotes the following:
“STANCE.
Le paresseux s’endort dans les bras de la faim,
Le laboureur conduit sa fertile charrue,
Le savant pense et lit, le guerrier frappe et tue,
Le mendiant s’assied sur le bord du chemin:
Où vont-ils cependant? Ils vont où va la feuille
Que chasse devant lui le souffle des hivers!
Ainsi vont se flétrir, dans leurs travaux divers,
Ces générations que le temps sème et cueille.
LAMARTINE, _Méditations_.
GOUACHE, Boulevard de la Madeleine, 13.”
The French are not particularly rich in mottoes in praise of books.
Adolphe Borgnet, of Liège, quotes Montaigne, thus:
“Les Historiens sont le vray gibbier de mon estude.”
On a nameless pictorial plate (signed F. Groskost, Strasbourg) occur
some lines attributed to M. Jacques Flach (see page 243):
“A MES LIVRES.
Plaisants, je vous aime
Sérieux aussi,
Frivoles de même
Pédants--merci!”
“Un livre est un ami qui ne trompe jamais” (on page 240)
says a nameless moralist, who probably had not read Lord Macaulay’s
account of William III., whilst
“Je rapporte fidèlement ce que je découvre,”
says the historian Chevillard.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF L. DELATRE.]
On the plate of M. Jules, Baron de St. Genois, is the motto:
“Bon livre d’ennui delivre.”
The following cynical epigram,
“L’homme a dit: ‘Faisons Dieu, qu’il soit à notre image.’
Dieu fut! et l’ouvrier adora son image,”
was placed on his book-plate by the philosophical atheist Sylvain
Maréchal, who wrote a work entitled “Fragmens d’un poeme moral sur
Dieu,” dated 1781.
David Köning remarks:
“L’Art c’est la vie.
La Nature c’est la mort.”
Whilst Patrice Salin fairly gives himself away:
“Tel que je suis, prends moi.”
Others have used mottoes which come under no special category, such as
that on an engraved label bearing the name _J. G. Lafont_:
“Des plaisirs sans apprêts, des amis peu nombreux
Les livres, les beaux arts, et la philosophie
Voila le vrai bonheur, il suffit a mes voeux.”
“Tots besoingners tots escripre.”
_Valentin Mourie._ (See page 238.)
“Point de Roses sans épignes.”
_Edward S. Potter._
“Honneur à qui rapporte.”
_L. Delatre._ (See page 240.)
“La mort n’y mord.”
Ex-Libris _Fr. Serrier_. (See page 242.)
“Vive la Joie.”
On the plate of _M. Joy_.
In 1791 Monsieur J. B. Michaud cried aloud on his book-plate for “_La
Liberté ou la Mort_” and many others adopted the phrase, at a time when
Death was certainly more _en évidence_ than Liberty.
Poor Léon Gambetta, probably the most daring and original of modern
French politicians, had his book-plate inscribed “_Vouloir c’est
Pouvoir_,” an axiom which he, the son of a poor provincial grocer, had
proved correct up to a certain point.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF FR. SERRIER.]
There is no article in the “Dictionnaire des Girouettes” more laughable
than that devoted to Monsieur Nicholas François de Neufchateau, who, not
content with being a political turncoat of the first order, celebrated
each of his changes of faith by songs in honour of his new ideal of
government. These poems, here side by side in the dictionary, proclaim
the man at once a venal weathercock and a conceited prig.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JACQUES FLACH.]
He was born in 1752; before the outbreak of the Revolution he was a
lawyer in Paris; afterwards he became President of the National
Assembly, when he called King Louis XVI. a traitor, yet this did not
prevent his being sent to prison by Barrère in 1793. On his release he
wrote a poem in honour of Barrère; later on he joined with the senate in
advising Napoleon to create himself emperor. The emperor could do no
less in return than create Neufchateau a Count of the Empire. What
became of him on the Restoration does not appear, except that in 1815 he
obtained permission to dedicate a volume of his fables to the king.
To the end of time the ex-libris of Monsieur N. François de Neufchateau
will not only pompously proclaim all the titles given to him by Napoleon
I., but describe in verse the blazon of his arms, in which, as he says,
the useful and the ornamental are curiously blended, the whole being
surmounted by one of David’s _toques_, with the five waving ostrich
feathers denoting senatorial rank.
Yet this was the man who had previously written:
“Ces rubans, ces cordons, et ces chaines dorées:
Des esclaves des rois ces pompeuses livrées,
Ne sont que des hochets dont la vaine splendeur
Deguise le néant d’une folle grandeur.”
M. de Neufchateau was a busy man and a versatile, writing on politics,
social economy, history, and agriculture in turns, but it is as a _poet_
that he will be known to posterity through his book-plate, which
collectors will ever prize as a monument of egregious vanity.
M. François de Neufchateau died in 1828.
There is a chapter in “Ex-Libris Ana” (Paris, L. Joly) devoted to
manuscript inscriptions of ownership in books; one is given, as having
been commonly written in his books, by an author named Collé:
“A Collé ce livre apartint
Auparavant qu’il te parvint.”
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF N. FRANÇOIS DE NEUFCHATEAU.
Dans un siècle où l’or seul fut un objet d’envie,
De l’or je ne fus point épris.
J’aimai le bien public, j’y dévouai ma vie,
J’en ai reçu le digne prix:
Du plus grand des Héros l’estime peu commune
M’a doté de cet écusson;
Honneur bien préférable aux dons de la fortune
Il m’offre une double leçon.
L’agréable est ici figuré par le Cygne,
Et l’utile par les Epis:
Trop heureux, en effet, qui serait jugé digne
De ces emblêmes réunis!
O mes livres chéris! conservez cette image,
Seul trésor que je laisserai;
Et, long temps après moi, rendez encore hommage
A la main qui m’a decoré!
Ce livre fait partie de la bibliothèque du Senateur Comte de l’Empire,
N. FRANÇOIS DE NEUFCHATEAU,
Le premier des Présidens du Senat Conservateur, Grand Officier de la
Legion d’Honneur, Titulaire de la Sénatorerie de Bruxelles, L’un des
quarante de la Classe de l’Institut qui succéde à l’Académie Française,
Président de la Société d’Agriculture de Paris pour la sixième fois en
1811, etc.]
Contrasting with this schoolboy rhyme is the sad farewell to her
children, written by Marie Antoinette in her prayer-book only a few
hours before she went to the scaffold:
“Ce 16 Octobre, à 4 h. ½ du matin. Mon Dieu! ayez pitié de moi! mes
yeux n’ont plus de larmes pour prier pour vous, mes pauvres
enfants. Adieu, adieu!
“Marie Antoinette.”
Scarcely does the world contain a more pathetic document.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MARIE-ELISABETH-JOSEPH WEIGEL.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XV.
BOOK-PLATES OF SOME FAMOUS MEN.
The name of François Rabelais, priest, doctor, wit, satirist, and
philanthropist, eclipses all other early French writers. In “Les
Portraits de Rabelais” (1880), M. Georges d’Albenas asserted that a
certain Professor C. Cavalier possessed an Aldine Plato in which was a
piquant ex-libris of the illustrious Rabelais, of undoubted
authenticity.
It is singular that such an assertion, made so long ago, should have
received so little attention. Could it have been verified, the plate
would certainly be one of the most precious relics in the world, not
only as a personal souvenir of the creator of Gargantua and Pantagruel,
but as the very earliest known French ex-libris.
As Rabelais died in 1553 his book-plate would necessarily be at least
twenty years earlier than that of Alboise of Autun, which is dated 1574,
and probably even some years older than that.
But in the earlier edition of this treatise, I remarked that it was
scarcely credible that such a treasure as this could exist without
having become generally known to collectors of literary curios, who
would, long ere now, have fully described the book-plate of François
Rabelais.
This paragraph was noted by several French collectors, and more
particularly by Doctor L. Bouland, President of the French Society, who
at once put himself in communication with M. Georges d’Albenas.
His reply showed that this was only another instance of the confusion
that arises from the French custom of styling the _written inscription_
of an owner’s name in a book, an ex-libris. Technically the term may be
correct, but it would be advisable in the interest of collectors to
describe the one as the “owner’s autograph” to distinguish it from the
engraved or printed ex-libris fastened on the inside of a book.
M. d’Albenas wrote thus: “L’Ex-libris de Rabelais dont il est question,
en note, dans _Les portraits de Rabelais_, est ecrit de la main de
l’illustre auteur de Gargantua, sur le titre d’un exemplaire de la
première édition des ‘Œuvres de Platon,’ publiée par les soins réunis
de Marc Manuce et d’Alde Manuce 1513.
M. le professeur Cavalier ayant légué sa riche bibliothèque et ses
précieuses collections à Montpellier, sa ville natale, elles ont été
réunies selon ses dispositions testamentaires dans une salle spéciale,
portant son nom, par les soins de son ami et exécuteur testamentaire,
votre serviteur.”
Here, then, is a facsimile of this famous inscription, partly in Latin,
partly in Greek, which is said to signify “Belonging to François
Rabelais, a zealous doctor, and to his Christian friends.”
[Illustration: AUTOGRAPH INSCRIPTION BY FRANÇOIS RABELAIS.]
Plainly an anticipation of the “Io: Grolierii et amicorum.”
Another signature of Rabelais exists in a book which was presented to
the school of medicine of Montpellier in 1776 by a lawyer, one Mons. J.
Grosley. This resembles generally the one already described.
The name of Jean Grolier is one of the earliest and most famous in the
history of French Bibliolatry and Bibliopegy. Jean Grolier, Vicomte
d’Aguisy, was born in 1479 in Lyons, and died in Paris on October 22nd,
1565. He was treasurer of France, and collected a library of about 3,000
volumes (an enormous number in those early days of printing), all of
which he had sumptuously bound, and generally with the Grolier arms
richly emblazoned on the sides. His books had also various mottoes on
them, sometimes written in his own hand on blank pages or on the title,
sometimes printed in letters of gold around the edges of the binding.
The most usual of these mottoes is one that is constantly referred to,
and has been often borrowed by other book-lovers and collectors:
“Io Grollierii et amicorum.”
Others that occur are:
“Mei Grollierii Lugdunens, et amicorum.”
“Portio mea, Domine, sit in terra viventium.”
