THE BOOK-PLATES OF FRANCE AND OTHER COUNTRIES
FRANCE, so far as a generally descriptive account of her book-plates is
concerned, is certainly more fortunate than her neighbour Germany.
French book-plates received attention, in the shape of a capital work
upon them, before those of any other country were similarly honoured. M.
Poulet Malassis's _Les Ex libris Français_ made its first appearance in
1874, and bears evident testimony to the fact that the author had for
many years previously made an attentive study of his native book-plates.
Since the appearance of M. Poulet Malassis's work, book-plate collecting
in France, as well as in other countries, has been vigorously carried
on, and earlier examples of dated French book-plates than those then
known have come to light. The most ancient of these is one dated 1574
(the same year, it will be noted, as that of the plate of Sir Nicholas
Bacon), but it is simply typographical, having no kind of design
whatever. It reads: 'Ex bibliotheca Caroli Albosii E. Eduensis. Ex
labore quies.' No Armorial book-plate bearing an engraved date appears
in France until thirty-seven years later, when we, at last, meet with
that of Alexandre Bouchart, Vicomte de Blosséville, engraved by Léonard
Gaultier, and, in the copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale, dated 1611. A
variety of this book-plate, undated, unsigned, and probably not by the
same hand, exists in the collection of Sir Wollaston Franks. The field
in the Bouchart arms is gules, though the lines shown in the engraving
of the undated plate would, according to the present system, represent
it as azure (see remarks on this point at p. 22). After the Bouchart
book-plate, we have, in 1613, that of Melchior de la Vallée, Canon of
Nancy, given by M. Poulet Malassis as dated in 1611, and then, in 1644,
a roughly-executed anonymous book-plate signed 'Raigniauld Riomi, 1644.'
The arms are untinctured, and leaflike mantling falling from the helmet
surrounds the shield; there is no crest. Raigniauld--or, as the modern
spelling of the name is, Regnault--is not a known engraver. Riomi is an
old-fashioned town of Auvergne.
Other French book-plates of the seventeenth century, both dated and
undated, exist; but France is undeniably behind Germany both in the
number of her early book-plates and in their beauty; for instance, we do
not in France find those numerous book-plates of ecclesiastical
corporations which so much swell the list of early German examples. The
subject of French ecclesiastical book-plates has, indeed, received
special treatment from Father Ingold, himself a French ecclesiastic; and
he is compelled to admit that such book-plates are not numerous and not
ancient. The old way seems to have been for the monastic official in
charge of the convent library to inscribe each volume with some
appropriate inscription. These are in themselves interesting; but
book-plate lovers must regret the existence of the fashion. The earliest
French ecclesiastical book-plates belong to the middle of the eighteenth
century, and, like the 1574 example already noticed, they are mere
typographical labels, possessing little more artistic merit than is
usually displayed in a post-mark.
With regard, however, to the book-plates of ecclesiastical individuals,
the case is different; some of them engraved during the seventeenth
century are ambitious and interesting. A particularly quaint example is
found in the book-plate which an Annecy engraver, named Sinton, executed
for Charles de Sales, the energetic labourer in the cause of religion,
brother of St. Francis de Sales, and his successor in the Bishopric of
Annecy. Lord De Tabley thus describes the book-plate:--'The family arms
are shown in a shield, which appears very gigantic, in a frame of heavy
curves, which is set in the centre of a huge sideboard-like monumental
structure. On the top ledges of this, two full-grown, long-skirted
angels, seated right and left, uphold the episcopal hat (with its usual
knotted ropes and tassels) in air above the escutcheon.
'At the base of the structure, to the right, appears a figure of St.
Francis de Sales, seated, holding an olive branch in one hand, while
beneath his other arm is a profuse cluster of fruit. To the left, also
seated, is a portrait of St. Jane Frances De Chantal, holding a
palm-branch, also with fruit beneath her other arm. Each portrait is
realistic, and not in the least flattered. Between them is a medallion
bearing the crossed papal keys.'
The probable date of this very curious book-plate is 1642. It appears
earlier, but this may be accounted for by the fact that the work is
provincial. Students will do well to remember that provincially executed
book-plates, English or foreign, are often misleading in this respect.
