and the motto is below, on a ribbon,—Duce natura sequor. The crest is found in its place above.
“Wrenwood” is the name of the home of George E. Leighton, if we may judge by the name which appears on the top of the shield, which rests against his books just inside the library window. The window is open, flowers peek around the mullions, and a wren has hopped upon the sill to examine the surroundings which have borrowed his name for their own.
A pile of three books, labelled Bacon, Lamb, and “Punch,” is shown in the plate of David Murray. The legend, Some books are to be tasted, some to be swallowed, and some to be chewed and digested, is given on the back of the books. Above the volumes, the scales carrying the heavy pen on one side, and the lighter sword on the other, is surmounted by a liberty-cap, behind which, in a blaze of glory, appears the motto, The pen mightier than the sword.
In the plate of George Imbrie Sill, three shelves of books are enclosed within a frame of scrolls which bear the name. A shield is placed across one end of the case, with the arms and crest upon it.
Now we come to a plate which takes us below the surface. A wondrous mermaid, at the very depths, flanked by huge dolphins, is receiving a perfect shower of books, which come tumbling down through the water. This is the plate of H. W. Bryant, of Portland, Me.
Marshall C. Lefferts, of New York City, uses small leather labels on which an open book bearing his monogram is stamped in gold. Different colors of leather are provided for different volumes. This is the only instance of the use of leather for a book-plate in this country, if I mistake not: a very handsome material, too, for the purpose, and meriting wider use.