“Tanquam ventus est vita mea.”
“Custodit Dominus omnes diligentes se, et omnes impios disperdet.”
“Æque difficulter.”
_Io: Grollierii et amicorum_ reads as a very pretty and unselfish
sentiment, but it requires some explanation. Mons. Grolier did not allow
his treasured volumes to leave his possession. Those who were privileged
to enjoy his friendship, were permitted to consult his books; they had
no choice, however, but to do so in the spacious salons of Mons.
Grolier, after partaking of his hospitality.
On the death of Grolier, in 1565, his valuable collection became the
property of Emeric de Vic, Keeper of the Seals, from whom it passed to
his son. On his death, this library, which had been the pride of three
generations of book-lovers, was sold and dispersed in 1676. Some of the
principal books came into the possession of such well-known collectors
as Paul Petau, de Thou, and the Chancellor P. Séguier; they have been
well preserved till the present day, but they contain no book-plates
belonging to Grolier.
Paul Petau was a councillor in the Parliament of Paris. He formed the
nucleus of a library, rich in early French and Latin MSS., and was also
an enthusiastic collector of coins and antiquities. On his death, in
1613, he left the whole of his collections to his son Alexander, who not
only succeeded to his public offices, but also inherited his cultivated
tastes for art and literature.
Paul Petau had his books handsomely bound, with his arms stamped on the
sides. His arms are thus emblazoned by French heraldists: _Ecartelé_: au
1 et 4, d’azur, à 3 roses d’argent, au chef-d’or chargé d’une aigle
issante éployée de sable; au 2 et 3, d’argent, à la croix pattée de
gueules. _Devise_: Non est mortale quod opto.
It will thus be seen that the arms are precisely the same as those
carried by his son Alexander on his book-plate, the motto alone being
changed in the latter to “_Moribus Antiquis_.”
M. Poulet-Malassis makes a curious misstatement in describing this
ex-libris, for he asserts that the shield bears quarterly the arms of
_Alexander_ Petau and of his wife. It may be that M. Poulet-Malassis
intended to say the arms of _Paul_ Petau and of his wife, for Paul, the
father, certainly carried these arms, as did Alexander afterwards, with
the statement that he was the son of Paul. Now Paul Petau could not have
carried the arms of his son’s wife.
The shield rests on a mosaic pavement, on which are reproduced in
alternate squares the three principal charges, namely, the eagle
issuant, the three roses, and the cross pattée (see plate, page 69).
On the death of Alexander Petau his MSS. were purchased by Queen
Christina of Sweden, who bequeathed them to the Vatican Library. His
printed books were sold at the Hague in 1722, with those of François
Mansart. “Catalogue des bibliothèques de feu _M.M. Alexandre Pétau_,
conseiller au Parlement de Paris, et _François Mansart_, intendant des
bâtiments de France.” La Haye, A. de Hondt, 1722.
Had the king of France himself desired a new book-plate he could
scarcely have been provided with one more gorgeous or imposing than that
engraved by Daudin, in 1702, for Michel Bégon. Although according to its
date it must be classed as an eighteenth century plate, its style
belongs to an earlier period, as indeed, properly speaking, did its
owner, for he was born at Blois on December 26, 1638, so that he did not
have this sumptuous ex-libris engraved till comparatively late in his
life, and did not long survive to enjoy it, for he died on the 14th of
March, 1710.
The arms (blazoned thus by French heraldists: _d’azur au chevron d’or,
accompagné en chef de deux roses, et d’un lion en pointe_) on an oval
shield surmounted by the coronet of a count, supporters two lions.
Inscription: _Michaeli Begon et amicis 1702_.
Here we have at once a plate remarkable for its beauty, and interesting
on account of its owner, who was a man of note in his day, and famous as
a collector.
He was thus described in the official registration of his death:
“Messire Michel Bégon, chevalier, seigneur de la Picardière et autres
lieux, conseiller du Roy en ses conseils et d’honneur au Parlement de
Provence. Intendant de Justice et finances de la Généralité de la
Rochelle et de la Marine à Rochefort.”
Mons. Bégon came of good family, was well educated, and appears to have
been very successful in his career as a government official. He held
appointments successively at Martinique, San Domingo, and Marseilles,
and finally, in 1688, was appointed Intendant de la Rochelle of the port
of Rochefort, which post he held for the rest of his life. On the death
of his father, he had succeeded to a valuable library which he continued
to enrich; he was also an indefatigable collector of medals, of natural
history specimens, and of engravings, especially portraits.
From an inventory made after his death, it appears he left 7,000
volumes, and more than sixty valuable manuscripts of the ancient
classics. His collection of prints, which comprised about 8,000
portraits, 15,600 general engravings, and 925 maps, was valued at 16,481
livres, and was acquired for the library of the King of France in 1770.
Michel Bégon was therefore a man worthy to possess a really handsome
book-plate such as his was, but we may take it that the expression “for
his friends” (_et amicorum_ he wrote on some of his books) did not imply
they were to be removed from his custody, but only that they might be
consulted by his friends when they visited him, as we know was the
intention of Grolier who also used this apparently self-denying
expression.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MICHEL BEGON, 1702.]
It may be added that in the “Biographie Universelle” (De Feller, Paris,
1834), a short account is given of Michel Bégon, in which it is said:
“Le goût avait presidé au choix de ses livres dont la plupart portaient
sur le frontispice _Michaelis Begon et Amicorum_.”
It is therefore somewhat singular that no mention of him, or his arms,
occurs in the “Armorial Français” of Johannis Guigard. This is to be
regretted, as it renders it difficult to trace in what way the family of
Bégon and the old French family of Chapuy were related. That some kind
of relationship existed can scarcely be doubted; in view of the
following application received from Mr. Charles J. Shoppee, President of
the Surveyor’s Institution, and Vice President of the Ex-Libris Society:
“I am anxious to know something of the origin of the armorial bearings
of Michael Bégon, 1702, the coat being the same as that of Chapuis of
Dauphiné, viz., ‘_D’azur au chevron d’or, accompagné de deux roses
d’argent en chef, et en pointe, d’un lion rampant, de même._’ These arms
I bear, as the representative of the branch of the _Chapuis_ family
settled in England.”
Amongst a list of the French officers taken at the battle of Oudenarde,
July 11th, 1708, “Of the regiment of dragoons of Pouriere, Lieutenant
_Chapuy_” is recorded. This officer was the ancestor of Mr. C. J.
Shoppee.
Nicolas Joseph Foucault was a councillor to the Parliament of Paris, and
a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. He died in
1720, aged seventy-seven, leaving a library which was considered
particularly rich in relation to the early history of France.
Unfortunately it was dispersed on his decease, and his ex-libris given
herewith is consequently scarce. It was probably engraved between about
1680 and 1700, and carries the same arms as were embossed on the
bindings of his books.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF NICOLAS JOSEPH FOUCAULT.]
It would perhaps be more interesting to know the name of the artist who
designed this beautiful plate for Mr. de Joubert, than who and what Mr.
de Joubert himself was. Unfortunately the plate is not signed, but it is
in the style of the Louis XV. period, and was probably the work of some
artistic engraver in the south of France.
The date of the plate can only be approximately fixed on the following
train of reasoning. Mr. de Joubert styles himself “Tresorier des Etats
de Languedoc;” now on reference to an old French work, somewhat similar
to a Court Guide, we find a mention of this gentleman.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONS. DE JOUBERT.]
In “L’Etat de la France,” published in Paris in 1749, his name is given
as Président des Chambres des Comptes de Languedoc, with the date of his
appointment, thus:
“25 Février, 1733. Laurent-Ignace Joubert, Chevalier, cy-devant
Syndic Général de la Province de Languedoc.”
It thus appears that Joubert was alive in 1749, and still holding the
high office in the provincial treasury to which he was appointed in
1733; the date of his plate may therefore be assumed to have been not
earlier than 1733, and in all probability it was not much later.
In this entry he is called Chevalier, which accounts for the _De_ on the
book-plate. This is an instance of the difficulties a collector has to
contend with in deciding the period of undated plates, especially where
the artist has not signed his work.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THOMAS GUEULETTE.]
Mons. Gueulette was a French novelist and dramatist, who enjoyed
considerable fame in the first half of the last century. He died in
December, 1766, at the ripe old age of eighty-three years, and his
writings have since sunk into undeserved oblivion, although, it is true,
Messrs. Nichols published a translation of his “Contes Tartares” (an
imitation of the “Arabian Nights”) in 1893, but of this only a small
edition was printed. His book-plate, signed _H. Becat_, is inscribed “Ex
libris Thomae Gueulette et Amicorum.” It represents the Gueulette arms,
with two supporters on each side, namely, an Italian Arlequin, a Tartar,
a Chinese Mandarin, and a Cyclops holding an infant in his arms. Each of
these figures has some reference to the works of the owner of the
plate; thus, the Arlequin is in allusion to the numberless farces he
wrote for the Théâtre Italien and the Théâtre des Boulevards; the other
works alluded to are his “Contes Tartares” and “Les Aventures du
Mandarin Fum Hoam.” The design is surmounted by a graceful little Cupid
bearing aloft a scroll, on which is inscribed the epicurean motto “Dulce
est desipere in loco,” which has been thus happily translated by a
distinguished member of the Sette of Odd Volumes:
“_Dulce_--Delightful, says the poet,
_Est_--is it, and right well we know it,
_Desipere_--to play the fool
_In loco_--when we’re out of school.”
M. Gueulette was a worthy disciple of Horace, for more than eighty years
he enjoyed the work, the pleasures, and the success of life; he
accumulated a large and valuable library, and his books were probably
the first to be decorated with a book-plate bearing not only the arms of
their owner, but also allegorical allusions to his tastes and literary
labours.
M. Gueulette had a second and smaller plate, signed Bellanger; this was
similar in its general features, but different in many of its details to
the above.
The Abbé Joseph-Marie Terray, Controller-General of Finance under Louis
XV., was one of those men who, by their cruel exactions, dissolute
living, and reckless expenditure, were directly responsible for the ruin
of French credit and for the great Revolution which ensued. Terray was
born at Boen in 1715, and died in Paris in February, 1778, almost
universally hated and despised. It is true that he had collected a
handsome library, that his books were sumptuously bound, and that he
had a reputation as a patron of art and letters. But holding many highly
paid sinecure offices, and being the proprietor of rich ecclesiastical
livings (not to mention the gross jobbery he exercised in the state
finances), he could well afford to buy expensive books and to employ a
few bookbinders. History records no other good trait in the character of
this priestly financier, who was both physically and morally ugly,
depraved, and rapacious.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE ABBÉ JOSEPH-MARIE TERRAY.]
