A book-plate, in its simplest expression, is a printed indication of
the ownership of a book. It may take the form of the unadorned
visiting card, or it may be embellished with heraldic and other
designs explanatory of the owner's name, ancestry, tastes, or
predilections. Primarily, however, it is intended to fix ownership.
How far it satisfactorily serves its purpose, is, perhaps, of little
moment to the average book-collector; for the book-plate has emerged
from the stage of practical utility and become a thing in itself, so
to speak. It has taken its place beside the many _articles de vertu_
which are godsends to the weary of brain and heart, inasmuch as they
become the objects of a passion so delightful in its experience, as to
make us forget the little trials and worries of life that make
pessimists of us in this "bleak Aceldama of sorrow." Nay, they may
even become the one sun, shining and irradiating for us all the dark
places of our wanderings, and cheer us with the hopes for newer and
finer acquisitions than we already have.
When, however, we come to a consideration of the _artistic_
book-plate, we enter upon a new field of enquiry entirely. It
indicates that a simple usage of a necessary and harmless convention
has developed into a complex expression--an expression not merely of
the individual to whom the book belongs, but also of the artist whose
business it is to give pictorial form to the desires and wishes and
tastes of his patron.
From the crude, if sufficient, paste-board stuck on the end-paper, to
the heraldic display, was, surely, no very far cry. In the countries
of the Old World, where pride of ancestry touches the worthy and
unworthy alike, it was to be expected that so valuable an opportunity
for flaunting the deeds of "derring do" of one's forefathers as a sign
of one's own distinction, such as the book-plate offers, was certainly
not to be neglected. So we find that the coats of arms which once
served as inspirations, and which once had a genuine meaning to their
owners and retainers, now do service in the more peaceful realms of
Bookland. And, assuredly, there are certain books in a library, which
are more worthily acknowledged after this ancient and martial fashion.
We cannot but believe that a Froissart from the press of Caxton or
Wynkyn de Worde, would be handled with more reverence if one saw on
the verso of its front cover a glorious display of the arcana of
heraldry, in all its magnificence of mysterious meaning. This feeling
would also be aroused in turning the leaves of, say, Philippe le
Noir's edition of the "Gesta Romanorum" (1532), or of Hayton's "Lytell
Cronycle" from the shop of Richard Pynson, or of Mandeville's
"Voyages and Travailles," issued by T. Snodham in 1625, or of Pliny's
"Historia Naturalis" from the Venetian press of Nic. Jenson in 1472,
or of Rastell's "Pastyme of People," "emprynted in Chepesyde at the
Sygne of the Mermayd" in 1529. To these and their like a book-plate of
heraldic story comes as a fitting and graceful complement.
But the average mortal of this work-a-day world and age has not the
means wherewith to acquire such treasures of the bibliophile. Nor,
perhaps, has he the necessary pedigree with which to adorn them, if
acquired; though on this latter consideration, we suspect that the
Herald's College in the purlieus of Doctors' Commons, and the more
amenable, though not less expensive Tiffany on this side of the
Atlantic, would, no doubt, prove excellent aids to a full
satisfaction.
But we are not here dealing with the pomp and glorious circumstance of
Heraldry. In dealing with the artistic book-plate, we are considering
a matter which concerns itself not with past stories or past
individuals, but with the present tale and the particular living
personage who has the laudable and humble ambition to distinguish his
copy of a book from his friend's copy of the same book. A taste in
books may be easily whitewashed, but a taste in a book-plate flares
its owner's heart right into the eyes of the demurest damsel or the
simplest swain. It may be that our collection is but a series of
Tauchnitz editions carefully garnered on a European tour, or a handful
or two of Bohn's Library, accumulated from our more studious days, or
a treatise on golf, chess, gardening and photography, or a history of
the state or town in which we live--it matters little what--these are
the treasures we most prize, and we wish to hold them. Now, how best
shall the collector mark them as his own?
He writes his name on the title-page. Ugh! What a vandal's act! The
man who could so disfigure a book deserves to have it taken from him,
and his name obliterated. He who could find it in his heart to write
on title-pages could surely commit a murder. We'd much rather he
turned a leaf down to mark the place where he had left off in his
reading; though to do that is bad enough, in all conscience. Nor does
he save his soul by writing on the fly-title, or even end-paper.
Moreover, this will not save his book either. A visiting card can
easily be taken out--it looks too formal, nondescript, meaningless,
common, to inspire any respect in a would-be thief. But an artistic
book-plate! Ah! that's another thing altogether.
An artistic book-plate is the expression in decorative illustration of
the proprietor's tastes, made by an artist who has sympathetically
realized the feeling intended. It should objectify one, and only one,
salient characteristic, either of temperament, habit, disposition, or
pleasure, of its owner. If it does less, it is not individual; if it
does more, it is not satisfying.
Now each one of us has some characteristic trait that is not common to
us all--then let that be the aim of the artist to embody in decorative
form. And let that embodiment be simple and direct--the simpler and
more direct it is, the more will it appear; and the more beautiful it
is the more will it soften the kleptomaniacal tendencies of the
ghoulish book-hunter. For nothing touches him so nearly to the finer
impulses of nature than the contemplation of beauty; and he would be
less than human did he fail to respond. We would even go to the length
of giving as an admirable test of the book-plate artist's powers, the
lending of a book (whose loss would give no qualms) containing the
plate. If it come not back, there's something the matter with your
plate; or, you can libel your friend as a beast of low degree, which
suggests a good way of finding out your friend's true character. But
then, there's no limit to the powers of a beautiful book-plate.