There is a somewhat elaborate book-plate, engraved in several sizes, and
dated in 1692, which introduces the cardinal's hat, mitre, and crozier,
and which was prepared to place in the books given by Dr. Peter Daniel
Huet to the Paris Jesuits. Huet is himself an interesting figure in
French literature. In 1670 he was made tutor to the Dauphin, and whilst
so employed he assisted in bringing out the sixty-two volumes of
classics, specially prepared for his pupil, known as the _Delphin_
edition. He became Bishop of Avranches in 1689, but ten years after
resigned his see in order to devote the remainder of his life to
literature, which he did, completing amongst other voluminous works a
defence of the doctrine of Christianity.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF CHARLES DE SALES.]
It is from their possessors that French book-plates derive their chief
interest; and these possessors are for the most part persons who lived
at a late date. Amongst the few early celebrities is the soldier-poet of
France, Francis de Malherbe, of whom it has been said that he was as lax
in morals as he was rigid in his zeal for the purity of his native
language. His book-plate is figured at p. 25, and is interesting as
showing that no reliance can be placed on lines, apparently expressing
the colour of the shield in early Armorial book-plates (see pp. 21-22).
He died in 1628. The books containing this very pleasing book-plate
passed after De Malherbe's death to Vincent de Boyer, in whose family
they remained till the Revolution; after that they were dispersed.
Coming to later times, we find a charming book-plate, engraved by Le
Grand for the unfortunate Countess Dubarry. Her books were well chosen
and well bound, but they were few in number; hence her book-plate is
rare, but it may be seen in the library at Versailles, where most of her
books are preserved. Though she could not read, she seems to have felt
in duty bound to follow 'La Pompadour' in getting together a library to
amuse her royal master.
From the book-plate of the countess--a woman who, after aiding in the
general degradation of the French court, was willing to risk her life
for those whose downfall she had in a measure assisted in bringing
about--we may appropriately turn to that of Cardinal Maury; the
inscription on which reads: _Bibliothèque particulière de son Eminence
Mgr. le Cardinal Maury_. This book-plate calls to mind a famous figure
in the French Revolution,--a fervent preacher, the spokesman of his
fellow-clergy before those who were but little inclined to listen to
argument; the calm-minded man, who would turn round and give a witty
retort to a cry raised by the mob which followed through the streets of
Paris, clamouring for his blood.
The mention of these names leads one naturally to speak generally of
book-plates engraved about the time of the French Revolution,--a period
which is immortalised in a singular manner on French book-plates. M.
Poulet Malassis remarks that many a noble library owner took good care
to alter his book-plate in those troublesome times, and to replace the
coronet which had surmounted the family escutcheon by the Phrygian cap
of liberty. For instance, the Viscount de Borbon-Busset in 1793 changed
his Armorial book-plate to a simple inscription--in which he calls
himself 'Citoyen François'--surrounded by a leafy garland. The same
fashion is exemplified even in clerical examples. Father le Mercier in
his first book-plate displays the coronet which he either was, or at
least considered himself to be, entitled to bear; but between 1789 and
1792 we find a second example of his book-plate, with a simple
decorative finish to the top of the design in lieu of the coronet. At
that time there was in France, as Mr. Walter Hamilton puts it, 'an
awkward fashion of putting heads accustomed to coronets under the
falling knife of the guillotine.'
As far as the classifying of the leading styles in French book-plates
goes, M. Poulet Malassis does not really help us much; and we cannot but
hope that ere long some enterprising French collector will undertake the
task. There is certainly, as M. Poulet Malassis observes, a
resemblance--as the reader will see by turning back to the illustration
of De Malherbe's book-plate--between the style of the first French
book-plates and that of the first English; and it is noteworthy that the
style disappeared in both countries much at the same time. Again, French
book-plates of 1720-1730 bear distinct traces of what we have called
'Jacobean' work in speaking of English examples.
The French _Rococo_ book-plate is really analogous to our 'Chippendale.'
There is, however, a greater variety both of subject and treatment in
each French style than one finds in England.
Allegory is, as I stated in Chapter iv., more frequent and more wild in
French book-plates than in those of England. The follies of his own
countrymen in this respect are fully recognised by M. Poulet Malassis,
who, in most amusing style, deals with some of the more pronounced
examples; as for instance the rollicking allegory displayed in the
book-plate of M. Hénault, President of the French Academy. The date of
this remarkable production may be fixed at 1750; it is designed by
Boucher and engraved by Count de Caylus, and we see that Minerva has
honoured M. le Président by placing his family arms upon her shield.