Was it for him that this epitaph was written?--
“Ci-git un grand personnage,
Qui fut d’un illustre lignage,
Qui posséda mille vertus;
Qui ne se trompa jamais, qui fut toujours fort sage;
Je n’en dirai pas d’avantage,
_C’est trop mentir pour cent écus_.”
The game cock was a favourite emblem with the ancient Greeks and Romans,
on account of its courage and endurance. “The gait of the cock,” writes
Pliny, “is proud and commanding; he walks in a stately stride, with his
head erect and elevated crest; alone, of all birds, he habitually looks
up to the sky, raising at the same time his curved and graceful tail,
and inspiring terror even in the lion himself, that most intrepid of
animals.” He will fight to the death, and use his last breath to crow
out a defiance, whilst the conqueror, standing over his vanquished
rival, will flap his wings and loudly proclaim his victory.
For many ages the game cock, as brave and noble a bird as any that
lives, was the badge of our Gallic neighbours:
“Le coq français est le coq de la gloire,
Par les revers il n’est point abattu;
Il chante fort lorsqu’il à la victoire,
Encor plus fort quand il est bien battu.
Le coq français est le coq de la gloire
Toujours chanter est sa grande vertu.
Est il imprudent, est-il sage?
C’est ce qu’on ne peut définir:
Mais qui ne perd jamais courage,
Se rend maitre de l’avenir.”
Besides being a national emblem, many ancient and noble French houses
bore a cock on their shields. There were cocks “cantant,” holding up
their heads with opened beaks, as though they were crowing, and cocks
“hardy,” which stood on one leg with the other aggressively uplifted.
Louis-Philippe, on being made King of the French, adopted the bird
standing in this warlike attitude, a circumstance which did not escape
the attention of the Legitimist opponents of the bourgeois king. Shortly
after his accession a biting satire was circulated in anti-Orleanist
society. It set forth how the noble Gallic cock, raking in the dunghill,
had scratched up King Louis-Philippe, who, in exulting gratitude, had
placed the bird in the arms of France. Be this as it may, the Gallic
cock held his place on the escutcheon of the Orleanist dynasty until the
events of 1848 compelled Louis-Philippe to escape to England under the
assumed name of Mr. Smith.
M. Gambetta carried this bird, in the act of crowing, on his book-plate,
with an equally gallant motto, “Vouloir c’est Pouvoir,” but we seek in
vain to learn of what was composed the library of Gambetta. This is a
mystery! It may be readily surmised that he had not many of the tastes
of a bibliophile, nor time in which to indulge them. As to the plate
itself, the design was probably suggested by Poulet-Malassis, and it was
engraved by M. Alphonse Legros about 1874, when that artist was
commissioned by Sir Charles Dilke to go to Paris to procure a portrait
of M. Léon Gambetta.
Proof impressions of the plate exist in four states, all very rare; but
the curious feature about it is that M. Gambetta certified in 1882 that
he had never made use of it as a book-plate, and when in May, 1895, Dr.
Bouland obtained the loan of the _original copper_ to publish in the
“Archives de la Société Française,” he found it had scarcely been used.
So that the numerous copies of the Gambetta book-plate scattered about
must be looked upon as forgeries.
The book-plate of another distinguished Frenchman, Victor Hugo, is also
somewhat of a puzzle.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LÉON GAMBETTA. (REDUCED.)]
It has been reproduced in nearly every illustrated article that has been
printed on French ex-libris, with its towers of the cathedral of Notre
Dame illuminated by the flash of lightning carrying his name:
“Les tours de Notre-Dame étaient l’H. de son Nom!”
On what occasion can M. Aglaüs Bouvenne have designed this celebrated
book-plate, seeing that at the time of his death the library of Victor
Hugo consisted of less than fifty volumes?
The history is a somewhat curious one.
As is well known, Victor Hugo was an implacable enemy of Napoleon III.,
and during his reign resided in Guernsey. Wishing to pay his great
countryman a compliment, Mons. Aglaüs Bouvenne designed this plate, the
towers of Notre Dame being introduced not only to remind Hugo of his
beloved Paris, but also in allusion to his famous novel.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF VICTOR HUGO.
By Aglaüs Bouvenne.]
On the 10th July, 1870, Victor Hugo wrote from Hauteville House to thank
the artist for the plate: “Votre _ex-libris_ fait par vous pour moi me
charme--j’accepte avec reconnaissance cette jolie petite planche....
Votre ex-libris marquera tous les livres de la Bibliothèque de
Hauteville House.”
But the great war came, the downfall of the Empire, the return of Victor
Hugo to Paris, and amidst so much change and excitement the poor little
ex-libris appears to have been neglected. After the poet’s death
forgeries of it flooded the market, and many unwary collectors purchased
worthless copies.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THÉOPHILE GAUTIER.
By Aglaüs Bouvenne.]
At length Mons. Aglaüs Bouvenne, who possessed the original copper,
allowed prints of it to be taken to be issued with the “Archives de la
Société Française des Collectionneurs d’Ex Libris” for June, 1895,
together with a facsimile of Victor Hugo’s letter of thanks above
quoted.
It should be noticed that the original plate is signed _Aglaüs Bouvenne
del et sculp. 70_ (for 1870), and although it may please collectors to
possess a copy of this ex-libris, they must not assume, when purchasing
one, that it ever was in the possession of the great poet himself.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE COMTE ALFRED D’ORSAY.]
M. Bouvenne also designed a plate, dated 1872, for the late novelist and
dramatist Théophile Gautier, enshrining his monogram on the entablature
of an Egyptian temple, but in this case he had to deal with a veritable
lover of books, who possessed a library of some importance, which was
sold, after his death, at the Hôtel Drouot. A catalogue was issued
describing the books, but, although they were mostly in good condition,
and bore the book-plate of a man somewhat famous in his day, they
realized but a small sum under the hammer.
Of the Comte d’Orsay, at one time the leader of fashion, the Prince of
Dandies, and the associate of the lovely but unfortunate Lady
Blessington, there is little to be said, nor would that little be
complimentary.
On page 38 is the tiny little plate of Paul Lacroix, better known,
perhaps, as the bibliophile Jacob, whose writings have done so much to
popularize the study of the manners of the Middle Ages, and the progress
of civilization in France.
The two naked little _gamins_ are gazing at the P.L. on the open volume,
illuminated by a lamp of ancient Greek design. The motto runs, “_Livres
nouveaux, livres vielz et antiques, Etienne Dolet_.”
Mons. Paul Lacroix was appointed curator of the Library of the Arsenal
in 1855, where he died a few years ago.
The Vicomte de Rougé, who died in 1873, was a famous Egyptologist, whose
translations from the papyri and inscriptions on the Egyptian monuments
were considered of the highest philological value. In 1860 M. de Rougé
was installed in the chair of Egyptology in the College of France, where
for some years he expounded the principles of careful analysis, upon
which his own successful studies had been based. He left a son, who
shared his father’s enthusiasm for research, and was also a frequent
contributor to the “Revue Archéologique.”
The device of Ferdinand de Lesseps was a Hercules with the motto
“Aperire terram gentibus,” in allusion to his great work on the Isthmus
of Suez. He did not then foresee his defeat and ruin in the Panama
Canal.
The Comtesse de Noë possesses a name which permits her to represent the
prehistoric ark as a kind of rebus; whilst Mons. Eugène Jacob, notary of
Angerville, possesses a small ex-libris, designed by his nephew, Mons.
Métivet, which represents a Jacob’s ladder crowded with book-loving
angels.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE VICOMTE DE ROUGÉ.]
Albert Tissandier, the learned aëronaut, proclaims his specialty on his
circular book-plate, which shows an inflated balloon soaring aloft to
the realms of thought and ideality.
Whilst Prince Roland Bonaparte, who possessed one of the largest and
most valuable libraries of modern collectors, was content to use nothing
more elaborate than the Napoleonic eagle.
One of the most interesting and also one of the scarcest book-plates of
modern French men of letters is the tiny ex-libris of Prosper-Mérimée,
whose library was burnt during the troubles of the Commune in 1871.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF EUGÈNE JACOB.
Designed by Métivet.]
It is, as nearly as possible, the size of a penny postage-stamp, but it
was designed and engraved by no less a man than Viollet Le Duc. The
Gothic letters P. M. are surrounded by a scroll in the shape of a
horse-shoe, with the opening directed upwards. The motto, in Greek, may
be thus translated, “Do not forget to doubt.” Here, too, is the
unpretentious plate of the bibliophile Jacob, with angels bringing him
his favourite volumes; whilst that of Charles Monselet, the author, has
been inserted already in the chapter on punning plates.
A well-known plate is that designed by Gavarni for the brothers Edmond
and Jules de Goncourt, and engraved by Jules de Goncourt himself. These
brothers have written much on French art, and, in allusion to their
literary partnership, the plate shows a sheet of paper on which are the
letters E. J. held down by the two outstretched fingers of a hand. The
design is at once simple and striking, but it has the great demerit of
not proclaiming its owner’s name, which is, after all, the _raison
d’être_ of a book-plate.
I cannot conclude this short chapter on distinguished plate-owners
better than by giving the Japanesque ex-libris of Octave Uzanne, who has
not only produced many charming volumes, the delight of all book-lovers,
but is also himself an enthusiastic collector of ex-libris, and a writer
of authority on their history.
In this plate the exigencies of space have compelled the artist, M.
Aglaüs Bouvenne, to so divide the name that it reads as though M. Uzanne
were in the act of courteously saluting himself!
Well, why not? AVE UZANNE!
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF OCTAVE UZANNE, 1882.
By Aglaüs Bouvenne.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XVI.
MODERN EX-LIBRIS.
