The resuscitator of 'Portrait' book-plates in England in recent times was the late Mr. Thoms. That veteran antiquary tells, in a letter to the Athenæum, how he came to use, as a book-plate, a photograph of himself taken by Dr. Diamond in the very early days of photography. Beneath this he placed an inscription setting forth that the volume in which it was fastened was for the use of himself and his friends—a repetition of the sentiment on one of the Pirckheimer book-plates, 'Sibi et amicis.' We do not, of course, know how far Pirckheimer meant what he said; but we do know, any of us who ever asked the loan of a volume from Mr. Thoms, that the sentiment was by him really meant. No worthy book-borrower ever met with refusal from that ever courteous literary enthusiast.
After considering 'Portrait' book-plates, the collector may turn his attention to the study of the book-plates that have belonged to interesting men. I have spoken of many of these in reaching this point in my volume, but to the names already mentioned may be added some more: Charles, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex, who, as Lord Buckhurst, was a prominent figure at the dull court of Dutch William, saved Dryden from ruin and introduced Mat Prior to society. Then there is Robert Harley—great minister, great statesman, and underminer of the Whig power; founder of the collection of books and manuscripts which now bears his name. The inscription on his book-plate reads: 'Robert Harley of Brampton Castle in the county of Hereford, Esqre'; it is found in two sizes—one for folio volumes, and another for those of smaller size. Its date may be fixed at the very close of the seventeenth century.
Then we have the book-plate of Sir Thomas Hanmer, the Speaker, a bold piece of work, in the 'Simple Armorial' style, dated 1707. Hanmer was born in 1676, so that his book-plate was executed when he was in his thirty-first year—that is, six years prior to his first entry of the House of Commons, and probably before he had made much use of the library with which his name was afterwards associated, when towards the close of his life he ceased to be a man of politics and became a man of letters. He died in 1746, leaving, completed, his edition of Shakespeare's works in half a dozen volumes.
With the book-plate of Sir Thomas Hanmer we may, appropriately, consider that of Sir Paul Methuen, the soldier and minister of Anne and George I., with whom Hanmer must have been frequently brought in contact. Methuen's book-plate is altogether more exceptional in style than Hanmer's; the mantling, after being blown about by a strong wind, ends regularly in tassels; curious creatures figure in the design, and the bracket, on which rests the shield, is upheld by a male and a female angel.
Methuen's book-plate was engraved about 1720. Five years later we find that of John, Lord Boyle, who, though by means of the quarrel with his father he was robbed of the Boyle library, had, whilst yet a young man, a sufficient stock of volumes of his own to necessitate the use of a distinguishing mark for them. His book-plate is by John Hulett, an indifferent engraver.
Matthew Prior's book-plate now claims attention; indeed, if these book-plates of celebrities were taken in strictly chronological order, it should have been considered before that of Sir Paul Methuen. In style it is early Jacobean, so that we may date it at, say, 1718, though there is nothing in the inscription—'Matthew Prior, Esq.'—to show to what particular period in the 'thin hollow-looked' man's life it belongs. But it is tempting to place it at the close of his career as a diplomatist, when he was settling down on the small country property that Harley had bought for him, and was rich on the proceeds of the subscription to his huge volume of Occasional Poems.
After Prior's book-plate we do not meet with another of a celebrity for a considerable number of years. One appears at last in that engraved—probably by a Scotch engraver, about the year 1740—for the luckless Lord Lovat, who lost his head on Tower Hill after the second Scotch rebellion. The inscription deserves consideration, because it is characteristic of the man: 'The Right Honourable Simon Lord Fraser of Lovat, Chief of the Ancient Clan of the Frasers, Governor of Inverness,' etc. Mark the way in which he emphasises his headship of the clan! Can he, in those early days, have heard whisperings of a story that he had an elder brother who was in hiding lest the law should mete out to him its penalty for murder? Anyhow, it is a fine bold book-plate, more in the style of English book-plates of a dozen years earlier; a heavy ermine-lined mantle of estate falls from the back of the helmet and encloses both shield and supporters.
