ENGLISH 'PICTURE' BOOK-PLATES
IN turning now to consider English book-plates which show us, apart from
the heraldry upon them, things wholly real, we find much that is
interesting. First, we have 'Portrait' book-plates, those which, either
combined with heraldry or entirely without it, show us the features of
the owner of the volume. There are but few of such book-plates, but they
are so interesting that we shall speak of them by themselves later on
(pp. 216-220); they are common to all periods, and the fashion of using
them has increased lately.
Then we have book-plates in which books themselves--book piles or book
shelves--are the predominating feature in the design; with these, Sir
Arthur Vicars, in the pages of the _Ex Libris Journal_, has dealt
exhaustively. Though the book-plates which show us library interiors
would seem naturally to come into this class of examples, I have been
forced to except the majority of them, and to speak of them in the
previous chapter, as being in nearly every case at least tinged with
allegory. Even in the _sanctum_ of a doctor of divinity, Cupid frolics
about as happy, and as busy, as in a maiden's boudoir. Still there are a
few 'Library Interiors' entirely free from allegory. Take, for instance,
the book-plate of Sir Robert Cunliffe. Here we have the interior of a
library with a window to the right. Every ornament is thoroughly
'Chippendale' in character; the legs of the table, the cartouche (which
contains the name), the shield, and the woodwork surrounding the window.
On the table is a globe, upon a stand, the supports of which terminate
in Chippendale scrolls, an inkstand with a pen on it, and two books, one
closed, and the other open. There are numbers of books confusedly
disposed on the shelves, the ceiling of the room is plain, and there is
only a plain line for a cornice. The arms occupy the centre of the
plate, and appear to be suspended in mid-air, the foot of one of the
scrolls only resting on the table.
Again, the book-plates of 'The Manchester Subscription Library,' 'The
Manchester Circulating Library,' and 'The Rochdale Circulating Library'
all show interiors of libraries, but free from allegoric inmates. These
three book-plates are nearly identical. There are shelves of books at
the sides, a tiled floor, a table in the foreground, a panelled ceiling
with a cornice; and, at the end of the room, perhaps a passage. There is
a round arch containing a window of three lights, the centre one having
a round top. The general appearance of the room is classical Very
similar is the book-plate of the Liverpool Library. Here we have a
complicated Chippendale bookcase, with ten columns upon square bases,
and ornamental capitals of no particular style. The shelves are filled
with books, and the two central divisions of the bookcase are all
cupboards. In the centre of the case, among Chippendale scrolls, is the
crest of the town, and below the central division of the bookcase are
the words 'Liverpool Library' in two lines. Below the whole is a large
cartouche, in the same style as the rest of the plate, inscribed,
'Allowed for reading . . . . days. Forfeiture, . . . d. per day.' Mr.
J. Paul Rylands, in his interesting _Notes on Book-Plates_, tells us
that this library, now the Lyceum, was founded on the 1st of May 1758;
the book-plate was, no doubt, engraved soon afterwards, as all the
ornamentation introduced is certainly 'Chippendale.' So, too, is that on
the book-plate engraved by John Pine in 1750, which the Benchers of
Gray's Inn used for their volumes. Here a shell-shaped shield, bearing
the arms of the 'Learned and Honourable Society,' is apparently fastened
on to a background of book-shelves filled with books. So much for the
'Library Interiors.' The arrangement of the volumes in the other
book-plates in which books form the chief feature of decoration, is
generally like that shown opposite in the book-plate of William Hewer, a
Commissioner of the Navy, and the friend and secretary of Samuel Pepys.
How the scroll, on which are either the owner's arms or his name, is
supported, is not clear.
