Mr. H. E. Deats, of Flemington, N.J., has a most beautiful specimen of steel engraving which he uses in his numismatic library. In this, we see a female figure clad in classic costume, with a diadem on her brow, sitting on the clouds, and having at her side an oval shield, on which a very important peacock is depicted as using the globe for his perch. On either side, cornucopiæ of fruit and flowers barely hold their quantities of produce. The motto, Instauratio saeculi felicis, is placed upon the edge of the shield.
The plate of Frances Louise and Charles Dexter Allen represents a female figure in classic robes seated upon a stone bench at the foot of tall trees. It is twilight, and the glint of the weakening light is seen through the leaves. Books, manuscript, and scrolls are strewn around the solitary figure. The motto, Sapientiam veram petimus, is carved along the top of the wall behind. One arm of the figure is thrown across the top of an open book, on which the names of the owners are given. This plate was suppressed at the request of the publishers of a magazine in New York City, as it so closely resembled the design on their cover.
A very effective plate is that of F. W. Hoyt, of Albany, N.Y. In this an Ionic column forms the whole design. Very beautifully engraved: the lamp of Knowledge is continually burning, and continually fed on the top of the capital, while the names of the “Immortals” are bound around the shaft on a ribbon,—Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Shelley. The name of the owner is carved upon the base.
In the plate of Samuel Wesley Marvin, is depicted the sleeping knight, to whom come