On the whole, then, the usual ornamentation of a Jacobean book-plate renders it easily recognisable. The decoration is stiff and conventional, displays more solidity than grace, and altogether seems less appropriate to a book-plate than the heavy rolls of mantling, which, as we have seen, surrounded the shield during the prevalence of the preceding style. As for the title 'Jacobean' which has been bestowed upon it, it should be explained that the reference is rather to the style of decoration in vogue in the days of James II. than to anything in the days of James I. Lord De Tabley has pointed out that, as compared with the woodwork preserved in churches of the latter half of the seventeenth century, and as compared with the mouldings on monuments of the same period, a practical identity of decoration cannot fail to strike the antiquary, and his choice of the name 'Jacobean' for this class of book-plates is thus abundantly justified.
Examples of Jacobean book-plates are numerous in most English collections, for the style continued long in fashion; indeed, it lasted, in more or less purity, down to 1745, or even later, and I think it quite likely that some of the evidently early undated examples may really have been executed during the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The similarity, to which we have just alluded, between the ornamentation shown upon Jacobean book-plates and that displayed in ecclesiastical decoration of the time of Charles the Second as well as James the Second, makes it very probable that this is so.
The few book-plates which are known to have been designed or executed by Hogarth (see [p. 79]) are in the Jacobean style; but, with the exception of that eminent artist and George Vertue, the men who worked upon Jacobean book-plates were not distinguished engravers. Nevertheless, some of their productions are distinctly good, though the decoration was, perhaps, too often overdone. The touch, in many, suggests that the artist was accustomed to engrave on gold or silver plate. This is notably the case in the book-plate of 'Charles Barlow, Esq., of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,' engraved in, or immediately after, 1730. This book-plate is worthy of observation, should the reader meet with it, as a particularly exaggerated example of the Jacobean style: the framework seems scarcely able to support the decorative accessories with which it is laden, and which include representations of birds, beasts, mythical figures, stony flowers in festoons or baskets, heads, shells, and what not!
The earliest dated Jacobean example is that of 'William Fitz Gerald, Lord Bishop of Clonfert,' which is inscribed '1698.' Here the escutcheon is of the 'Simple Armorial' shape, but set in a Jacobean framework, decorated with leafy sprays, and surmounted by a mitre, the ribbons of which terminate in tassels. Next we have the book-plates of five Cambridge Colleges,—Jesus, Pembroke, Queens', St. John's, and Trinity Hall; all bear the same engraved date—1700. These, and many like them dated in subsequent years, are no doubt the work of one man: the design consists of an escutcheon, on which are the College arms, set in a finely-drawn, scale-patterned frame, bedecked with hawk-bells, ribbons, wreaths, and sprays of flowers. Other College plates—except that of New College, Oxford, which is 'Simple Armorial' in its style—are Jacobean.
In 1701 comes the book-plate of Dame Anna Margaretta Mason. Here the lozenge, in which she bears her arms, appears with decoration very similar to that just described, though slightly more elaborate. In 1703 the book-plate of Philip Lynch shows how similar decoration is bestowed upon an oval escutcheon; whilst, in 1713, the book-plate of Henry, Duke of Kent, furnishes an early dated example of the introduction of the bracket, which is, as we have seen, a leading feature in Jacobean ornamentation.
This is really a remarkably fine book-plate. The escutcheon, indented in a somewhat peculiar fashion, is surrounded by the Garter, and fastened to the front of the bracket, a highly ornamented piece of work, on which stand the two supporters. Above is the ducal coronet; below, in an oblong Jacobean frame, is the inscription. The family of Grey, Dukes of Kent, is prolific in book-plates; that, dated five years later, of 'Mary, Countess of Harrold,' daughter-in-law to Henry, Duke of Kent, is a more elaborate, though less finely executed, piece of Jacobean work. Her arms, and those of her husband, appear side by side in separate oval shields; angels hold aloft an earl's coronet over both, while below, between the shields, is the head of a cherub, whose wings are arranged as a collar.
Other conspicuous Jacobean book-plates are those of Ellerker Bradshaw; Dr. Philip Bisse, Bishop of St. David's; Richard Massie of Coddington, Cheshire; 'James Hustler,' 1730; 'Sir Thomas Hare, Baronet, of Stow Hall, in Norfolk,' dated in 1734 (see [p. 61]); 'Francis Winnington, of Lincoln's Inn, Esq.,' dated in 1732; 'Saml. Goodford of ye Inner Temple, Esq.,' dated in 1737; 'John Robinson, M.D.,' dated in 1742; 'St. Thomas's Hospital Library;' and 'Lucius Henry Hibbins, of Gray's Inne, Esqe.'
A little before, and a little after, 1720 there was a fashion in English book-plates, which may almost be called a style: it was to place the shield of arms in a medallion, the background of which is shaded. Beneath, is the owner's name and description. The term 'Tombstone Style' might not sound an agreeable designation for these book-plates, but it would be very accurate; for, really, there is a strong likeness between them and the monumental slabs placed over deceased persons, whose social status rendered them eligible for interment in positions where they would be walked over by future generations of church-goers. We may mention three such book-plates: Edward Haistwell, dated in 1718, Sir John Rushout and John Lethieullier, Remembrancer of the City.
So far the shape of the shield used has been perfectly symmetrical. We now come to speak of the third style adopted by English book-plate designers, the leading feature of which is an absence of symmetry. This style has been christened 'Chippendale'; and when its characteristics have been described, and the leading features in Chippendale furniture remembered, we shall see the appropriateness of the name.