[Illustration]
The book-plate of Sir Philip Sydenham, dated 1699, when he was, as he
tells us, twenty-three years of age, offers another interesting example
of the Book-Pile design; Sir Philip shows us his coat of arms on the
face of the scroll, on the lower roll of which, in very small letters,
is written the inscription. Apparently neither this nor any of his other
book-plates completely satisfied him, for during the remaining forty
years of his life he had more than half-a-dozen different plates
designed, and nearly all of these are found in various 'states.' There
are, Mr. Fincham tells me, some sixteen varieties of Sir Philip's
book-plate; many of his books are now in Sion College Library. In the
book-plate of White Kennett, who filled the See of Peterborough from
1718 to 1728, we see how the emblems of episcopacy are treated when
introduced into book-plates of this type. White Kennett had other
book-plates; the rarest and earliest, engraved when he was at college,
is in the 'Simple Armorial' style. These 'Book-Pile' plates appear at
intervals down to the close of the century, and the style has been
recently revived by book-plate designers; it is simple and certainly
appropriate. The approximate date of each example may be generally
gathered from the shape of the shield containing the arms, or the style
of decoration around it.
We have yet to speak of by far the most numerous class of those English
book-plates, which may be properly brought into our second division of
'Picture' book-plates--I mean the examples which represent upon them a
landscape, either real or imaginary. The real landscapes represented
have, of course, some direct reference to the plate; being a view,
either of the owner's house, his park, his parish church, his town or
village, of some particular spot in the immediate vicinity of his
residence, or of some incident connected with his career or
occupation--be it business, profession, or pleasure. For instance,
Horace Walpole, in one of his book-plates, shows us a view of his
'Palace of Varieties' at Strawberry Hill (see p. 106). Again, Thomas
Gosden, the angler sportsman and collector of angling literature,
introduces into his book-plate all sorts of angling and sporting gear,
even to a capacious whisky flask. 'The Hon^{ble} Robert Henry Southwell,
Lieut. 1st Regiment of Horse, 1767,' flanks his shield with various
kinds of military weapons and trophies; whilst 'Captain William Locker,
Royal Navy,' shows us the swelling bosom of a man-of-war 'foretop
gallant' sail, on which is figured his coat of arms.
We will speak first of those book-plates on which the landscape is real,
and we will call them 'View' plates. Probably the earliest of these is
the very interesting one (see p. 105), which was engraved by Mynde about
1770 for the Library of the Public Record Office, then in the Tower of
London; here we have a remarkably faithful representation of the
historic building. The date at which the Tower book-plate was probably
engraved adds to its interest. Plates in this style hardly appear at all
before 1778 or 1780, and do not become common till five or six years
later.
The book-plate of 'Peter Muilman of King S^{t.}, London, and Kirby Hall,
Castle Hedingham, Essex,' is one which, I think, may be classed among
'View' plates, since the ruins depicted on it have certainly the
appearance of having been sketched from the remains of some feudal
stronghold, perhaps from Castle Hedingham itself. In front of the ruins
is a wooded lawn, on which two robust cupids are wrestling for the
Muilman escutcheon. Kirby Hall is not shown: no doubt this was a
comfortable Georgian house round the corner, where Peter and his family
spent their summer holidays away from the bustle and smoke of King
Street. Presumably, the ruins of the castle were left standing in the
park for ornament's sake, to give a tone of feudalism to the Muilman
domain, whose owner, save by his book-plate, is not known to fame. The
plate was engraved by Terry of Paternoster Row, probably about 1775, so
that this again is an early example of its kind.
[Illustration]
Among other notable specimens of these 'View' book-plates may be
mentioned that which Pye, a Birmingham engraver, executed for 'T. W.
Greene' of Lichfield. Here we have an oval-shaped shield, bearing the
arms of Greene, resting against a tree-stump. In the distance is a
river, and Lichfield Cathedral. Later on, Pye engraved a very similar
book-plate for another Lichfield man--an attorney named Nicholson, who
went to live at Stockport. This shows Nicholson's residence on the
margin of a sheet of water. The arms rest against a shattered oak-tree.
A local view--one of Darlington--also appears on the book-plate of
George Allen, who describes himself as of that town.
