An old plate of Richard Hoe Lawrence caricatures each of his three names: the first, by the “dickey bird”; the second, by the agricultural implement suggested by the middle name: and the third, by a picture of the emaciated Saint Lawrence frying over a fire of flaming fagots. As he fries, he reads from a book entitled, Lawrence on Gridiron.
The plate of Marcus Benjamin, of New York City, is a punning plate, and represents the gentleman himself riding his hobby-horse, which is in the form of a big folio. With a long quill for a lance, and wearing a crucible for a hat, he rides his horse, full merrily. The plate of J. Hiestand Hartman, of Lancaster, Pa., is very curious. In this, the shield is borne by a skeleton, who stands erect, with the lance resting in the right arm. A banner floats from the lance-head, ribbons rise in profusion on either side, and the grinning sentinel is enclosed in the fluttering ends. E. A. Hitchcock, of the United States Army, has a plate of peculiar and hidden meaning. In this, the prominent feature is a huge dragon, winged, scaly, with forked tail and snakelike head. With the end of his tail in his mouth, he forms a frame of oval form, and repulsive kind, for a picture of a little girl, who seems to be sitting upon a honeycomb, and who holds a necklace in her left hand. The motto, Non nisi Parvulis, must contain some reference to the event recorded in the book-plate.
The plate of George Dudley Seymour has the unusual feature of a large representation of an old door, with its carved posts, and pediment of high-boy style. In the centre of the design, above this, at the right, a small view is given of the whole house from which the door is taken, and in the opposite corner a scroll bears the words: Captain Charles Churchill, hys house at Weathersfield in the Colony of Connecticut in Newe England, 1754-1885. This plate is by W. F. Hopson, of New Haven, Conn., and is very effective. Mr. Hopson’s own plate is also a very beautiful specimen of his skill. In this, the central panel is filled with three old folios in aged condition, tumbled together upon the table. In the upper corners, a press for plate work and a painting on an easel are seen. Below the central space, a closed portfolio affords space for the record of the number of the volume. About all, are elaborate scrolls of rustic design. Over the space, a small kettle holds a number of fine brushes, and the motto is on a ribbon which is well carried through the scrolled sides. The motto is an adaptation of one of older date, and reads as follows: Old books to read, old prints to scan, old wood to carve, old friends to greet.
As yet, we have but one example of the work of C. W. Sherborn, the celebrated engraver, of London, among our American book-plates. This is the beautiful plate of Mr. S. P. Avery, of New York City. This is not heraldic, but of a decidedly personal bent, and very indicative of the special lines of collecting to which the owner is devoted. The upper part of the plate is filled with a conventionalized tulip design, which is extremely rich in appearance and graceful in disposition. A ribbon bearing the name, Samuel Putnam Avery, flutters in and out among the curves of the tulip stems and leaves. Grouped at the lower edge of the plate are a number of books, in artistic bindings, one being noticeable as having a Grolieresque design. The titles of most of the books can be read, and among them