What happened to Skinner after 1753 I have failed to discover. He is certainly an interesting person from a book-plate collector's point of view, and it is to be hoped something more about him may some day be brought to light. In considering his identity it is worth remembering that a little after his disappearance, viz. in 1755, another West of England engraver named Skinner—Matthew Skinner of Exeter, is found working on book-plates. He signs three examples, all designed in the Chippendale style—'Jean Eli Jaquéri de Moudon en Suisse, Né en 1732'; 'Sr Edmd Thomas, Bart.,' and 'Peregrine Fras Thorne.' The two first are ordinary Chippendale examples, but in the third many implements of the soldier's art are introduced.
Another very prolific engraver of book-plates—unknown except in that capacity—was 'Robert Mountaine.' His book-plates are frequently dated, but the dates are placed in the most obscure positions, and in the smallest of figures, so it needs a careful study of the engravings to discover them. He laboured wholly in the Chippendale style; his touch is peculiar, and his treatment graceful. Roughly speaking, he worked from 1740 to 1755. His signature varies—sometimes it is 'R.M.,' sometimes 'Mountaine.'
The following are a few of his book-plates:—
| Henry Bowles. |
| W. Harrison, D.D., Fellow of C. C. C. Oxon. |
| R. C. Cobbe. |
| S. J. Collins. |
| C. Blackstone. |
| Ed. Gore, Kiddington, Oxon. |
| John Duthy. |
| John Hoadly, LL.D. [This is Dr. Hoadly, the versatile author of oratorios and comedies.] |
| Sophia Penn. |
| Jos. Portal. |
| C. S. Powlet, Itchen. |
| Geo. Powlet, Esq. |
| John Sturgis. |
A list of nearly sixty book-plates by Mountaine is given in the Ex Libris Journal, ii. p. 46.
Hogarth's book-plates have been already described in this volume. The 'W. H.' who signs certain examples, once wrongly ascribed to Hogarth, was a certain William Hibbart, who, like Skinner, was a Bath artist, and etched portraits after the manner of Worlidge. Lord De Tabley mentions that Worlidge himself executed a book-plate—that of the Honourable Henrietta Knight—which he signs in full. Worlidge was certainly a distinguished engraver; his etchings after Rembrandt are excellent and highly prized. He died in 1766.
The work of Sir Robert Strange as a book-plate engraver has been already referred to. Both Lumisden's and Dr. Drummond's book-plates were probably executed after Strange's departure from England, and therefore after 1745. His continental visit was rendered necessary, or at least expedient, by the manner in which he had identified himself with the Stuart cause during the then recent troubles. He had joined the Jacobite Life-Guards, and employed his artistic ability in designing pay-notes for the Jacobite soldiers. After studying some time in Paris under Le Bas, he returned to England, where he remained till 1760. He then went back to the Continent, where his ability was freely appreciated, and where he was loaded with decorations at Rome and Florence. England at length recognised his merit, and in 1787 the King conferred upon him a knighthood, which he lived for five years to enjoy. His devotion to the House of Stuart never altered; the inscription beneath one of his most celebrated portraits reads 'Charles James Edward Stuart, called the Young Pretender.'
After the days of Strange, an innumerable number of artists sign their names to English book-plates; yet, with three exceptions, the names of none are known to fame till we come to those of a comparatively recent date. The exceptions are Francis Bartolozzi, John Keys Sherwin, and Thomas Bewick. Bartolozzi, the man of whom Sir Robert Strange displayed such ill-concealed jealousy, began to work in England about four years after the accession of George III., though it was some years before his worth was appreciated by the people with whom he came to reside. None of his book-plates belong to a date prior to 1770 or 1780. He removed to Lisbon in 1802 to take charge of the National Academy, and while there, it will be remembered, engraved an Englishman's book-plate in 1805 (see [p. 95]). His death took place at Lisbon in 1815. Sherwin was born in poverty, and, owing largely to his own folly, died in it, after having at one time amassed a considerable sum of money. He was a pupil of Bartolozzi, gained the Royal Academy gold medal in 1772, and was appointed Engraver to the King in or about 1785. His book-plate work is referred to at [p. 72].
Thomas Bewick, who, as we have seen ([pp. 108-13]), was the most prolific of any English engraver of book-plates, was born at Cherry Burn, in Northumberland, in 1753, and died in 1828. The incidents in his history are too well known to need repetition here, and his work upon book-plates has been already mentioned. It may be, however, noticed that his earliest book-plate is dated in 1797, the year in which he published the first volume of his British Birds.