Collectors are wont to reckon as the most interesting example of a view
book-plate the vignette of Horace Walpole's house at Strawberry Hill,
with his arms hanging on a shield from a withered tree. Mr. Wheatley,
however, who is inclined to attribute the design to Walpole's friend,
Bentley, has suggested (_Bibliographica_, vol. iii. p. 88) that the
vignette was never used as a book-plate, but was exclusively reserved as
a kind of printer's device for the adornment of the books printed at the
Strawberry Hill Press. Sir Wollaston Franks has four varieties of the
vignette, one engraved on wood and three on copper; and I have certainly
seen at least one of them doing duty as a book-plate, but whether
rightfully or not it is impossible to say.
Modern examples of View book-plates were, till quite recently, rare. One
of the quaintest is furnished by that used by the late Dr. Kendrick of
Warrington, and engraved for him in 1855; here we have a view of the
doctor's town as it was in 1783 and a picture of a 'loyal Warrington
Volunteer' of 1798. Quite a useful historical print!
Now let me say a word about the Picture book-plates on which the
landscape is a fancy one. Prominent amongst these is that of 'Gilbert
Wakefield,' which shows us a pretty scene: a stag stoops to drink from a
rivulet that trickles through a wood. Very much later in date is a
charming vignette, representing a rock, over which a stream of water
trickles and sparkles as it falls into a pool below. Ferns and flags
grow in the pool. The book-plate belonged to Joseph Priestley, and on
that account we mention it after Wakefield's. Priestley was quite as
bitter a Dissenter and as ardent a controversialist as Gilbert
Wakefield, though it is more as a man of science that most people
remember him. His name is so intimately associated with Birmingham
politics at the time of the French Revolution, that the fact of his
book-plate being engraved by a Birmingham man--it is signed 'Allen sct.
Birming^{m}'--becomes the more interesting, and enables us to assign the
engraving to a marked period in the owner's life--the time when his
friendship with Lord Shelburne began to cool, and when, settling down at
Birmingham, he began work on his _History of the Corruptions of
Christianity_. James Yates, who edited Priestley's collected works, used
the same book-plate, after altering the name upon it.
Another delightfully rural scene is depicted on the book-plate of 'John
Hews Bransby.' His motto reads, _Breve et irreparabile tempus_; and he
shows a rustic landscape, in which the figures represented have
evidently learnt the truth of the assertion. The sower scatters seed,
the ploughboy is engaged with his team,--all are making the most of
their time, yet there is no sign of hurry or bustle. The day is fine,
but clouds hover in the sky. On the left, a cottage nestles in the
trees, and the smoke from its chimney tells of the housewife within
preparing a meal for those who are earning it by their labour without.
So much for landscapes having direct reference to the book-plates on
which they appear. Often, however, the landscape is purely a fancy one,
as that on the book-plate of Gregory Louis Way. A river flows through
fields, and beside it sits an armour-coated knight, who is either
wearied with the fight, or bowed down by the fickleness of his lady. His
shield rests beside him, and on it are depicted the arms of Way. The
moon sheds upon the scene what light she is able, but the sky is
overcast and stormy.
I must not close this chapter without reference to the book-plates
produced by Thomas Bewick, many of which are familiar enough--as
examples of Bewick's art--to those who know little about book-plates,
and do not collect them. His are certainly for the most part 'Landscape'
plates; but I do not know whether to class them with these examples of
'View' book-plates, or with those which I have christened 'Fancy
Landscapes.' They were chiefly engraved for northern book-owners, but
one can hardly say that the particular bit of scenery on each--though,
doubtless, in most cases drawn from nature--has any special
applicability to the owner. I will therefore speak here of Bewick's
book-plates as forming a class by themselves. His first was prepared for
Thomas Bell, and is dated 1797, so that it is inaccurate to speak of
Bewick as the originator of the Landscape style in book-plates; he found
the style already followed by many engravers, and his taste and skill
brought it to perfection. The Bell plate is not uncommon, as the books
for which it was engraved were sold in 1860. It shows, in the foreground
of a landscape, an oval shield, inscribed 'T. Bell, 1797,' and resting
against a decayed tree. In the distance are trees, and above them rises
the tower of St. Nicholas's Church, in Newcastle--a favourite object
with Bewick. It is also introduced by Ralph Beilby into the book-plate
of Brand, the antiquary.