From the downfall of the first Napoleon, and the restoration of the
Monarchy, until about 1850, art, as shown in ex-libris, appears to have
slumbered; scarcely anything can be found but a dreary repetition of
heraldic plates, without character and without style, or slavish
imitations of designs of the pre-Revolution character, such as those of
F. des Robert and Du Puy de Belveze (see pages 276, 277).
As Poulet-Malassis observes, they appear to have been turned out to
pattern indiscriminately by the Parisian engravers. The pattern most in
request was a kind of strap, or sword-belt, which surrounded the shield
or monogram of the owner.
Even in this dreary waste, without art, without originality, there is
just one plate which calls for remark. It is that of Alphonse Karr, the
author, and represents a wasp (the symbol he chose) busy writing on a
long parchment. Probably this was designed for him by Grandville, the
caricaturist. This plate almost marks a division line between the old
engraved copper-plates with their stiff and formal heraldry, and the
modern etched ex-libris, with designs free and graceful,--allegoric,
pictorial, allusive, humorous, anything, in fact, that is not heraldic,
or in which, at least, if there be anything of an armorial nature, it is
made subservient to the general design, and as little conspicuous as
possible.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF F. DES ROBERT, 1878.]
Some well-known artists of the day having set the fashion, it became
“the thing” with literary men--plebeian people, of course--to discard
heraldry, and to have ex-libris emblematical of their studies, their
tastes, or their principal works, as in the plates, for instance, of
Victor Hugo, Théophile Gautier, Manet, the Brothers Goncourt, Octave
Uzanne, Paul Lacroix, and others.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF G. DU PUY DE BELVEZE.]
Apart from what may be termed the original and characteristic
book-plates of some of the leading men in arts and letters, French
ex-libris of the first fifty years of this century may be divided into
three leading styles: 1. The plain armorial shield, or seal, with
heraldic bearings. 2. The plain printed label, either in modern type,
or in imitation of that of the fifteenth century. 3. Type-printed,
surrounded by a wreath of flowers, a belt, or a strap.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LOUIS MOHR.]
All, or nearly all, come under these headings, and are about as artistic
as the label on a bottle of champagne, or a box of bonbons. They
accomplish their object, for they proclaim the ownership of the volume,
but tell us nothing of the owner’s personality.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LEON GRUEL.]
A new fashion which arose in ex-libris, almost synchronous with the
rise of the Second Empire, dispelled much of this formality and
monotony. Individuality and originality were displayed, often weak and
puerile, but infinitely superior to the dull uniformity which had
prevailed in the previous generation. Statesmen, literary and scientific
men, even artists, began to mark their books in this way, and their
plates were almost as varied as their tastes and characters. Their
designs may not always please, may sometimes even shock, as does that
of _Niniche_, but at least they do not weary with their sameness.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE COMTE DE BUREY.]
But of all the modes in ex-libris there is one, at least, which always
pleases, whether French or English, namely, the photographic portrait of
the owner carefully reproduced by a cunning engraver, and furnished with
bookish surroundings.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE COMTE DE BUREY.]
This portrait ex-libris has great interest for the collector, but the
simple photograph, in all its detestably scientific truth and brutal
exactitude, cannot be considered as a respectable or desirable member of
the ex-libris family.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF HENRI TAUSIN, OF ST. QUENTIN.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF J. E. SYLVESTRE.
Peintre-Graveur.]
Little need be said concerning modern French armorial plates, they are
neither numerous nor especially characteristic. Some of the neatest
amongst them are signed _Stern_, graveur, Paris, and in their formality
and clearness resemble our own modern heraldic work.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF G. MALET.]
But it is in the light, graceful plates of to-day that we find the
fullest development of French art and originality. They style them
_Ex-Libris de Fantaisie_. They illustrate the transient humour of the
owner, his caprices, his studies, or his recreations; they obey no rule,
they elude analysis or classification, they defy description:
“_Their beauties_ are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower, its bloom is shed!
Or, like the snow-falls in the river,
A moment white--then melts for ever.”
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF GEORGES MANTIN.]
It were, indeed, as ridiculous as “gilding refined gold, or painting the
lily,” to venture to describe the coquettish _Parisienne_ on the plate
of _G. Malet_; or the fanciful design for _Georges Mantin_; the charming
decorative plate of _Henri Tausin_, or the quaint monogram designed for
_Alexis Martin_ by Aglaüs Bouvenne. _Art pour l’Art_, _Fantaisie_,
_Diablerie_; democratic ideas prevalent in the mottoes, armorial
bearings discarded, even titles and prefixes of honour abandoned by
those who have the most right to use them. Henri Béraldi goes even
further, and asserts that the size of a man’s book-plate is in inverse
ratio to the value of his library, but let him speak for himself:
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF ALEXIS MARTIN.
By Aglaüs Bouvenne.]
“Il est à remarquer, qu’aujourd’hui les vrais Bibliophiles s’efforcent
de contaminer le moins possible leurs livres par l’apposition de leurs
Ex-Libris. Ils ont donc des Ex-Libris aussi petits que possible. En
général, ce sont de simples filets d’encadrements entourant le nom. On
les fait faire par son relieur. Les non-Bibliophiles ont des Ex-Libris
gigantesques, où ils étalent des blasons, des chiffres, des emblèmes,
des devises, des rébus, des sujets de guerre, placards qui encombrent
toute la garde des volumes. On devrait se garder de déposer ces
choses-là sur des livres precieux.”
“Considérons l’Ex-Libris comme un aréomètre servant à titrer le degré de
force bibliophilique de son possesseur, et formulons un axiome à la
Balzac:
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF HENRI GRESLIE.]
_La valeur d’un Bibliophile est en raison inverse de la dimension de son
Ex-Libris._”
We protest, and pass on.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF AUGUSTE GEOFFROY.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF ALEXANDRE GEOFFROY.
Designed by Henry André.]
During the last few years an artist has come to the front, Mons. Henry
André, who has devoted so much of his invention and his skill to
book-plates that it is difficult to decide which of his numerous works
to select as best illustrating his style. He has kindly permitted eight
designs to be reproduced; one, that of Doctor F. Bargallò, will be found
amongst the medical plates, the others are those belonging to Messieurs
Auguste Geoffroy, an art expert; Alexandre Geoffrey, an art critic,
with the telling motto, “A Tous Vents Je Seme,” appropriate to the
editor of such a journal as “La Curiosité Universelle”; Jules Lermina,
also a man of letters, with the motto “Fiat Lux” emerging from the
clouds, a very quaint and original conception; Ch. Guinot, a poet and a
bibliophile, with the emblems of death and immortality.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JULES LERMINA.
Designed by Henry André.]
The plate of Mons. Jan des Vignes is a singular design. The owner, a
poet and journalist, is a native of Cluny, in Burgundy, famous for its
abbey, and as having given birth to the painters, Greuze and Prud’hon,
and to the celebrated poets Lamartine and P. Dupont. The view of the
ancient abbey, surrounded by the vine, proclaims at once the owner’s
birthplace and his name, whilst the exquisite sonnet reveals his
poetical genius.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF CH. GUINOT, 1894.
Designed by Henry André.]
The Docteur Jules Le Bayon is a Breton, a native of Carnac, where are to
be seen the wonderful Druidical stones, a few of which are depicted on
his ex-libris. Mons. Le Bayon is a doctor of medicine by profession, but
he is also an enthusiastic amateur of music, hence the introduction of
a peasant clad in the old Brittany costume, playing on the rural pipes.
The sprig of mistletoe, the sacred plant of the Druids, completes an
engraving which is full of picturesque allusiveness.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JAN DES VIGNES.
Designed by Henry André.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF JULES LE BAYON, 1896.
Designed by Henry André.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF ABEL PICARD.
Designed by Henry André.]
And lastly, we have that of Mons. Abel Picard, an eminent bibliophile
holding a high official position in Paris. The ribbon, that so
ingeniously curves itself into the owner’s initials, enfolds a view of
the quays along the Seine, with their stalls of second-hand books, and
the _flaneurs_ on the look-out for bargains. In the distance may
faintly be descried the towers of Notre Dame. Below we have indications
that the owner’s tastes in reading are varied: Michelet, the historian,
is near a volume on art; whilst the novels of Daudet and Zola are only
separated by a sliding partition from a bulky and well thumbed tome on
the “Droit Administratif,” surely a suggestive contrast. As for the
perky little Parisian sparrow (for such I am informed is the bird),
c’est un plat de supplément à cinquante centimes that I do not feel
called upon to describe.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF L. P. COURAUD.]
Mons. L. P. Couraud, of Cognac, designed his own armorial plate; the
motto (a translation from Virgil) is appropriate to one who has won
success by his own energy and skill.
Mons. Couraud, who is an enthusiastic collector of prints, medals, and
ancient furniture, thus describes the origin of his book-plate: “Dans
une vieille édition du ‘Roman du Renart’ je recontrai cette devise,
‘Fortune secort les hardiz,’ dès lors mon ex-libris était trouvé. Je fis
représenter la classique Fortune dans un écusson d’or, au chef cousu
d’azur (shown _gules_ in the engraving) chargé de trois fleurs-de-lis,
avec deux _coqs_ pour supports; ce qui faisait allusion à mes opinions
politiques.” This was drawn by Mons. Couraud and engraved by Devambez.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF BARON PICHOU.
Designed by A. Godreuil.]
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF ALFRED BOVET.
Engraved by Stern.]
It will be seen that the owner frankly admits not only that the arms
were assumed, but that they were purely fanciful. For a trade label such
a device might be excused, but all who have any respect for the science
of heraldry will be pleased to learn that the owner has determined to
suppress this plate, and has had another engraved for him by Henry
André, after a pretty floral design of Van Spaendonck, and printed in
colours.
The power to appreciate beauty is but one factor in many that go to the
forming of an artist, yet it is the indispensable.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF LAFITTE.
Designed by Agry.]
Who, then, amongst modern French artists, has produced the most
beautiful and characteristic ex-libris? The question is too difficult to
solve offhand; it is, indeed, a matter of taste. Many would select
Aglaüs Bouvenne, Léopold Flameng; others might suggest C. E. Thiéry or
Henry André.
Other modern artists who should be mentioned are Bracquemond, who
produced a plate for M. Aglaüs Bouvenne himself, and the very simple
severe mark for the late Poulet-Malassis, with its vigorous assertion,
_Je l’ai_, as well as the plates for Charles Asselineau and Paul
Arnauldet, the latter with its anti-Grolier motto, _Nunquam amicorum!_
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF C. BAYARD.