Now there are a great many coy people who don't care to wear their
hearts on their sleeves; these would naturally feel indisposed to post
themselves thus before the public eye, be the book-plate never so
beautiful. To these we would say: Give us what you prize best--your
home, your wife, your sweetheart, your motto (though that's giving
yourself away too), your baby, anything that is truly yours. (Babies
are quite _à propos_, and should be characteristic, though it does not
always follow. Some babies have a habit of taking after quite other
people.) The idea is, to embody something individual, something
special and particular.
If he can afford a large library, or is a collector of the works of
one or two authors, there's a way out of the difficulty for the coy
person, by having the book-plate represent the characteristic of the
author and have his name as an addition. That may be taking a
liberty--but authors are accustomed to that; and, besides, you are
appreciating them, and that should exorcise the spirit of an indignant
"classic" from the four walls of your library. Have the original of
the design framed on the wall; it may save you a lot of explanation
should the spook even get "mad." You can always lay the blame on the
artist. Of course, this means a book-plate for each author; but as
book-plates are not, after all, such very expensive luxuries, this
consideration need be a matter of but small moment.
Yet another idea is to have an artistic treatment of a representation
of your library, your "den." That sounds very inviting and certainly
can hurt no one's feelings. If you don't happen to possess a special
apartment, give an apartment such as you would like to possess. Or
show your favorite chair, or nook, or greenwood tree, or running
brook, or garden plot. There are thousands of ways in which to fashion
a book-plate, and an artistic book-plate, too. We thus can see what an
advance the modern artistic book-plate is on the old style article--so
formal, so characterless, so inchoate and so amorphous.
Indeed the artistic book-plate is a genuine inspiration, or it may be
made so. How charming, or delight-giving, or valuable, or intoxicating
it is, depends largely on the artist. But it also depends on the
individual who desires it. It should be planned with care and executed
with feeling. It should be like no other book-plate in the sense that
it possesses some _flavor_ that is private and personal. It should be
as much an indication of the owner's taste as is his library--and no
man can hide his nature from the friend who has had access to that.
There are many things a book-plate should not be--but these may be
summed up in the advice--it should not be a mask. You may order your
books by the hundredweight from your bookseller, but that won't stand
you in any stead when your friend handles them and turns to you for a
criticism, or an opinion. You may also commission your artist for a
book-plate; but you are in a worse plight if you fail in the more
direct explanation you will be required to make to the insistent
inquiries as to its meaning or appositeness. No! Be it ever so humble,
let it be yours. It may be a poor thing, but it is your own; but it
may be also a very rich thing, and your own also.
[Illustration: {Book-plate of James Dick.} By J. W. Simpson]
BOOK-PLATES OF TO-DAY
TONNELÉ & COMPANY
NEW YORK
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Henrietta M. Cox.}]
THIRTY-TWO EXAMPLES OF BOOK-PLATES _from_ PRIVATE COLLECTIONS _and
Other Sources_
[Illustration: {Book-plate of the Worcester Art Museum.} From Steel
Engraving By E. D. French]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of the Authors' Club Library.} By Geo.
Wharton Edwards]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Theodore Brown Hapgood Jr.} By T. B.
Hapgood, Jr.]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Eaton.} By Charles Selkirk]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Frances Louise Allen.} By T. B. Hapgood,
Jr.]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of David Turnure.} By Louis H. Rhead]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of A. Squire.} By B. G. Goodhue]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of William Snelling Hadaway.} By W. S.
Hadaway]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Edwin Allis de Wolf.}]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of John B. Larner.} From Steel Engraving
By E. D. French]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Constance Grosvenor Alexander.} By
H. E. Goodhue]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Amy M. Sacker.} By H. E. Goodhue]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Udolpho Snead.} By B. G. Goodhue]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Barreau de Bruxelles.} By Fernand
Khnopff]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Hans Thoma.} By Hans Thoma]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of May v. Feilitzsch.} By Bernhard Wenig]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Max Ostenrieder.} By Julius Diez]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Charles E. Eldred.} By Charles E.
Eldred, of English Navy]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Richard Butler Glaenzer.}]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Reginald C. Vanderbilt.}]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Alice Hillingdon. Book-plate of Mildred
Chelsea. Book-plate of Sarah Isabel Wilson. Book-plate of Clementine
F. A. Walsh.} From Steel Engravings by Wm. Phillips Barrett]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury. Book-plate
of Constance Derby. Book-plate of Alice Stanley. Book-plate of
Gladys de Grey.} From Steel Engravings by Wm. Phillips Barrett]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of George Louis Beer. Book-plate of Lewis
W. Hatch. Book-plate of Irving and Sissie Lehman. Book-plate of Julian
Pearce Smith.} Four designs by Thomas M. Cleland]
BOOK-PLATES OF TO-DAY
TONNELÉ & COMPANY
NEW YORK
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Robert Fletcher Rogers.}]