as to be hardly recognizable as the lineal descendants of those of the same type which went before. Indeed, the recent plates have little in common with the old,—new motives, new designs, new methods, and new conceptions of what a book-plate can be have come in, and the change produced is very marked.
Heraldic plates are still in use, and still being made, but the number of plain armorials is quite small. Usually, now, those who wish to show the family arms on the book-plate do not display it all by itself, but accompanied by literary accessories, or pictorial, or with decorative features to relieve what would to-day appear a bare and unfinished plate, but which in the older days would have been the pink of perfection.
Among the plain armorial plates of recent days may be mentioned that of Henry B. Anthony, the late senator from Rhode Island, which, without even a motto, presents the arms of the family, with the crest, and the name. Another plain armorial plate is that of John H. Buck, of the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the author of “Old Plate.” This, too, is perfectly plain, with no motto. Frank House Baer and Charles W. Burrows, of Cleveland, both use the plain armorial style, relieved by slight mantling or scroll work, and with the mottoes on ribbons beneath the shield. Mr. Appleton Morgan has a plain armorial plate, quartering the Morgan and Appleton arms. Mr. Daniel Ravenel, of Charleston, also uses a plain armorial shield, relieved with sprays of marigold (the Huguenot emblem) and of wall-flower (the French name for which is Ravenelle). A plain armorial plate, in colors, is used by the compiler of “America Heraldica.” An imposing helmet with blue mantling surmounts the shield, and the motto, Moins faire mieux faire, is given on a ribbon which encloses the whole design. Harry Allen Castle, of Hartford, uses a design borrowed from the plate of Mr. Thomas Bailey Aldrich. The castle on its wreath is enclosed by a square frame in which the name appears, with the words His Mark. In the corners of this frame are the letters I.H.S.V., standing for the motto, In hoc signo vinces. A punning friend, upon seeing this plate, remarked to Mr. Castle, that the letters would seem to mean, “I have some volumes.” Dr. J. S. H. Fogg, the late well-known collector of, and authority on, autographs, used a plain armorial plate, with the motto, Aut pax aut bellum. Prof. J. Max Hark, of the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa., has a plain heraldic plate, with thin mantling about the shield. The motto occupies two lines above and below the shield, and is in imitation of the ancient manner. What mon an Honeste Namen doth owen, Too hym rycht glaedlie myn Bookes i loan. But so too longen ye Bookes be kepit, He shal forsooth be a Knave yclepit. This is printed with red capitals, on very fine parchment paper with rough edges, and is a very pretty plate. Dr. Joseph Henry Dubbs, professor in Franklin and Marshall College, uses a plate which exhibits the arms on a shield which is fastened to a spreading oak-tree.
