I have spoken of J. Skinner as a Bath engraver, but the reader will observe that none of the book-owners, whose book-plates by him I have as yet named, are specially connected with Bath, and on none has the engraver mentioned it as his place of residence; but insomuch as then—in the palmy days of the reign of King Nash—all roads led to Bath, it is probable that, at the fashionable season, the Cumberland baronet, as well as the Essex and Warwickshire squires, found his way thither, and followed the fashion by having a book-plate engraved, just as he would follow it, during his sojourn in the ancient city, by squandering his time and injuring his digestion with late hours and a surfeit of generally unwholesome gaiety. The next dated book-plate by Skinner bears this out; on this, engraved in 1739, he gives Bath as his place of abode; but this book-plate is that of Francis Massy of Rixton, Lancashire; it is similar in design to the Carington just mentioned and figured.
But earlier in style than any of Skinner's work yet mentioned is the book-plate of 'William Hillary, M.D.,' dated in 1743; here the mantling descends nearly to the base of the shield, quite in the 'Armorial' style. This seems to be his latest work in early fashion. In 1741 he had designed a book-plate for 'John William Fuhr,' in which there are clear indications of Chippendale ornamentation. This is indeed a transitional book-plate; it has a Jacobean shield, which the artist has adorned with Chippendale ornament; the tinctures are only partially expressed and the shield remains symmetrical, though the floral sprays and shell-work give it, at first sight, the appearance of not being so. Identical, almost, with this book-plate is that done by Skinner for 'Henry Pennant,' and dated in 1742; and like it, but weaker, is that of 'Thos. Haviland, Bath,' dated in the same year.
Skinner's next book-plates are those of 'Charles Delafaye, Esq., of Wichbury, Wilts' (1743); 'Johnson Robinson' (1744); 'John Hughes of Brecon, Esqre.'; and 'Benja: Adamson' (1745); 'Hen. Toye Bridgeman, Esq., of Princknash, Gloucestershire' (1746); 'Henry Walters, Esq.,' and 'John Wodroofe' (1747), and 'Thos. Fitzherbert, Esq.,' (1749). All these last-named book-plates are much on a level as regards artistic merit, and that level is not a high one; Benjamin Adamson's book-plate, figured on [p. 209], is a fair example of it, though it is not so good as the Bridgeman book-plate of the same year. In 1750, however, we find a more noteworthy specimen of Skinner's work in the book-plate of 'Francis Fleming.' There is a Scotch look about this, which suggests that the owner, and not the engraver, was responsible for its design; the shield is oddly shaped and is on a medallion, whilst musical instruments of various kinds are figured beneath; Sir Wollaston Franks points out to me that the Fleming coat of arms here represented is borne only by the family of the Earls of Wigtown. The same year (1750) Skinner did an ordinary Chippendale book-plate for Dr. Robert Gusthart, whose name appears in the Bath Guide as a doctor in practice there in 1773.
In 1751 Skinner engraved a pleasing Chippendale book-plate for William Oliver, a son of his more famous namesake, whose book-plate, also by Skinner, has been already described in these pages ([p. 85]). Young Oliver's plate shows a remarkable fineness of touch, and is altogether in very good taste—not over-ornamented. Two years later we have the latest known example of Skinner's work: the book-plate of 'The Revd I. Dobson, A.M.,' which is coarse in execution, and suggests that the artist's skill as an engraver was diminishing.
Of the twenty-two known book-plates by Skinner only two are undated, Dr. Oliver's, already described ([p. 85]), and that of Sir John Smyth, Bart., LL.D. This last he must have executed early in his career. The shield bearing the arms stands upon a platform, and is Jacobean in shape and ornamentation; the background is shaded. Clumsily drawn and clumsily posed female figures, partly draped, stand upon bracket-like excrescences that spring from the shield, whilst cupids recline below it and hold it aloft.