Very wonderful, too, is the book-plate of the Abbé de Gricourt, whose
arms are borne heavenwards by a vast company of angels. This example,
which is approximately of the same date as the last, is the work of the
Abbé's brother, A. T. Ceys, who was himself an ecclesiastic. Often the
allegory displayed has allusion to the owner's business or his tastes,
as on that of M. Gueullette, a French novelist and dramatist of the
first half of the last century, the popularity of whose writings,
although those writings are numerous, has not outlived him. This
book-plate is the work of H. Becat, and is inscribed after the
Pirckheimer manner, 'Ex libris Thomæ Gueullette et Amicorum.' The family
arms are supported by an Italian harlequin, a Chinese mandarin, a
Cyclops holding an infant, and a Tartar. Now the presence of these
strange inhabitants of a book-plate is accounted for thus. Gueullette
wrote farces for the Paris stage, and he also wrote 'Contes Tartares'
and 'Les Aventures du Mandarin Fum Hoam.' Below the shield water pours
from a satyr's mouth into a basin containing a mermaid, and above soars
Cupid in clouds, bearing aloft a scroll and motto. This, says 'W. H.' in
the _Ex Libris Journal_, is probably one of the earliest book-plates on
which appear allegoric allusions to its owner's tastes and literary
labours.
The _Typical_ or _Personal_ book-plate is also found in France in that
of the Chevalier de Fleurieu, described by Mr. Egerton Castle. During
the _ancien régime_ he was a naval officer, who, whilst still low in the
service, was intrusted with the testing of various new marine
appliances. On the book-plate we get the bird's-eye view of an island,
on which are strewn the said marine appliances, and behind them stands
the Chevalier's coat of arms.
A recent writer on French book-plates, M. Henri Bouchot, goes so far as
to think a book-plate may be of service as exhibiting a man's character.
It may be so with regard to Frenchmen and French book-plates, but if
this principle of argument be applied to English book-plates, all I can
say is, that the possessors of English book-plates in the closing years
of the seventeenth century and the opening years of the eighteenth must
have been singularly alike in their personal characteristics!
[Illustration]
The 'Library Interior' book-plate is found in France as early as 1718,
in an anonymous book-plate described by Mr. Walter Hamilton in the _Book
Worm_ for May 1892. It shows us, in the background of a library, two men
working a printing-press. In the foreground are five little winged
cupids at play with books and mathematical instruments, whilst a female
figure, representing peace and plenty, appears seated on what Mr.
Hamilton conjectures to be a Pegasus. The engraving is by Bernard
Picart, an eminent engraver, who, though a Frenchman by birth, settled
at Amsterdam in 1710 (he died in 1733) and was evidently much influenced
by the then prevailing style in Dutch art. He executed another very
beautiful 'Library Interior' plate (figured opposite) for Amadeus
Lulin, a Savoyard. Here we have the interior of a French library of the
period, with a curved roof. At the end of the room is a window and
beneath this a Louis XV. table. In the foreground the same cupids 'play
with books,' which, by the way, they are treating exceedingly badly.
Caryatides at the sides form a frame for the plate. On the breast of one
is a sun; the other holds a heart. A globe surmounts each. The arms are
shown in the centre of the design at the top.
Other examples of French book-plates of this kind are found quite late
in the century, and any one who feels specially interested in the
subject of these, and indeed of 'Library Interior' book-plates as a
whole, will do well to study Sir Arthur Vicars's valuable treatise and
lists in the pages of the _Ex Libris Journal_.
