As a maker of book-plates, Doolittle was fond of the allegorical style. He made two plates for the Societies of Yale College, and one for the village library of Wethersfield. The latter is an ornamental label only, but the former are quite elaborate examples of the allegorical. The plates of Benjamin S. Brooks, in the Ribbon and Wreath style, and Charles H. Wetmore, which is a copy of one of Maverick’s favorite designs, complete the number of his signed examples. The Guilford Library and George Goodwin plates, which have some features in common with the Wethersfield Library, are confidently attributed to him.
| Benjamin S. Brooks | Ribbon and Wreath. |
| Brothers in Unity | Allegorical. |
| Linonian Library | Allegorical. |
| Social Library, Wethersfield | Literary. |
| Charles H. Wetmore | Ribbon and Wreath. |
* * *
Gideon Fairman, whose signature is on one of the plates of Henry McMurtrie and one of the Linonian Society of Yale College, was born in Connecticut in 1774. He showed an early fondness for engraving, and made rude attempts which showed undoubted talent. In 1810, having made himself a master of his art, he went into partnership with Murray, Draper, and others, in Philadelphia. He made considerable money, and went over to England with Jacob Perkins, where, with Charles Heath for a third partner, they were successful but for a short time, the extravagance of Murray proving their ruin.