Designed by P. Pascalon.]
François Courboin, Félicien Rops, and Paul Avril have also produced some
light and graceful designs for modern ex-libris.
The style of a book-plate may be taken as some indication of the tastes
and nature of the owner, and this is particularly true of modern French
ex-libris, in which artistic fancy and originality have full swing. From
this point of view a collection may have more value than might at first
be supposed. It would be claiming too much to assert that no great man
ever had an ugly or an inappropriate ex-libris, yet it may be safely
assumed that few but men of taste and culture possess really artistic
book-plates.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF MARTHE DE BORNIOL.
Designed by M. Georgel.]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XVII.
ARTISTS AND ENGRAVERS WHOSE SIGNATURES ARE FOUND UPON FRENCH
BOOK-PLATES.
In the following list no attempt has been made to enumerate every
separate ex-libris signed by each artist; such works as would best
illustrate their style, or the period they worked in, only have been
selected, or plates possessing other features of interest, literary,
artistic, or personal.
It must be borne in mind that a large proportion of the early French
plates bore no owners’ names, although they were frequently signed by
the engraver. Many of these plates have been identified by the arms, the
mottoes, or other peculiarities in design, but some still remain
unidentified.
Where engraved dates appear on the ex-libris these have been mentioned,
but no notice has been taken of dates inserted in manuscript, these, as
is well known, being quite unreliable.
For certain engravers, on whose work no date has been found, a century
has been named approximately from an examination of the plates they
produced.
Some of this information must necessarily be conjectural, and Mons.
Poulet-Malassis mentions certain artists and engravers of book-plates of
whose work it has not been possible either to obtain copies, or any
information whatever.
For facility of reference a strictly alphabetical arrangement of the
names has been adopted.
Wherever it was possible, the inscriptions and signatures have been
copied from the book-plates themselves, carefully preserving the
arbitrary contractions, the obsolete orthography, and even the errors
and the faulty accentuation found on many of them.
It will be observed that Mr. as a contraction for _Monsieur_ was
formerly more generally used in France than it now is, whilst Escuyer,
Escuier, or Ecuyer (for Esquire) was occasionally added after a
gentleman’s name, a custom which has, since the Revolution, become quite
obsolete.
One of the latest examples of the use of this title will be found on the
ex-libris of Jean François-Gillet, dated 1778, of which a reproduction
appears on p. 96.
A List of Artists and Engravers.
ABOT.
Engraved a plate for M.
Greppe. Designed by Giacomelli.
Modern.
TANCRÈDE ABRAHAM.
Château de Ruillé. (De la
Planche, Comte de Ruillé.)
1874. Armorial.
ADELINE, JULES.
Ex-libris de Champfleury dessiné
et gravé par J. Adeline.
Portrait plate. Modern.
(See also Aglaüs Bouvenne.)
M. Henri Bouchot reproduced
several works by this
artist.
AGRY. 14 Castiglione. Maison
Bouvet (Paris). Modern.
Bibliothèque de Mouchy.
Armorial.
Bibliothèque de Lafitte.
ALÈS _Sc_.
Hilarii Grésy, 1868. Pictorial.
Ex-libris Gustave Chancel,
1876. Pictorial.
ALIAMET _Scul_. (See Eisen.)
On a nameless armorial, designed
by C. Eisen for
Claude Antoine de Choiseul-Beaupré.
18th cent.
“J. Aliamet” on the nameless
armorial, designed by C.
Eisen, for the Marquis de
Paulmy.
ALLIN _Sculp. fecit._
Robert Jehannot de Beaumont,
Conseilleur du Roy,
etc., Verdun, 1742.
Armorial.
Conrad Robert, Comte de
Wignacourt, Major au Regiment,
etc. Armorial.
ALOYS _Comte la Rosée, fecit_
1760, on a library interior,
name indistinct; and on the
plate of Theod. Cte. Morawitzky,
1770.
_Aloys, comes de la Rosée, inv.
del. et sculpst._, on his own
ex-libris, dated 1769. He was
a German from the
Rhine provinces.
ANCELET, E. 19th cent.
ANDOUARD. 18th cent.
ANDRÉ, HENRY. Modern.
Jules Lermina. Symbolic
plate.
Alex. Geoffrey. 1893.
Henry André, Secrétaire de
la Société Française, etc.
1893.
Paul Vibert. Portrait plate.
Th^{re}. Vibert. Portrait plate.
Louis Bihn. 1893.
Abel Picard. A view of the
book-stalls on the quays
of Paris.
Ch. Guinot. 1894.
Léon Quantin. 1894.
Henry André 1894. Portrait.
Auguste-Geoffroy. 1895.
F. Bargallo. 1895. Allegorical.
L. P. Couraud. Pictorial.
Jan-des-Vignes. 1896.
Ex Libris P. P. Capucinorum
Conventus Parisiensis.
1896.
Docteur Jules Le Bayon.
1896.
Ex Libris du Marquis de
Gourdon de l’Echo.
Armorial.
APOUX. Modern.
Ex Libris Lucien Bodin.
Pictorial. Motto, “_Oh!
combien gai c’est!_”
ARIBAUD, J. P. 18th cent.
ARTHAUD. 18th cent.
AUBLÉ. 18th cent.
P. AUDINET _Sculp._
Rev. H. S. Cotton. Angling
scene.
AUDRAN, J. 18th cent.
Engraved the monogram trophy
plate for Louis XV.,
designed by A. Dieu.
AUGER, E. Modern.
Designed the plate for Mons.
Charles Givelet of Reims.
Motto, “_Remensia colui,
mihi et amicis._” Engraved
by A. Bellevoie. (See Les
Bibliophiles Rémois, pp.
101, 116.)
AUGUSTUS _In. et Sculp._
Madame De Bouchard. Label.
18th cent.
AUROUX, N. 17th cent.
A. AVELINE _Sculp._
On the armorial ex-libris of
Carolus de Brosses, Comes
Tornaci, Baro Montis, etc.,
with the motto “_Homunculi
quanti sunt_.” 18th cent.
M. Poulet-Malassis devotes
considerable space to this
very little man--Charles de
Brosses--and his quarrel
with Voltaire. De Brosses
had two other armorial
book-plates engraved by
Durand, from which the
unfortunate motto was
omitted.
Charles de Brosses, Comte de
Tournay, was born in Dijon
in 1709, and died in Paris in
1777. He was a true bibliophile,
and his books were
sumptuously bound in morocco
stamped with his
arms--_azure three trefoils
or_.
They were sold in Dijon in
1778. See an illustrated
article on his ex-libris in
“Les Archives de la Société
Française,” Jany., 1896.
AVISSE _fecit_. (Signature indistinct.)
Josephi Xaupi, 1750 and 1765.
Ecclesiastical.
AVRIL, PAUL. Modern.
Philippe Gille.
Ex-Libris H. S. Ashbee. 1890.
Portrait rebus plate.
Ex-Libris Geo. B. de Forest
(of New York). Library
interior.
A. B. _del._
M. Arthur Benoit, of Berthelming
in Alsace, designed
several book-plates for himself
and for his late brother
Mons. Louis Benoit, librarian
to the city of Nancy.
These ex-libris contain views
of Alsatian buildings and
costumes.
Mons. A. Benoit designed a
modern plate for himself,
copied from a library device
of the last century; Motto,
“_Avec le temps_.”
See “Petite Revue d’Ex libris
Alsaciens,” p. 37.
BACHELEY, _del. et sculp._ 1768.
P. R. Le Cornier de Cideville.
Armorial.
BALTAZARD. 1755.
L. F. BAOUR, _fecit_.
P. L. de Carbon, sen.
Armorial. 18th cent.
BAQUOY, C. 18th cent.
BARBAT, _à Chalons_, 19th cent.
Ex libris C. Remy. Armorial.
Mons. Charles Remy, Membre
de l’Académie de
Reims, carries the arms of
a Chevalier de l’Empire, a
title granted to his father,
the Baron Claude Charles
Remy, on April 25, 1811.
(See “Les Bibliophiles
Rémois,” p. 117.)
C. BARON _Sculp._
Bibliothèque de Madame
Victoire de France. 18th
cent.
This has the arms of
France in a lozenge. (See
p. 53, “Ladies’ Book-plates.”)
BAUMÉS _fecit_.
Ex-libris D. D. Postic.
Armorial. 18th cent.
Reproduced in “Ex-Libris
Ana.”
BAUMÉS, _à Montpellier_. 18th
cent.
BEAU, _fils_. 18th cent.
BEAUMONT _fecit_.
On the armorial Ex Libris
Vaucresson de Cormainville,
etc., 1743.
And “Gravé par Beaumont,
grav^{r} ord^{re} de la ville,” on
the “Ex-libris D. Jacobi
Olivarii Vallée, Equitis, regi
à Consilius, et in Camerâ
regiarum Rationum Magistri
Anno 1730.” Armorial.
Two supporters.
H. BÉCAT _inv._
Signed the large allegorical
“Ex-libris Thomæ Gueulette
et amicorum.” With the
motto, “_Dulce est desipere
in Loco_.” See reproduction.
Simon-Thomas Gueulette was
a prolific writer of farces for
the Théâtre Italien, and the
Théâtre des Boulevards; he
died in 1766.
BÉHA, _Lith. Metz._
Ex-libris Arthur Benoit.
Modern; armorial.
BEILLET _Impr. 35 Quai de la
Tournelle_. Modern.
Bibliothèque de Mme. la
Comtesse de Montblanc,
Baronne d’Ingelmunster.
Armorial.
J. D. BELEAU, _à Rouen_, 1724.
BELILLE, _à Verdun_. 19th cent.
BELLANGE, JACQUES. Painter
and etcher. Born at Nancy,
October 13th, 1594; died
about 1638.
He is supposed to have engraved
the large armorial
plate for Melchior de la
Vallée, dated 1613. (See
“Archives de la Société
Française,” vol. ii., February,
1895.)
BELLANGER _Inv. et Sc._
Signed an allegorical book-plate
for Simon Thomas
Gueulette, the novelist and
farce writer, who died in
1766. (See also H. Bécat.)
BELLEVOYE, ADOLPHE.
Modern.
