EDWIN DAVIS FRENCH
The book-plates of Edwin Davis French are the most esteemed of those of our present American engravers. His work is decidedly the vogue among those who can afford the best, and is much prized by collectors. There has rarely been an article on book-plates published in the past five years or more that has not contained a eulogy of his work, and there have been reproductions galore, both from the original coppers and by half-tone. There is no American designer whose work is so eagerly sought by the collector or for which larger returns are asked in exchanges. Mr. French usually designs the work he engraves, but in several instances he has cut plates from the designs of others. Such instances are noted in the list. Mr. French’s work is characterized by daintiness of design and great beauty of execution. He is unquestionably a master of the graver in decorative work. In the following list those numbered 133 and below are from Mr. Lemperly’s well-known list, and credit is hereby rendered him therefor. The rest of the list is made up from various sources and has been very carefully compared and is believed to be accurate and complete, with the few exceptions noted, to July 1, 1902.
174 Adams, Ruth
141 Allen, Charles Dexter, 1899
a with portrait
b with book-case
c with one club emblem changed
170 Alexander, Amy B.
187 Adams, Frances Amelia, 1901
199 Adams, Edward Dean, 1902
207 Adams, Ernest Kempton, 1902
44 Alexander, Charles B., 1895
11 Andrews, William Loring, 1894
76 Andrews, William Loring, Compliments of, 1896
195 Adriance Memorial Library, Poughkeepsie, 1902
111 Armour, George Allison, 1898
98 Author’s Club (designed by Geo. Wharton Edwards), 1897
10 Avery, In Memoriam, Ellen Walters, 1894
142 Bakewell, Allan C.
43 Bakewell, A. C., 1895
36 Bates, James Hale, 1894
53 Barger, Samuel F., 1895
17 Baillie, W. E., 1894
20 Blackwell, Henry, 1894
16 Bierstadt, Edward Hale, 1894
42 Bernheim, A. C., 1895
60 Biltmoris, Ex Libris (designed by owner, George W. Vanderbilt), 1895
67 Bar of the City of New York, Association of the (Chas. H. Woodbury’s library, 1895), 1896
118 Bar of the City of New York, Association of the (the John E. Burrill Fund, 1897), 1896
119 Bar of the City of New York, Association of the (Gift of James C. Carter)
69 Biltmoris, Ex Libris (like 60, but smaller), 1896
87 Bliss, Catherine A., 1896
104 Burke, Edward F., 1897
133 Bradshaw, Sidney Ernest, 1898
1 Brainerd, Helen Elvira, 1892
4 Brainerd, Helen Elvira, 1894
124 Brown, Georgette (adapted from Parisian trade-card 18th century)
a with border
b without border
176 Borden, M. C. D.
177 Borden, M. C. D. (small)
139 Boas, Emil L.
80 Borland, Harriet Blair, 1896
166 Buck, John H. (designed by Miss Marion Buck)
171 Bullock, James Wilson, 1900
180 Barnes, John Sanford
65 Bull, William Lanman, 1895
147 Blackwell, Henry (monogram), 1899
150 Blackwell, Henry, Compliments of, 1900
91 Carnegie, Lucy Coleman, 1897
96 Candidati, 1897
7 Chew, Beverly, 1894
47 Chew, Beverly, 1895
41 Church, E. D., 1895
59 Champaign Public Library, 1895
8 Clark, Charles E., M. D., 1894
9 Clark, Charles E., M. D. (smaller), 1894
18 Colonial Dames of America
28 Coutant (Dr.), Richard B., 1894
66 Clough, Micajah Pratt, 1896
83 The John Crerar Library, Chicago, 1896
97 Connell, William, 1897
100 Child Memorial Library (Harvard), 1897
125 Cox, Jennings Stockton, 1898
51 Clough, Micajah P.
156 Cheney, Alice S., 1900
167 Chamberlain, Elizabeth (The Orchards), 1900
145 Cushing
22 Deats, Hiram Edmund, 1894
131 Dana, Charles A. (designed by A. Kay Womrath), 1898
70 Dows, Tracy, 1896
56 De Vinne, Theo. L. (designed by George Fletcher Babb), 1895
84 Denver Club, The (designed by Cora E. Sargent), 1896
143 Duryee, George Van Wagenen and Margaret Van Nest, 1899
46 Ellsworth, James William, 1895
88 Emmet, The Collection of Thos. Addis, M. D., New York Public Library, 1896
2 French, Mary Brainerd, 1893
3 French, Edwin Davis (Volapük), 1893
5 E. D. F. (French, Edwin Davis), 1893
a E. D. F., without enclosing frame
b with frame
c Edwin Davis French
19 Foote, Charles B., 1894
168 Foot, Margaret H., 1900
198 Furman, Dorothy, 1902
21 Grolier Club, The, 1894
29 Goodwin, James J., 1894
30 Goodwin, Francis, 1894
32 Godfrey, Jonathan, 1894
64 Goodrich, J. King, 1895
89 Gray, Adelle Webber, 1897
110 Goldsmith, Abraham, 1898
121 Goldsmith, James A., 1898
