American Book-Plates: A Guide to Their Study with Examples

by Charles Dexter Allen

[3.] Adams. John Adams.

Armorial. The Boylston arms. The shield surrounded by a garter on which the motto is given,—Libertatem amicitiam retenebis et fidem. The whole design surrounded by thirteen stars. Second President of the United States.

[4.] Adams. John Quincy Adams.

Simply the name rudely engraved and surrounded by a narrow line. Probably the first of the J. Q. A. book-plates. Sixth President of the United States.

[5.] Adams. John Quincy Adams.

Armorial. Boylston arms. Ribbon and Wreath. Motto-ribbon empty.

[6.] Adams. John Quincy Adams.

Armorial. The Boylston arms; the shield enclosed within a garter, on which the motto appears,—Fidem—Libertatem—Amicitiam.

[7.] Adams. John Quincy Adams.

Armorial. The shield is quartered, and bears in the first quarter a curious specimen of home-made heraldry. The ancestors of the President bore no arms, and in their place appears a stag standing at gaze before a pine tree, while below in the water a fish, probably a cod, is swimming; the whole design surrounded with thirteen stars. This was his own invention. The other quarters bear the Smith, Quincy, and Boylston arms. The whole shield is surrounded by a garter bearing the motto Fidem, Libertatem, Amicitiam retinebis. From “Tacitus.”