Edward Stratton Holloway: in this design, the owl is perched upon a limb, with the palette, brushes, sketch-book, and pencils of the illustrator within his clutch.
A most happy plate is that of Mr. Richard Hoe Lawrence, which is designed for use only in the library housed at his country seat, “Oscaleta Lodge,” and which is mainly botanical. In this plate the partridge-vine, Mitchella repens, is shown in its proper colors, and is surrounded by a double border of red lines, within which the motto, from
Rabelais, Fay ce que vouldras, is given in yellow. The plate was designed by Miss Mary S. Lawrence.
For a Philatelical library, the plate of Mr. John K. Tiffany is exceedingly appropriate, the design being enlarged from the old and rare St. Louis Postmaster’s stamp of 1845. The book-plate was cut on wood by the same man who designed the original stamp. It is an exact fac-simile of the old stamp, giving the two bears holding between them the circular frame which encloses the arms.
A very good example of the Allegorical book-plate is that of George H. Ellwanger, of Rochester. This is designed to illustrate the LXX sonnet of the Amoretti, of Spenser. With all the charming freshness of the early vernal season about her, we see Spring, in graceful drapery, carrying buds and blossoms in her hands, and crowned with a wreath of flowers, approaching us. The garlands, the numerous birds, the new leaves upon the trees, and the sense of warmth in the scene, clearly depict the meaning of the artist.
Turning, now, to the pictorial plates, we find their number rather small. Decorative features, bits of landscape and of interiors are found in many plates; but these little ornamentations do not constitute a real pictorial plate. One of the finest examples is the plate of E. G. Asay, of Chicago. In this we find ourselves intruding upon the councils of the Muses; for we see Art seated upon a throne, with the palette and brushes idle in her lap, while about her, in graceful manner, recline History, Music, and Literature. The lyre of Music is quiet, as, with her hand affectionately placed upon the shoulder of History, she listens to the reading of the just-inscribed record. Art likewise gives interested attention to the recital; and Literature, with her book closed, leans upon the convenient globe, and listens.