Mons. Bellevoye, an engraver,
formerly of Metz, afterwards
of Reims. Engraved
a landscape plate for himself,
inscribed: “Bibliothèque
d’Adolphe Bellevoye
de Metz”; also the plates
for Mons. Charles Givelet
and Mons. Anatole Paroissien.
(See “Les Bibliophiles
Rémois,” pp. 91, 101, and
113.)
BERAIN C., 17th cent.
BERGER D., 1786.
BERLIER. 1740.
BERT, J., _à Granmont_. 18th cent.
BERTHAULT _sculp._ 1777.
Ex Museo J. G. R. Boscheron.
Armorial.
BES. 18th cent.
BEUGNET. 1769.
Le Comte de Luzignem.
Armorial.
BIDA, ALEXANDRE. 19th cent.
Designed a book-plate for
Mons. Félix Solar. It was
engraved by M. Pollet.
M. Solar had a second book-plate
engraved by Paul
Chenay.
BIDAULT. 1707.
Nameless armorial, no motto.
BILLÉ. 18th cent.
BINARD, J. Modern.
Ex Bib: Michaelis Chasles.
Engraved label.
BIS, _à Douay_. 18th cent.
BIZÉMONT-PRUNELÉ (André-Gaspard
Parfait, Comte de
Bizémont-Prunelé.)
Signed _Bizémont, sc., London_,
1794 on his ornamental
card: “M. Bizemont, Drawing
Master, 19, Norton
Street, near Portland
Street.” He was then residing
in London as a
political refugee, earning
his living by his talents.
There is a plate, which was
designed and engraved for
him by Ch. Gaucher in 1781,
on which his full names and
title are given.
M. Bizémont-Prunelé also
etched a pictorial plate for
his wife, Marie Catherine
d’Hallot.
J. BLOCQUET, 1672.
The large nameless armorial
plate of Charles Maurice
le Tellier, archevêque de
Reims. (See M. Poulet-Malassis,
page 23.)
BOILY, L.
Nameless armorial. Motto,
“_Sine macula_.”
L. BOISSON _Sc._ (1881.)
Ex-libris C. Sagnier, Juin, 81.
Pictorial.
BONNARD. J. B. H. 17th cent.
E. BONNEJOY _del. et sc._, 1875.
Ex Libris Docteur Bonnejoy.
Pictorial. Motto. “_Salus
ex aquis._” (The Doctor is
a vegetarian, and an abstainer.)
J. BONNETON _scul._ 1888.
J. Bonneton, président du tribunal.
Library interior.
DE BONRECUEILLE. 18th cent.
ED. BOUCHARDON _in. del._
On the plate of Louise le
Daulceur, engraved by herself.
(See also Louise le
Daulceur.) 18th cent.
BOUCHER, FRANCOIS. 18th cent.
Designed the plate, but did
not sign it, for Le Président
Hénault de l’Académie
Française. It was engraved
by the Comte de Caylus.
(See Poulet-Malassis, pp. 28,
33, and 58.)
Ex Libris Joannis Laurentii
Aublé, signed “F. Bouchier
_in._ Pariset _Sc._”
This handsome armorial
plate is reproduced by
Poulet-Malassis, p. 58.
Ex-libris de Crozat, baron de
Thiers. Armorial.
Reproduced by H. Bouchot.
_F. B. inv._ is also found on
the nameless plate of the
Chevalier de Valori, with
J. H. V. (Valori), _scul._
BOUCHY _Sculp._
Steph. Ign., et Joan. Jac.
Michelet fratres, Capellani
S^{ti}. Petri Bisontini 1714.
Signed the following--“Bouchy
_Sculp._ Vesuntione:--”
Ant. Ign. de Camus de Filain,
1732.
Ex Libris Antonii Lengroignet,
1732.
And another plate dated 1739.
BOULLAY, J. 19th cent.
BOULONOIS _fecit_. 18th cent.
Signed the large decorated
armorial “Ex-libris Franc.
Le Vignon Doct. Me. Paris.”
BOURCIER, JEANNE.
Signed _Gra^{e}. de Jeanne Bourcier,
Bar le Duc_, 1760, on
the armorial plate of Antoine
de la Falloize, Seigneur du
Bau de Chaumont.
BOURGEOIS. 18th cent.
BOUTET, HENRI. Modern
Ernest Maindron (a collector).
Ex-libris Catel. Fantaisie.
Motto, “_Nocturna versate
manu, versate diurna_.”
BOUVENNE, AGLAÜS.
Designed and engraved the
following:
Ex-libris Ch. Asselineau, with
the curious enigmatical
motto, “_La femme qui n’est
pas la colombe et le roseau
est un monstre_.” M. Asselinea
had another book-plate
by Braquemond.
He was an employé in the
Bibliothèque Mazarine, and
produced some bibliographical
works. He died
in June, 1874.
Jules Cousin. A punning
plate (a gnat).
A mon cher Edouard Castillon-Aglaüs
Bouvenne, 1882.
Motto, “_Travail liberté_.”
Ex Libris Mario Proth.
(Author and Art Critic.)
Motto, “_Sempre Vagare_.”
Maurice Tourneux. Author
and critic, died in 1867.
Ex Libris Alexis Martin, 1868.
Pictorial.
Théophile Gautier.
Monogram. 1872.
Ex Libris Champfleury, 1874.
Eau-forte.
Ex Libris François Coppée.
Monogram on a lyre.
L. West, 1876.
Library interior.
Victor Hugo. View of the
Towers of Notre Dame,
Paris, 1870.
Octave Uzanne, 1882.
Pictorial. Author and art
critic.
Monogram (for M. Benoit).
Motto, “_Avec le temps_,”
Signed, Agaus (sic) Bouvenne,
_Inv. Sculp._ ’83.
Ex Libris de Madame la
Comtesse de Noë, 1888.
Fantaisie.
For M. Léon Sapin the Bookseller
of the Rue Bonaparte,
Paris, a plate showing an
avenue of fir trees (Sapins)
Signed, _Aglaüs Bouvenne
sc. à l’ami L. Sapin_. (See
“Archives de la Société
Française,” May, 1895.)
BRACQUEMOND _del. et sculp._ on
the cypher book-plate of
Aglaüs Bouvenne, 1875.
Motto, “_Colligebat--quis
perficiet_.”
Mons. Félix Braquemond also
designed the following
plates:
A monogram plate for Paul
Arnauldet, signed B. Motto,
“_Nunquam amicorum_.”
Charles Asselineau.
Philippe Burty.
An allegorical design for
this author, art critic and
collector. Motto, “_Libre et
fidèle_.”
Georges Pouchet.
Edouard Manet, the painter.
With the motto “_Manet
et manebit_.” In the first
state there were accessories
peculiar to the worship of
Priapus, which were removed.
Christophe, the sculptor.
He also designed a plate for
himself. (See Poulet-Malassis,
p. 38.)
BRANCHE. 18th cent.
“Bibliothèque de M. de Villiers
du Terrage, Pr. commis des
Finances.”
This was an armorial
plate, style Louis XVI.,
the owner of which was
a Viscount, yet bore the
coronet of a Marquis. He
survived the revolution,
aristocrat though he was,
and served in the Ministry
of Police, under the first
Empire and the Restoration.
BRASPACHER. 1775.
BRÉANT. 18th cent.
BRENET _fecit_.
Louis Pfyffer de Wyher, Capitaine
aux Gardes Suisses.
Armorial. 18th cent.
Ce livre Appartient à M^r. Le
Maire. Armorial.
R. BRICHET _inv. sculp._
I. Ph. Grauss. Armorial.
Dumont de Valdajou.
Chirurgien. Armorial. 18th
cent. (See reproduction.)
BRIOT, ISAAC. 17th cent.
Signed “Briot” on the plate
of Claude Sarrau, who died
in 1651.
Isaac Briot signed an engraving
of Henri IV. lying in
state, dated 1610.
BROCHERY _fecit_.
J. Hoop. Pictorial plate, no
arms or motto. 18th cent.
BROCHERY, THÉRÈSE.
On the ex-libris of Alexis
Foissey of Dunkirk. Two
states, one with coronet, one
without. 18th cent.
B. H. DE BROCKES.
Clemens Augustus. 1760.
Ecclesiastical.
BRONDES.
“Joannis Baptistae Grenier
Caus. Patroni.” Armorial.
BRUPACHER _fec._
Ex: Lib: Monast: St. Petri.
Montis Majoris 1765.
Armorial. Ecclesiastical.
BUHOT, FELIX. A famous
etcher and book illustrator,
born at Valognes in Normandy,
but now resident in
Paris.
M. Octave Uzanne wrote a
critical account of his works
in “Le Livre” for March,
1888, but no mention is made
of any ex-libris engraved by
him.
BURDET. 19th cent.
BURTY, J. 3 Rue de la V^{le}.
Estrapade.
Lejay, _fils ainé_. Rue St.
Etienne des Grès, 12, Paris.
Landscape.
C. (COMTE DE CAYLUS.)
Engraved the plate designed
by Boucher for Le Président
Hénault de l’Académie
Française. 18th cent.
(See Poulet-Malassis.)
CALLOT, JAQUES. Of Nancy,
died 1635.
I have never heard of an ex-libris
by this famous engraver,
but some may yet be
found, as he had a preference
for fine small work
suitable for this purpose.
CALMETTES, F. 19th cent.
De la Bibliothèque de Madame
Anatole France.
Engraved label.
CARPENTIER, J. B. 18th cent.
CARS, J. F. 18th cent.
CATELIN, J. B. 18th cent.
CATHEY. 18th cent.
CAVA, F. 18th cent.
CHABANY.
De Maridort. Armorial.
CHAPPRON, P. H. MEÛNIER.
Engraved an armorial plate
for himself, dated
(See “Les Bibliophiles
Rémois,” p. 57.)
CHARLES, C.
J. G. F. Chassel, 1792. (See
Warren’s “Guide,” p. 147.)
“C. Charles in.” on a nameless
plate, dated 1739, signed J.
C. Fran^{s}. _sculp._
CHARPENTIER. 1709.
CHAUVEAU, FRANÇOIS. (Died
in 1676.)
Ex-libris de Clerget.
Armorial.
A majestic armorial plate for
Jérôme Bignon, is also attributed
to Chauveau.
CHAUVET, J. Modern.