49 Goodwin, James J., 1895
136 Gale, Edward Courtland, 1899
185 Gage, Mabel Carleton (design by owner), 1901
202 Gray, John Chipman, 1902
181 Harvard, Society of the Signet (designed by B. G. Goodhue)
186 Harvard Union (designed by B. G. Goodhue), 1901
a 1901
b In Memoriam Henry Baldwin Hyde
184 Harbor Hill (Mrs. Clarence McKay)
38 Haber, Louis I, 1894
106 Hartshorn, Mary Minturn (designed by Miss E. Brown), 1897
55 Havemeyer, William Frederick (designed by Thomas Tryon), 1895
73 Herter, Christian Archibald, 1896
149 Horsford, Cornelia
155 Hopkins (Maj.), Robert Emmet
23 Holden, Edwin B., 1894
24 Holden, Edwin B. (smaller)
61 H(olden), E(mily), (Miss), 1895
25 Holden, Alice C., 1894
26 Holden, Edwin R., 1894
164 James, Walter B., M. D.
33 Kalbfleish, Charles Conover, 1894
90 O. A. K(ahn), 1897
94 Kingsbury, Edith Davies (designed by Lilian C. Westcott), 1897
113 Lambert, Samuel W., 1898
85 Lamson, Edwin Ruthven (designed by E. H. Garrett), 1896
173 Larner, John B.
35 Lawrence, Emily Hoe, 1894
6 Leggett, Cora Artemisia, 1894
15 Lefferts, Marshall Clifford, 1894
39 L. B. L(öwenstein), 1895
105 Lefferts, Mollie Cozine, 1897
102 Lemperly, Paul, 1897
169 Loveland, John W. and Lee Partridge
159 Livermore, John R.
172 Little, Arthur West
192 Long Island Historical Society, 1900
a Storrs Memorial Fund, 1900
b Ecclesiastical History
148 K. D. M. (Mackay, Mrs. Clarence) (small monogram with crest)
58 Marshall, Frank Evans, 1895
37 Mausergh, Richard Southcote, 1895
95 Marshall, Julian, 1897
188 Merriman, Roger Bigelow
40 Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1895
a Cruger mansion
b new building
54 Messenger, Maria Gerard, 1895
85 Messenger, Maria Gerard, 1896
a gift-plate with book-pile
b with view of Pleasantville library
74 Morgan, A. J., 1896
92 McCarter, Robert H., 1896
115 Medicis, Ex Libris (Cushing), 1898
45 McKee, Thomas Jefferson
151 Messenger, Maria Gerard and Elizabeth Chamberlain (The Orchards), 1899
68 V. E. M(acy)
a V. E. M.
b Macy, Valentine Everit and Edith Carpenter, 1896
140 Moore, Louise Taylor Hartshorne
128 Nimick, Florence Coleman, 1898
163 New York Yacht Club, The (after sketch by the late Walter B. Owen)
12 Oxford Club, The, Lynn, 1894
57 Osborne, Thomas Mott and Agnes Devens, 1895
62 Odd Volumes, The Club of, 1895
13 Players, The (designed by Howard Pyle), 1894
50 Pyne, M. Taylor, 1895
63 Pine, Percy Rivington, 1895
81 Plummer, Mary Emma, 1896
107 Pyne, M. Taylor, 1897
204 Pyne, R. Stockton, 1902
108 Princeton University, Library of, 1897
132 Prescott, Eva Snow Smith, 1898
160 Porter, Nathan T., 1900
189 Phillips, William (design arranged from 16th century armorial by P. de Chaignon la Rose), 1901
14 Reid, Whitelaw, 1894
34 Rowe, Henry Sherburne, 1894
103 Ranney, Henry Clay and Helen Burgess, 1897
191 Richards, Walter Davis, 1825-1877, 1901
158 Robinson, C. L. F.
99 Sabin, Ruth Mary, 1897
109 Sampson, Florence de Wolfe 1898
52 Sherwin, Henry A., 1895
77 Sedgwick, Robert, 1896
82 Sherwin, Henry A. (similar to 52, but smaller), 1896
117 Sherwood, Samuel Smith, 1898
129 Scripps, James Edmund, 1898
101 Skinner, Mark, Library
134 Stickney, Edward Swan (Chicago Historical Society), 1898
112 Stratton, A. Dwight, 1898
93 Stearns, John Lloyd, 1897
71 Sovereign (designed by Thomas Tryon) (crown), 1896
79 Sovereign (designed by Thomas Tryon) (eagle), 1896
193 Society of Colonial Wars, Connecticut, 1901
179 Sherman, William Watts (design by B. G. Goodhue), 1901
78 Taylor, Chas. H., Jr. (designed by E. B. Bird), 1896
135 Talmage, John F.
152 Treadwell Library (Mass. General Hospital) (designed by B. G. Goodhue)
127 Thorne, Katherine Cecil Sanford, 1898
122 Twentieth Century Club (designed by Mrs. Evelyn Rumsey Carey), 1898
157 Union League Club
154 University Club, Cleveland
48 Vail, Henry H., 1895
116 Vassar Alumnae Historical Association, 1898
196 Varnum (Gen.), James M.
128 Van Wagenen, Frederick W., 1898
31 Warner, Beverly, M. A., 1894
114 Wendell, Barrett, 1898
126 Williams, E. P., 1898
130 Wood, Arnold, 1898
137 Wood, Ethel Hartshorne
182 Worcester Art Museum, 1901
144 A. W. (Arnold Wood), 1899
146 Williams, John Skelton
161 Wodell, Silas
175 Woodward, S. Walter, 1900
178 Whitin, Sarah Elizabeth
120 Winthrop, Henry Rogers, 1898
75 Willets, Howard, 1896
27 Woodbury, John Page, 1894
72 (Yale) The Edward Tompkins McLaughlin Memorial Prize in English Composition, 1896