John Wilkes had three book-plates, and what is remarkable, they all make display of the Wilkes armorial bearings. One would fancy that the great demagogue would, at least in the decoration of the shield, display bombs, kegs of gunpowder, Phrygian caps, or other emblems of the manifestation and enjoyment of liberty; but it is not so. Lawrence Sterne's book-plate is certainly more appropriate. Here we have the bust of a young man, whom Lord de Tabley considers to be either Juvenal or Martial, placed on a slab, on either side of which are closed volumes, one inscribed, 'Alas! poor Yorick,' and the other, 'Tristram Shandy.' No doubt this book-plate was engraved in or about the year 1761, when Sterne had bought—as he told a correspondent—seven hundred books, 'dog cheap, and many good,' which he was then busy arranging in the 'best room at Coxwould.' Samuel Rogers's book-plate is in the 'wreath and ribbon' style. William Cowper's is a little later, and shows us a plain shield without the festoon-decoration. His must become a scarce book-plate, for he had but few books—only 177 at his death, and the book-plate does not appear in all; perhaps he began to insert it, but was stopped by loss of reason. Mr. Bolton suggests that the book-plate may be the work of Thomas Park, an engraver who, he reminds us, offered to do anything for Cowper in the way of his art as a labour of love, so much did he appreciate the poet's writings. Byron's book-plate, alluded to elsewhere, is without one remarkable feature; whether or not it is that sent him by the fair admirer already referred to ([p. 16]) one cannot say. Thomas Carlyle's book-plate was engraved, in 1853, by H. P. Walker.
One might extend a list of celebrities who have used book-plates ad infinitum; but there is no need to attempt that process here, though it might be as well to point out that certain book-plates, inscribed with the names of celebrities, which have induced collectors to speak of them as the book-plates of these distinguished persons, cannot really have been made for them. There is, for instance, an early Chippendale book-plate inscribed 'William Wilberforce,' which is, or perhaps I should say, used to be, constantly spoken of as the book-plate of the famous man who was bold enough to suggest that England's colonies could get on very well without the presence of slavery. Now this book-plate is very little, if any, later than 1750, and the great emancipator was not born till 1759; as a matter of fact it was probably engraved for his grandfather, William Wilberforce of Hull. A great many specimens bear his signature written at the top of the book-plate. Then, to give one more instance, there is the book-plate inscribed 'Capt. Cook,' and in this you are told to see the mark of ownership which the once popular hero placed in the volumes that composed his library; but, so far as the evidence of this book-plate goes, Captain Cook may never have had a library at all. It bears arms highly appropriate to a navigator; but they were not granted to the Cook family till 1785, and, as every reader of travel knows, Captain Cook was murdered in 1779. In all probability this book-plate was engraved for the navigator's son, James Cook, who, in 1793, attained to the rank of commander in the Navy; 1793, be it said, is—to judge from its style and decoration—about the date of the book-plate.
Book-plates of English parish libraries and institutions deserve some notice for several reasons. In these days, when enthusiasm for the erection of free libraries is so great, it is curious to be reminded of the past and long-forgotten efforts of our ancestors to civilise their neighbours by the use of books. Gloomy affairs most of these 'parish' libraries are now! You still sometimes find them locked in a damp vestry, or in a country vicarage, where their existence is a secret to the parishioners, and, indeed, to most other people. The book-plates of some of them are interesting. There is a neat design in the Jacobean style, which shows us the shield divided, and contains on the sinister side two crossed keys, and on the dexter two crossed swords. This is inscribed 'Swaffham Library. T. Dalton, F. Rayner, churchwardens, 1737.' At least two designs for these parish book-plates are by Simon Gribelin. In one, we have St. John in the isle of Patmos; and in the other, an unidentifiable figure kneeling in prayer. To each the artist has placed his initials, 'S. G.,' and both belong to about the same date—1723.