Ex Libris D. Jouast. (A journalist.)
H. S. Ashbee (of London).
CHEFFER, A. _Grav._ 22, Rue
Dauphine. Modern.
PAUL CHENAY _Sculp._
Ex-libris F. Solar. Modern.
This plate is after a design by
Andrea del Sarto, and was
printed on the catalogue
of the library of M. Solar,
sold in 1860.
Mons. Félix Solar had another
ex-libris, designed by Bida,
and engraved by Pollet.
L. CHENU. F. 1780. Desmaison
invenit.
Ex-Libris Bouju. Armorial.
CHEVALIER. 17th cent.
CHEVALIER _sculp._ 18th cent.
M. L’Abbé Desmarestz. Armorial.
Ecclesiastical.
CHEVRIER, L. Modern.
A nameless etched plate, dated
1875, representing a child
beneath a pile of old books.
CHINON, B. 18th cent.
P. P. CHOFFARD _fecit._
On the plates of De Cursay,
de Landry, etc., 1756.
De Cursay-Thomasseau, 1756.
Ex-libris de Buissy, 1759.
Franc. Jos. Ant. Hell (of Alsace),
1773.
Ex-libris Souchay, Eq^{is}. Lugduni
“C. Monet _del._ P. P.
Choffard, _sculp._ 1776.” This
handsome plate is reproduced
in “Ex-Libris Ana.”
Jean Armand Tronchin, 1779.
Thellusson, 1782. Poulet-Malassis
speaks of Thellusson
as a Prussian Baron,
whereas he was a descendant
of a French Protestant
family, and in 1806 was
created Baron Rendlesham
in the peerage of Ireland.
Andreas de Salis, Curia Rhaetorum.
Pinsot d’Armand.
M. Henri Bouchot reproduces
a lady’s armorial plate,
nameless, engraved by
Choffard, after a design by
Moreau le Jeune.
CHOLLET. 18th cent.
CHOUBARD _sculp._
H. CHRISTOPHE _Lith. Nancy._
Ex Libris A. Benoit, Berthelmingen,
1894.
Ex Libris Francisci de Chanteau.
L. CHRISTOPHE _Nancy_, 1852.
M. Ch. de Beauminy.
Armorial; literary.
CLOUZIER, A. 18th cent.
COCHIN, CHARLES NICOLAS.
Known as _Cochin fils._ 18th
cent.
He signed a nameless plate
_Cochin inv._ 1750. (De Lafosse,
sc.)
Also a nameless armorial
plate for the Abbé Leblanc.
_C. Cochin filius inv._ (C. O.
Galimard, _sculp._), and another
for Poisson de Marigny,
dated 1752.
He also designed an armorial
plate for the Marquise de
Pompadour. (See Poulet-Malassis,
p. 60.)
C. N. C. _d._ (_Cochin fils._)
Ex Libris Le Vassor de la
Touche. (See J. Ingram.)
L. P. C. _inv._
On the plate of L. P. Couraud,
also signed _Henry-André
del. et sc._
Mons. Couraud also designed
an armorial plate for himself.
COCHON, J. Modern.
Ex Libris M. Descoutures.
COLE. 18th cent.
J. COLIN. 1685.
COLINET _fecit._ 18th cent.
M. Thierry de Villedavray.
Armorial.
COLLARD. 18th cent.
COLLIN, DOMINIQUE (known as
Collin père). 18th cent.
This famous engraver was
born at Mirécourt, in Lorraine,
in 1725. He first
studied engraving under a
goldsmith in Metz, and
afterwards under Jean
Striedbeck of Strasburg.
In 1752 Collin married and
settled in Nancy, where he
soon acquired a reputation,
and was named engraver to
the town, and also to the
King of Poland, Stanislas,
Duc de Lorraine et de Bar.
He died in Nancy, December
21st, 1781. He produced
more than 300 engravings,
on many of which he signed
himself “graveur du feu roi
de Pologne.”
A catalogue of his works was
given by Mons. le Conseiller
Beaupré in “Les Mémoires
de la Société d’Archéologie
Lorraine,” and a supplemental
list, drawn up by
Mons. A. Benoit, with illustrations,
appeared in the
“Archives de la Société
Française,” April, 1895.
His son, Yves Dominique
Collin, also worked on
book-plates, and, judging
by the few known examples
of his work, would probably
have surpassed his
father, but, unfortunately,
his career was brief. He
was born in Nancy, in February,
1753, and died in the
same city on April 26th,
1792. He signed his plates
_Y. D. Collin, fils._
The following is a list of the
known book-plates of Dominique
Collin; his mode of
signature varied, and he
spelt his name Collin or
Colin indifferently.
Bourgeois.
Des Salles.
Du Perron.
Aubrussel.
Charles, Comte de Lavaux, etc.
Lespée.
Maillart.
Mengin.
Regnard de Gironcourt.
Riston. (See reproduction.)
Bibliothèque de Mr. J.
Anthoine. (Very rare plate.)
Armorial. Library interior.
Hr. M. B. Bach. Armorial;
signed _D. Colin fecit_, 1747.
Reproduced in the “Archives
de la Société Française,”
April, 1895, as the
earliest known dated ex-libris
engraved by Collin
in Alsace.
Nameless armorial, dated 1748.
Friedrich Alexander Freyherr
von Schell. Signed _D. Colin
fecit_, 1751.
Nameless armorial, with supporters,
1750.
Bibliotècque de Mr. Héré.
1752. Armorial; pictorial.
(See reproduction.)
Nameless armorial, dated
1754.
Sirejean Fils. 1754.
Armorial; pictorial.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF M. HERÉ.]
M. Thibault, Conseiller
d’Etat, Procureur Général
de la Chambre des Comptes.
1756. Signed _Collin sculp.
Nanceii_.
Bibliothèque de R. Willemet.
Mtre. Apothicaire a Nancy.
Pictorial. Signed _Collin,
graveur du feu Roi de Pologne,
duc de Lorraine_.
Le Comte de Carvoisin.
Armorial.
Y. C. Monogram on a cartouche,
signed _à Nancy par
Collin graveur du feu Roi
de Pologne_. A very scarce
example. Reproduced in
“Archives de la Société
Française,” May, 1895.
A nameless armorial, dated
1756. (Millet de Chevers.)
Bibliothèque de D. Laflize,
Maitre en Chirurgie à
Nancy. 1768.
Another plate of D. la Flize,
Doct. en Médecine, with a
different inscription, and not
dated.
Two plates for M. Thouvenin,
Consr. du Roy. 1769.
Ex-libris Ant. Jeanjean, Can.
ad St. Pet., etc.
Le Chanoine Jeanjean
died about 1791. (See
“Archives de la Société
Française,” July, 1895.)
COLLIN, Y. D. 18th cent.
Yves Dominique Collin fils
(son of the preceding).
Aubert, 1787.
Malvoisin, abbé commendataire
de Sainte Sauve
(Amiens), 1785.
Also a nameless armorial, not
dated, which is reproduced
in the “Archives de la
Société Française” for
April, 1895.
COLLIN, _à Reims._ 17th cent.
COLLIN, J. 18th cent.
COLOT. 18th cent.
COMPANON _deli._
Mondolet. Armorial.
COQUARDON. 18th cent.
CORDIER. 18th cent.
CORLET _fecit._
Nicolas Jean Baudelot,
Capitaine des Bombardiers
du Roy. Armorial. 18th
cent.
COUPEAU, CH. G.
A. J. S. Armorial; pictorial.
J. DE COURBES _fecit._
Nameless armorial. Motto,
“_In manus tuas Domine
sortes meae._” 17th cent.
COURBOIN, FRANÇOIS. Modern.
P. G. Audigier.
Ex Libris G. Bourcard.
Fantaisie.
Monsieur F. Buhot. Fantaisie.
Ex Libris G. de Gayffier.
(Poet.) Armorial.
CH. COURTRY. _Aqua forti_, 1894.
On the portrait plate of Henry
André.
COUTELLIER _sculp._
Nameless armorial plate, no
motto. 18th cent.
CROISEY _sculp._ 18th cent.
Mérard de Saint-Just.
Armorial, with supporters.
Motto, “_L’Honneur et
l’Amour._” Reproduced in
“Ex-Libris Ana.”
CYS, A. T. (See Adrien Théry,
à Cisoing.)
DANCHIN _à Cambray_. 18th
cent.
Ex Libris De Warenghien de
Flory. Armorial.
Domini de Wavrechin.
Armorial; pictorial.
DAPSOL, _fecit._
De la Bibliothèque de Mr.
Milange de St. Genez. 1787.
Armorial.
Denis Gilbert Rouher, Abbé
du Chapitre d’Artonne, Curé
de Chaptuzat, 1787.
Armorial; ecclesiastical.
L. DARDEL, _sculp._ Modern.
The armorial plate of Mons.
Anatole de Barthélemy,
membre honoraire de
l’Académie de Reims.
Motto, “_Quod natura dedit
tollere nemo potest._”
Reproduced in “Les Bibliophiles
Rémois,” p. 90.
DAUDIN.
Michaeli Begon et amicis.
1702. (See reproduction.)
DAULCEUR, LOUISE. (See Le
Daulceur.)
DAVID. 18th cent.
DEBEY, F.
Biblioth. D. D. de Fréval.
Armorial. 18th cent.
DECACHÉ. 18th cent.
DEJEAN. 18th cent.
DELAFOSSE _sculpsit._ 1751.
Nameless library interior for
the Académie de Nancy.
Motto, “_Animum censoris
sumet honesti._” Designed
by H. Gravelot.
He also engraved a nameless
armorial, designed by Cochin
fils in 1750.
DE LA GARDETTE _fecit._
Designed and engraved the
armorial--“_De la Bibliothèque
de M. Lavoisier de
l’Académie Royale des Sciences,
regisseur des Poudres
et Salpetres de France. F^{er}
General du Roy._”
Armorial, coronet of count,
and supporters. The title of
“Fermier Général du Roy”
cost this man of science his
life; he was guillotined,
May 7, 1794.
This plate, in pure Louis
XVI. style, was reproduced
by Poulet-Malassis.
DELAITRE. 18th cent.
A library interior plate, having
the inscription “D. D. LE
LEU D’AUBILLY, _dicat qui
gratitud coelo sculp Delaitre_.”
