[Illustration: {Book-plate of Frank Jean Pool.} By Thomas Tryon]
Among the book-plate designers of the present day the architect may,
if he choose, take a high place. He is one whose studies have led him
through the paths of artistic training where his eye and hand have
learned to see color and form and balance of parts, and while the
usual media of his profession are wood, stone, terra cotta and iron,
there are many by-paths through which he must travel to appreciate the
value of his pencil lines upon the flat.
No more delightful by-way than the book-plate route will open before
him, hedged in as it is by purely artistic shrubbery and leading
constantly to pretty and even beautiful designs in which the genius of
architecture has played a great part. Moreover, all his preceding
journey through the hard conventional country to which architecture at
first seems limited, has equipped him thoroughly to give expression to
his fancy. That the gift of imagination is among his endowments should
be taken for granted, however, if the architect is to succeed in the
line of drawing book-plates.
Fancy and imagination being in his mental equipment the architect can
"rest" his mind in no more delightful fashion than by giving them full
scope in this gem-like art. His experience, his collections of
drawings, the work of others of his craft which he has studied, all
tend to render his fund of information large, and if he has the key to
book-plate art, inexhaustible, since nothing comes amiss to the pen of
one whose facile fancy can grasp a good motive and direct it to a
purpose other than that originally intended.
[Illustration: JAMES SEYMOUR TRYON
By Thomas Tryon]
In the early days of art the architect was not only a designer of
buildings but was also a sculptor and sometimes a decorative painter.
He was called upon by his patrons to design whatever was needed at the
moment, and these men were "all-round" artists, the day of
specialization and the speculator not having dawned.
Buonarotti is an awesome name to call up, but this great painter,
sculptor, architect and builder touched nothing that he did not adorn,
and in many of the hundreds of crayon sketches and cartoons that he
left behind him, the feeling of the book-plate artist is clear. Had
Lorenzo the Magnificent wanted a book-plate for use in his library,
the great Michael Angelo could have filled the want from his own
notes, with very little of either suppression or expansion. It may
seem strange to think of this Titan of art, the creator of the
sweeping "Last Judgment" turning his pencil to the delicate lines, the
imperceptible nuances demanded by a book-plate, yet it may be
repeated, in his work may be found a myriad of suggestions for these
gem-like products.
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Annah M. Fellowes.} By Thomas Tryon]
Buonarotti was not, however, first and last an architect. Painter and
sculptor also, these sides of his artist soul would have been drawn on
for the book-plate. Therefore the statement that not every architect
can design so fanciful and dainty a work as a book-plate becomes a
truism patent to everybody. The architect's profession calls for a
two-fold nature, the one side tending toward that of the engineer with
its eminently practical and very necessary tables of stress and
strain, its mathematical calculations for loads and disposition of
carrying walls, while the other side leans to a nice discernment of
color and proportion. The laying out of vistas and the arrangement of
surfaces and lines, so that the eye is aided in receiving the best
impression from all points of view. Of this turn of mind is the one
who can and does design book-plates. The very practical architect, if
he wishes the glory, which is doubtful, has one of his draftsmen make
the design and then signs the drawing and gets the glory. It would be
amusing if such an one through some luck charm received constant
application for such work. His draftsmen would change and his drawings
be as dissimilar as the men who drew them. Possibly the signature
would lead the long-suffering public to think him very versatile.
It is not of this class of architect that we write. It is of him who
is half painter or sculptor, and who loves his pen and pencil and
delights in the personal expression of his ideals. He finds that his
way of seeing things is more to his liking than any way of any other
man. He sees the infinite beauty of nature and loves her shifting
pictures in the clouds. Then too, he must have the ability to clearly
comprehend the half-formed ideas of him whose plate he undertakes to
draw. This is not always an easy matter. There are but few in the
world who can formulate their ideas, much less invent a picture
without first seeing it. Here the architect has, perhaps, an advantage
over the purely imaginative artist, since the average man does not
know the difference between the Classic period and the Gothic, the
Napoleon era and the modern German renaissance.
Of the architects who have obtained unquestioned recognition in this
exquisite art, Thomas Tryon is among those whose work is especially
prized. His adaptation of architectural forms to the confined space of
the book-plate shows the work of a man who has command of his tools
and knowledge, and despite the narrow confines of the field his work
is not at all "cabined or cribbed." The illustrations accompanying
this essay are taken rather at random from among Mr. Tryon's designs,
but they will convey to those unfamiliar with his work, a fair idea of
its scope and treatment. His first design was a plate for his father,
an ornate armorial design, the name being set up in type at the base.
