Charles Allen - American Book-Plates

Constant attendance at the Library from Sunrise till 8 o’clock in the evening.

In mentioning a few examples of the plates recently made for societies and libraries, no attempt is made to furnish a complete list, nor even to mention all the attractive plates, but to speak of a few which seem of especial interest.

A pleasing architectural plate is used in Columbia College Library to mark the books of the Avery Architectural Library . This was designed by Russell Sturgis, and is in the form of a memorial window or mortuary mural tablet. The central panel bears the inscription, and the date MDCCCXC is given below.

The plate of the Arnold Arboretum , designed by George Wharton Edwards, is very attractive; the just-rising sun shines upon a white pine which stands within an elliptical frame; the names of the Institution and of the University appear upon ribbons which float from the pine. The plate is dated 1892, and is signed, G. W. E.

The same artist designed the first book-plate of the Grolier Club of New York City. In this, Atlas is seen supporting the arms of the club within a circular frame which bears the name, and the date of the founding of the club, 1884; rich foliations with a pounced background surround this central design. The plate is signed G. W. E.

The Public Library of the old whaling town of New London has a plate which is wholly nautical in construction; the name is given on a wheel which is held by a seaman, while the captain stands by in pea-jacket and rough-weather helmet, giving orders; the sail, which rises behind them, affords space for the number of the book; below the deck on which the mariners stand, are seen harpoons and spears of various sizes and kinds; two dolphins are disporting in the waves. This plate is signed by the name of the artist in full. It is by Mr. Edwards.

The Sutro Library of San Francisco uses a plate which gives a large and interesting picture of the natural resources of the locality, and the enterprises carried on in its vicinity; the motto, Labor omnia vincit , appears on the ribbon which floats in the air.

The Watkinson Library of Hartford uses one of the very few portrait plates in the country; just why this style of plate should not be common is not easy to understand. They are used in Boston and Worcester, as mentioned below, but these instances are all that occur in public libraries. In this plate the portrait of David Watkinson, the founder of the library, is enclosed within an oval frame which bears the name and the date of incorporation, 1858. The plate is signed by the American Bank Note Company, New York, and is an excellent piece of steel engraving.

Almost all of the historical societies use plates in which the arms of the state or city in which they are located, are used. The Pennsylvania , Connecticut , and Maine Historical Societies have plates of this kind. In the last-named plate an inescutcheon bears four important dates in the history of the state of Maine.

The Rowfant Club of Cleveland uses a small plate representing the corner of a library; the open window admits the fading light of the sun, which is sinking into the sea; the lattice swings idly, and the pile of books on the table proclaim a busy day.

A very striking plate is used by the University Club of Washington . A wall of rough-faced stone is pierced by a small quatrefoil window in which

a book is laid; the date 1891 is stamped upon the side of the book. Below this, Ionic columns support the wall; between them, in a smooth space, is carved the name and city of the club. The plate is signed Hy. Sandham .

In the Boston Public Library a large number of different plates is used for the volumes coming from different legacies or funds, and in very many cases these plates give a portrait of the donor. Thus we find these portraits on the plate used in the books from the Ticknor Fund, the Phillips Fund, and the Franklin Club Fund. The books remaining from the library of Thomas Prince are also marked with a plate which gives his portrait and a picture of the old meeting-house, in which he preached, and in which the books were stored at one time.

Portraits also appear upon the book-plates of the American Antiquarian Society , which gives that of Ginery Twichell; and the Massachusetts Historical Society , which has a plate giving a portrait of James Savage.

The public libraries of to-day do not usually use elaborate plates in their book-covers; simple labels, with perhaps a city or corporation seal, are the common kind.

EVERAL reasons can be given for the fact that collectors regard some book-plates as of more value than others. With book-plates, as in other lines of collecting, rarity is a desirable feature, and is a prominent element in deciding values.

All of our early American plates can fairly be called scarce when compared with the foreign examples of the same period, for they outnumber ours, fifty to one; but many among ours are rarer than others. The John Franklin , brother of Benjamin, signed by Turner, is an exceeding rare plate; the Thomas Dering , signed by Hurd, is very rare. The plates of Stephen Cleveland , Samuel Chase , Francis Kinloch , Edward Augustus Holyoke , John Vassal , Lewis De Blois , Lenthal , Apthorp , the John Pintard , by Anderson, and many others are not seen in many collections. The plate of George Washington is the most valuable probably of our plates; and while we know the location of a good many of his books that have the plate within the covers, they are in no way obtainable: this plate is not very common, but more copies of it are owned than of some others.

The libraries of our early days, while of respectable size, were not so large as to require the printing of thousands of book-plates; fire and mob violence have destroyed many books of those old collections and their plates with them. Harvard, Yale, William and Mary, and Princeton

have all suffered the loss of books by fire, while many smaller private libraries have been thus devastated. Mr. John Pintard used to say that he had seen the British soldiers carrying away books from the library of Columbia College to barter for grog, and a similar fate from similar hands overtook many of the books stored in the belfry-chamber of the Old South Church, Boston, while later in our history, worse depredations were committed in the Southern cities by soldiers, who took the liberty which war accords to contestants, to despoil many a building, both public and private, ruining books, records, paintings, and other property of antiquarian and historical value. So that the early American plates, at the first not so very numerous, have been reduced at times by wholesale measures.

A second item of interest to the collector is the signature of the engraver of the plate. Signed plates have a value over those which are not signed. The identification of a plate, or the determination of its age, may be considerably strengthened if the engraver’s name appears upon the copper. Then, too, the name of a famous engraver lends much additional interest to a plate. A book-plate signed by Paul Revere arrests the attention of any observer at once, and establishes a value to the same. Likewise a plate signed by Hurd, Doolittle, Dawkins, Anderson, Maverick, Callender, or Turner is worth much more to the collector than one of equal age but of unknown workmanship.