Out of the hundred or so book-plates designed or engraved by Bewick, it
is difficult to know which to select for comment; but from the interest
which attaches to its owner, that of Robert Southey (figured on p. 111)
suggests itself. Here we have a rock, thickly crowned with shrubbery,
from which a stream of water falls into a brook below. Against the face
of the rock leans an armorial shield, bearing the Southey arms--a
chevron between three crosses crosslet. On the ground to the right of
the shield, and in contact with it, is the helmet, supporting on a
wreath the crest--an arm vested and couped at the elbow, holding in the
hand a crossed crosslet. Across the sinister chief corner of the shield,
and trailing thence to the ground, is thrown the riband bearing the
motto _In labore quies_. The date of the book-plate is probably about
1810.
Not only Newcastle itself, but the whole line of country along the river
thence to Tynemouth, seems to have been Bewick's sketching ground, and
many of his sketches he used for book-plates. Jarrow and Tynemouth
itself were particularly favourite spots. Of the latter place his views
were mostly taken from the sea, and afford us delightful pictures of
water, shipping, and the ruins of Tynemouth Priory. The book-plate of
'Charles Charlton, M.D.,' is one of these.
[Illustration: SOUTHEY'S BOOK-PLATE BY BEWICK.]
A great many of the ordinary bits of landscape which Bewick used for
book-plates he afterwards utilised as tailpieces for various books
illustrated by him. The book-plate of the 'Rev. H. Cotes, Vicar of
Bedlington, 1802,' which shows us the reverend gentleman busily engaged
in fishing, doubtless a favourite sport with him, is an instance of this
diverted use; but in this case we know the history of the plate. Mr.
Cotes had practically edited the artist's second volume of _British
Birds_, and, as a slight return, Bewick prepared for him the book-plate
in question; but, owing to a subsequent quarrel, the artist never gave
the parson the block, turning it instead to his own account.
There are a great many more copper-plate book-plates by Bewick than is
generally supposed. One of the most elaborate is that of 'Buddle
Atkinson,' which represents a bubbling trout-stream, into which an
angler casts his line: in the foreground is a crest enclosed in a
shield. Other copper-plate work by Bewick is found in the book-plates of
'Edward Moises, A.M.'--a shield of arms, with books, pens, artists'
tools of all kinds, and musical instruments; 'James Charlton' and 'A.
Clapham'--Tyneside scenes; 'J. H. Affleck, Newcastle-upon-Tyne'--a
shield of arms, in the midst of flowers and foliage; 'Tho^{s} Carr,
Newcastle'--a spring of water flowing from a rock; and some few others.
Examples of the more unusual designs in Bewick's book-plates, _i.e._
those in which scenery is not depicted, are found in the book-plates of
'John Anderson, St. Petersburgh'--a sportsman on horseback, which was
afterwards utilised as a vignette in _British Birds_; 'Mr. Bigges'--a
figure of liberty; 'Alex^{r} Doeg, shipbuilder'--a just-completed ship,
still standing on the stocks; and several others, which simply show the
shield of arms and owner's name.
One reason why Bewick was so successful as an engraver of book-plates
lay in the fact that his ability was most conspicuous in a small design.
The work of such men as Hogarth or Bartolozzi seems cramped when it
appears on the small scale which alone a book-plate can admit; but with
Bewick, the smaller the size of the scene he desired to represent, the
greater was his skill in introducing into it both originality and
beauty.