The plate for Miss Annah M. Fellowes is quite elaborate. A long-haired
and bewhiskered knight stands before us in a suit of rich armor, his
right hand bearing his sword and helmet, and his left resting upon his
shield. His helmet is surmounted by a pair of spreading wings. The
design is backed by a rambling rose bush on which is hung the motto
ribbon.
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Loyall Farragut.} By Thomas Tryon]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of George Elder Marcus.} By Thomas Tryon]
Mr. Frank Pool is obviously a lover of the drama. In an oval window
set in masonry, is a Roman gentleman, laurel crowned, reading from a
large volume, while at the upper right and left sides are comedy and
tragedy masks from which hang a gracefully festooned wreath. Palms,
ribbon and name plate finish the design. For Mr. Farragut, the son of
our old admiral, Mr. Tryon has made a very "salt water" arrangement of
arms. The shield is surmounted by a quaint ship and the bearers are
dolphins, which on one side encircle a trident and on the other a
sword. The conventional acanthus leaves give body and decoration to
the whole. Perhaps one of the most distinctively beautiful of Mr.
Tryon's designs is the fleur-de-lis for Mr. Marcus. In this the artist
has blended most delightfully the natural and the heraldic flower and
has produced a gem of which one never tires. For his sister and her
children Mr. Tryon has made a light and airy design, distinctively
feminine and graceful. The main feature of the design is an ornate
cypher of the letters S T. On the ribbon below the name is shown. This
is changed to the names of Mrs. Stone's three daughters for their
individual use. The plate reproduced here is that of one of Mrs.
Stone's daughters. The design for "The Boys Club" is surmounted by the
American eagle perched upon the globe, and the flag of our country is
draped over the tablet bearing the lettering. This plate has been
reproduced both by photo-process and copper plate.
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Rachel Norton Tryon Stone.} By Thomas
Tryon]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Library of the Boys Club.} By Thomas
Tryon]
Of the three color plates reproduced the first was made for Mr. A. W.
Brunner, and has for "piece de resistence" a very ingenious monogram
set in an oval frame. For bearers there are two graceful palms and the
keystone is surmounted by a pile of books and a classic student's
lamp. The base of the design is relieved by a pleasing arrangement of
acanthus leaves. The plate for Miss Cox is a seal-like design,
dignified yet dainty, and would be entirely in place in all kinds of
volumes. The plate for Mr. Steell quite speaks for itself and makes
the sportsman feel wildly for the trigger of his gun. The buck and doe
silhouetted against the yellow of evening and the reflection in the
stream are a delight.
Three of Mr. Tryon's designs have been engraved by Mr. E. D. French.
The famous Sovereign plates being two, and one for Mr. Havemeyer being
the third. This plate for Mr. Havemeyer is indicative of the owner's
collection of Washingtoniana, and is surrounded by several of the
well-known portraits of the father of his country, while at the top is
a small view of Mount Vernon. The portraits and view are interwoven
with foliage and ribbon and form a frame in which Mr. Havemeyer's arms
are displayed. The "Sovereign" plates, which were made in 1895 for the
library of Mr. M. C. D. Borden's yacht, are of great richness, the
first or "crown" design being especially so. This one did not please
the owner, who had a second one made surmounted by an eagle instead of
a crown. This is simpler in treatment and not so decorative as the
earlier design. These plates were both cut on the copper by Mr. French
who treated them in a very sympathetic manner and brought out in clear
relief the ideas of the designer.
Mr. Tryon's production has not been great, reckoned by the number of
plates made, but as his work is never done hurriedly or slightingly it
carries an air of finished dignity and worth that gives it lasting
qualities. As he usually has one or two plates in hand to which he
adds a few lines and a few thoughts from time to time, we may still
expect pleasant surprises in this miniature art from his workshop.
[Illustration: {Book-plate, no name.}]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of the Library of the Harvard Union.} By
B. G. Goodhue]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of M. A. de Wolfe Howe.} By B. G. Goodhue]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Barrett Wendell.} By E. D. French]
[Illustration: {Book-plate of Harvard University Library, Lowell
Memorial Library of Romance Literature.} By B. G. Goodhue]
BOOK-PLATES OF TO-DAY
TONNELÉ & COMPANY
NEW YORK
[Illustration: {Book-plate of William A. Boland.}]
A CHECK-LIST of the WORK of TWENTY-THREE BOOK-PLATE DESIGNERS of
PROMINENCE