Beneath the design is a
small shield, bearing azur,
a chevron or, between
three wolves’ heads. The
D’Aubilly is an old-established
Rémois family, to
whom the artist was under
obligations.
This interesting plate is
reproduced in “Les Bibliophiles
Rémois,” p. 103.
DELARBRE. 18th cent.
DELATRE, CH. Modern.
Ex-libris Alberti Metzger,
Milhusini. Armorial. (See
reproduction.)
DE LAUNAY _le jeune sculp._
1779, on the armorial _Ex
Libris Duché_, designed by
P. Marillier. (See reproduction.)
DELAUNEY. 19th cent.
Donné à la Bibliothèque de
la Ville de Paris, par----
MDCCC.
Armorial; pictorial.
DELCOURT _fils, à Tournay._
18th cent.
P. DELOYSI _sc._ 17th cent.
On the handsome nameless
armorial plate of Pierre
Sarragoz, of Besançon, who
died in 1649. Reproduced
in “Ex-Libris Ana.”
Pierre Deloysi, styled _Le
Vieux_, was a goldsmith and
coin engraver in Besançon.
Engravings by him are
now very rare.
DELTEIL, LOYS. Modern.
D’ELVAUX _Sc._
On a nameless plate designed
by Monnet. 18th cent.
D’EMBRUN. 18th cent.
DEMENGEOT, C. 19th cent.
Signed, “_Inv. & Sculpt._” on
the library interior, inscribed
“_Bibliothèque de Francisque
Sarcey_.”
DE MEUSE. 18th cent.
DEMILLE, M. 19th cent.
DE MONCHI.
“Papillon minoris.” Canting
arms.
DENISZARD, _inv. et sculps._
On the ecclesiastical plate of
P. N. Vingtdeux, a priest
bibliophile of the eighteenth
century. (See “Les Bibliophiles
Rémois,” p. 85.)
DEROND _f._
A. Leguien. Decorated
shield.
DEROND, J. 18th cent.
DESCAVES, A. 19th cent.
DESMAISON _invenit_, 1780. _L.
Chenu, f._
Ex-Libris Bouju. Armorial.
DESNOYERS. 19th cent.
DEUNEL _Sculp._ 1767.
On a nameless plate having
the Grimaldi arms. This
might have belonged to
Charles Maurice Grimaldi,
chevalier de Monaco, comte
de Valentinois, who died in
1790. Motto: “_Deo Juvante._”
DEVAMBEZ, _Graveur à Paris._
Auguste Vincent. (Musical
Composer.) Design, musical
instruments. Modern.
L. P. Couraud.
Bibliothèque de Charles Monselet.
Library interior.
(See reproduction.)
DIEU, A. 18th cent.
Designed the handsome monogram
and trophy ex-libris
of Louis XV., which was
engraved by J. Audran.
DIGOUT, NICOLAS. Modern.
Bibliothèque de Madame
Chavernac. Motto: “_To
kill time or amend, I am
a ready friend._” Armorial;
pictorial.
A. DOCAIGNE _fecit_, 1762.
Le Commissaire Laumonier.
Armorial.
D’ORVASY, _à Nancy_. 18th
cent.
DOYEN. 18th cent.
DREER. 18th cent.
DREVET, C. 18th cent.
F. GUMBERT DROZ _fecit._
On the armorial plate of
Philipe de Reynold. 1730.
(Possibly Swiss.)
DUDOUT. Or Dudouit.
De Flaghac, Capne. de Dragons.
1779. Armorial.
Motto, “_Laudate anima
mea Dominum._”
DUFLOCQ. 18th cent.
CL. DUFLOS _sculpsit._
On a handsome armorial plate
(after a design by Sebastien
Le Clerc) in 1701 for Geoffroy,
ancien grand garde du
corps des Apothicaires de
Paris.
“_Matthaeus Franciscus Geoffroy,
Pharmacopoeorum
Parisiensium antiquior
Praefectus, aedilis et consul._”
Motto, “_Turris fortissima
Deus._”
DUFOUR-BOUQUOT. 19th cent.
DUMONT. Modern.
A landscape with initials A.
D. (Mons. A. Duriez.) 1893.
DU PALLUET. 18th cent.
DUPLAIS-DESTOUCHES. 1890.
Bibliothèque du Docteur Félix
Durosier.
Punning armorial.
DUPLESSIS. 18th cent.
DUPONT _del. et sculp._
Ex Libris A. Kuhnholtz
Lordat. Armorial; pictorial.
Modern.
DUPRÉ, J. R. 18th cent.
DURAND. 18th cent.
M^r. de Fenille. Armorial.
“George M^{quis} de Massol de
Serville. L^{ant} Colonel de
Ca^{vrie}. Fils a Guillaume
L^{ant} General des armés
du Roy.” Armorial.
Carolus de Brasses, Comes
Tornaci, etc. (who died in
1777).
Two armorial plates, similar
in design, but having different
inscriptions. (See “Les
Archives de la Société Française,”
January, 1896.)
See A. Aveline for more details.
Ex-libris Thomassin.
Armorial.
Mr. De D’Alleray. Pictorial.
J. L. Ainard de Clermont-Tonnere.
Abbatis, etc.
Armorial; ecclesiastical.
A. DURAND, Paris.
Dacquet. Pictorial.
This appears to be an old
design re-engraved.
Reproduced by Poulet-Malassis,
p. 3, 2nd edition.
He considers the design to
be of Flemish origin.
DURAND, D. V. 18th cent.
Named by Poulet-Malassis.
DURAND, _à Lyon_. 19th cent.
Named by Poulet-Malassis.
DURAND. _Lith. Melun._
Ex Libris P. Guiraudi, 1680-1880.
With the arms of
Renaud, Genas, and Comte
de Balincourt. Motto,
“_Da laborem dabo fructus_.”
DURIG _Sc._
Magon de Terlaye. Armorial.
DURIG, _à Lille_. 18th cent.
Seraphin Malfait. Negociant
à Lille. Pictorial.
DUSEIGNEUR, A. 19th cent.
DUSSIGMERT, M. 1874.
EISEN, CHARLES.
Mde. d’Arconville. C. Eisen
_del._ Louise Le Daulceur
_sculp, et in._
à M. d’Arconville. 1749. A
pictorial plate designed by
Louise Le Daulceur.
A nameless plate of M. de
Monteynard (see Poulet-Malassis
pp. 28, 61), engraved
by Le Mire.
_Ch. Eisen invenit,_ on the
nameless armorial of the
Bishop Choiseul-Beaupré;
_C. Eisen del._ on a nameless
plate, dated 1749, and engraved
by R. Strange; and
_Eisen inv._ on a nameless
plate bearing the arms of
the Marquis de Paulmy.
It was to this marquis that
Eisen dedicated his work
entitled “_Œuvre suivie
contenant différents sujets de
décorations et d’ornements,
etc._” This contained many
heraldic designs, cartouches
and decorative garlands,
from which the engravers
of his time frequently borrowed
hints for the ornamentation
of their heraldic
ex-libris.
ETIOLES.
M^{r}. P. L. N. Meulan.
Armorial.
FASSOLE, C. H. Strasbourg.
Modern.
Albert Richard. Pictorial.
FAUGRAND. 18th cent.
FAURE. 18th cent.
FAYS. 1784.
De la Bibliothèque de Mr.
Fays. Par son fils en 1784.
Armorial.
FÉRIET, A. DE (Nancy).
A. Bretagne. Directeur des
contributions directes. Nancy.
Pictorial. Modern.
Signed, _H. Christophe, exc._
Ex-libris Francisci de Chanteau.
Armorial; pictorial.
Signed, _H. Christophe, exc.
Nancy_.
Leon Germain. Nancy.
Pictorial.
FERRAND _Sculp._ 1730.
Michel, Comte de Faultrières,
Exempt des Gardes
du Corps, etc. Armorial.
Motto, “_Tendre et Feal_.”
(See reproduction.)
ET. FESSARD _sculp._ 1737.
On the plate of Jacobus Henricus
Tribourdet, designed
by H. Gravelot.
C. FICHOR _del._ 1874. Ad Varin _sc._
Bibliothèque du comte de
Lavaur de Ste. Fortunade.
Armorial.
FLAMEL, NICOLAS.
M. Henri Bouchot reprints
a plate designed by this
artist for the Duc de Berry
in fifteenth century style.
FLAMEN, A. B. 17th cent.
Guillaume Tronson. Motto,
“_Virtuti non divitiis_.” (See
Poulet-Malassis, p. 22.)
FLAMENG, LÉOPOLD. 19th cent.
Produced ex-libris for the bibliophile
Pierre Deschamps,
and for the Docteur Gérard
Piogey.
FLIPART. 18th cent.
FONBONNE, M^{lle}. 18th cent.
De Hansy, à Paris, 1768.
Library interior.
FONTANALS _Dijon_, 1809.
FORNET _Lith._ 1893. (Alsatian.)
On the armorial plate of
Edmund Engelmann, of
Mulhouse.
Printed in colours, see “Les
Archives de la Société
Française,” Juillet, 1894.
FOUGERON _sculp._
Pembroke Society. Allegorical.
FOUQUET. 18th cent.
FROBEN.
_Symbolum Conradi Lycosthenis._
(Before 1561; the earliest
known Alsatian ex-libris.)
See “Les Ex-Libris Alsaciens.”
J. C. FRAN^{s}, _scul._ _Nanceii C.
Charles in. 1739._
On a nameless French plate,
no motto. (_J. C. François_,
of Nancy.)
A. FRANÇOIS _sculp._ 1827.
On a nameless armorial; no
motto.
GAGNEUX, P. 17th cent.
C. O. GALIMARD _sculp._
On a nameless armorial, designed
by C. Cochin fils,
for the Abbé Leblanc, and
on another, with the arms
of Poisson de Marigny, also
designed by Cochin, and
dated 1752.
GALLAUDET, E.
John Chambers, Esq.
Chippendale; armorial.
GAMOT, JOS. 18th cent.
GANHY, J. B. DE. 18th cent.
GARDETTE. (See De la Gardette.)
GAUCHER, CH. _De l’Académie
des Arts de Londres._
Charles-Etienne Gaucher
was a pupil of Basan, and
Le Bas, and famous as an
engraver of portraits.