About the book-plates of countries other than Germany and France there
is not very much to be said. Sweden has given us an insight into its
native book-plates.[9] Herr Carlander tells us that the earliest date on
a Swedish book-plate is 1595, which occurs on that belonging to Thure
Bielke, a senator who, having mixed himself up in political strife, lost
his head by a stroke of the executioner's axe five years later. Senator
Bielke was evidently far in advance of his fellow-countrymen as regards
such matters; for no other dated Swedish book-plate occurs for a
considerable number of years. In the eighteenth century, however,
Swedish book-plates became much more numerous, and some of the more
prominent native engravers appear to have worked upon them, producing a
few singularly fine examples in the _Rococo_ style; library interiors
also appear occasionally on Swedish book-plates. One of the most
interesting late examples of book-plates of this country is that of King
Charles XIII. On this we have the royal arms of Sweden, surmounted by
the collar and cross of the order of the Seraphim, and the king's motto,
'Folkets wäl mint hogsta lag'--'The people's weal my highest law.' I
imagine that this book-plate may be placed at the close of the last
century. Charles died in 1818.
Swiss book-plates are numerous and early. The first dated example occurs
in 1607. Their general style is not pleasing, since it presents a
stiffness and awkwardness in the arrangement of the decoration. Italian
book-plates, again, possess few remarkable features. Perhaps their
leading characteristic is the extreme coldness of their engravers'
touch. One of these engravers was, however, a famous man, whose work
deserves more than passing mention. I mean Raphael Morghen, the
Florentine artist, who died in 1833, and who is said to have been able
to engrave a plate when he was only twelve years old. It is curious to
turn from his large engravings of the chief works in the gallery at
Florence, to the unusually small work which enables us to reckon him
here among the engravers of book-plates. This is a representation of
the arms of the Duke of Cassano Serra, framed in a shelly frame,
somewhat 'Chippendale' in appearance, but with the stiff, heavy
'Jacobean' wreath clinging closely to it. In a scroll which winds in and
out of this wreath is the inscription: 'Il Duca Cassano Serra'; it is
signed 'R. Morghen f[ecit].'
A careful investigation of the Vatican and other Italian libraries would
probably lead to the discovery of some more papal book-plates. Sir
Wollaston Franks tells me that amongst his numerous engravings of the
papal arms, there is only one which he feels sure was ever used as a
book-plate. The late Sir George Dasent, in _Notes and Queries_,[10]
describes what he considers the book-plate of Maffeo Barberini, Urban
VIII.; but he does not tell us what leads him to the belief that the
engraving is really a book-plate.
About Spanish book-plates not much is yet known, and it seems likely
that the majority of examples usually classed as Spanish were designed
and executed in Flanders. The family of Bouttats--the original Bouttats
had, says Walpole, twenty sons, of whom twelve became engravers--executed
some of these book-plates. Amongst their work is one which Lord De
Tabley styles 'a gloomy yet striking heraldic study'; it is signed 'P.
B. Bouttats, sculp.,' and was probably engraved about the middle of the
seventeenth century. It shows us the arms of a bishop surmounted by a
plumed helmet, above which again is a bishop's hat, with pendent ropes
and tassels; beneath is the motto: 'Por la Leÿ Bezerra ÿ por el Rëy.' A
particularly fine example of Flemish heraldic art is furnished by the
book-plate engraved and signed by J. Harrewyn, of Brussels, and dated
1723; the inscription gives us quite a biographical sketch: 'Messire
Charles Bonaventure, Comte vander Noot, Baron de Schoonhoven et de Mares
&c^{a}; Conseiller de sa Ma^{te} Imp^{le} et Cath^{e} au souverain
Conseil de Brabant par patante du 9 Mars 1713, Reçu aux Etats nobles de
Brabant, fils de Messire Rogier Wouthier, en son vivant Baron de Carloo
&c^{a}; et deputez ordinaire au dit corps de la noblesse des Etats de
Brabant, et de Dame Anne Louÿse vander Gracht, née Baronne de Vrempde et
d'Olmen, &c^{a}.'
Our knowledge of Russian or Polish book-plates is chiefly derived from
the illustrations shown in Monsieur S. J. Siennicki's work, entitled
_Les Elzevirs de la Bibliothèque de L'Université Impériale de Varsovie_.
Here we have some examples of the book-plates both of distinguished
laymen and ecclesiastics. The probability is that none are of an early
date, and they are certainly not conspicuous as works of art. The
Russian style is perhaps the more distinct, though in many respects
resembling the French, especially that shown in the more pronounced
examples of the Louis XV. epoch.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] _Svenska Bibliotek och Ex Libris antecknigar af C. M. Carlander, med
84 illustrationer._ Stockholm, 1889, and Supplement, 1891.
[10] Sixth series, vol. i. p. 2.