American Book-Plates

COLLECTORS of book-plates are not very numerous in the United States; but, small as their number is, it has reached the present figure almost at a bound, for we now count about seventy, who are collecting, while, four years ago, there were scarcely a score.

A survey of our collections shows that all are particularly interested to collect American plates. The early American examples are few, and daily becoming scarcer, as the search for them grows hotter, and the competition between prospective owners increases.

The scarcity and value of our early specimens are not appreciated fully by our brother-collectors over the sea, nor is our national pride in keeping them within our borders realized. Having so few, we cannot be lavish with the rare examples we are able to find; and so it comes about that the demand for our plates is not met as it once was. The book-plates of our ancestors are not so easily found as are those of the past generation in the older countries. Books were fewer here, devastation by fire and pillage has ruined much that we lament over, and the good old plates turn up but rarely now.

Our collections are not large as compared with the gigantic aggregations which we hear of as being made in England. Think of one collector having one hundred thousand specimens! The largest collection here will not exceed six thousand, and those next nearest to that fall some two thousand behind it. Our collections are good, representative of the best foreign styles and dates, and do not include much that is valueless. “Small, if need be, in numbers, but excellent in quality,” would seem to be the maxim of those who collect over here. German plates, particularly of the oldest engravers, French plates, and the English plates of men of prominence, are well represented. Plain heraldic plates are not held in high esteem, while the Pictorial, Literary, Library Interior, and Ladies’ plates are all sought for.

Among the very first to enter the field as a collector of book-plates in the United States was the late James Eddy Mauran, of Newport, R.I.

Mr. Mauran was a New Yorker by birth, the son of a West India merchant. He was a painstaking collector, a close student, and a man fully acquainted with the foreign languages, and the literature of the times he felt an especial interest in. While deeply interested in other lines of research and collecting, he found time to gather a good collection of American and foreign book-plates, which were mounted with the nicety and taste shown in all branches of his collecting.

At the time of his death, in 1888, he had about 3500 plates in all, and they were appraised by Mr. Hewins, a friend of Mr. Mauran, at three hundred dollars, and were sold to a Philadelphia gentleman. Mr. Mauran had a way of mounting his plates which was original and unique. He pasted them down on pieces of marbled paper, and other kinds of paper used in the ornamental binding of books. He was at pains to obtain from binders, stationers, and booksellers all the pieces of paper of this kind that could be found, in order to have as many different mounts as possible. These papers were all mounted on stiffer white paper, and formed a good substantial ground for the final mounting.

His titled plates were mounted on gold and silver paper; and the ladies’ plates on bits of silk, damask, satin, or old pieces of brocade and other things pertaining to ladies’ wear. The American plates were mounted on the older styles of marbled papers, and on fancy patterns and colors in use years ago. They were numbered on the back, and were kept in alphabetical order. Very often the back of the mount was covered with notes about the owner of the plate. Portraits, autographs, views of houses, and sketches of the owners from newspapers, were also mounted and placed with the plate they were identified with. The plates were kept in old book-covers of fine, polished calf, beautifully tooled on the back and edges. An interesting history is connected with these covers. Mr. John Austin Stevens, of New York, had made a fine collection of the poetry, ballads, and romances of the mediæval ages, which was bound in the sumptuous style mentioned. Upon the occasion of a visit to Europe, Mr. Mauran, who was a friend of Mr. Stevens, saw them carefully packed in boxes, which were deposited in the vaults of the Chamber of Commerce building in New York, and insured for ten thousand dollars. During the absence of the owner, the negro janitor of the building broke open the boxes, and, tearing out the insides of the treasured volumes, sold them for waste paper! Portions were recovered; but the covers were of no further use as originally intended, and they fell to Mr. Mauran, who used them to hold his book-plates. This collection was quite rich in the early plates of America; for Mr. Mauran, being well-nigh the first in the field, had the cream of collecting for some time, and was able to secure plates which now are not to be had.

Not very long ago, this collection changed hands again, as the first purchaser, having no time to make use of the plates, was willing to sell them to some collector who could make them of greater use among others interested in the same topic. In some way the collection became disrupted, and parts of it are owned by different collectors.

Mr. E. N. Hewins is one of the older collectors among us. Mr. Hewins has a very interesting album of American plates, in which a goodly number of the rarer specimens find a resting-place. Other albums are used for the foreign examples, and the number of plates in the collection places it well up towards the head of the list of large and valuable collections. The plates are classified by styles.

Mr. Richard C. Lichtenstein, of Boston, has a large collection of book-plates. A part of his collection is arranged alphabetically in a large quarto bound in brown morocco, with gold tooling, and made especially for the purpose with leaves of very thin tinted paper. Individual mounts are also used. This collection is one of the largest and probably the best, as regards Americana, of all in the United States.

Another Boston collector who has been collecting for some time, and who has a valuable collection, is Mr. Fred J. Libbie. Mr. Libbie has a copy of Warren, most beautifully bound in crushed levant, which is extra-illustrated by the insertion of rare original plates, autograph letters, portraits, and views. The volume is extended to fully three times its original thickness, and is an elegant specimen of the book-binders’ art, as well as a most valuable storehouse of fine book-plates. Other works on the subject of book-plates are in process of extra-illustration by Mr. Libbie, who is an enthusiastic collector, confining himself to no specialties, but making an excellent collection in all lines.

The largest collection of plates is that belonging to Mr. H. E. Deats, of Flemington, N.J. This industrious collector, while a rather new comer, has distanced all the older men, and, being the owner of the bulk of the Mauran collection, has some very fine examples, as well as large numbers, to boast of.

Dr. Henry C. Eno, of Saugatuck, Conn., has a large and valuable collection mounted in volumes bound in full levant.

We number among our collectors several ladies, and it is earnestly to be hoped that here, as in England, we may have plates designed by lady artists. Probably the earliest lady collector is Mrs. Richard J. Barker, of Warren, R.I., who has several albums filled with good plates, and who has contributed an interesting article on the subject of early American plates to the literature of our topic. Other ladies who are collecting are Miss Helen E. Brainerd, of Columbia College Library; Mrs. C. H. Duhme, of Cincinnati; Mrs. E. M. Gallaudet, of Washington; and Miss Louise Fitz, of Newton Centre, Mass.

The mounting and arrangement of plates are vexed questions among collectors. The really satisfactory method has not yet been discovered. Many ways are tried; and experience shows that while one may at different times think he has found the very best way, its disadvantages are sure to appear, and a new method will be looked for.

Mr. E. H. Bierstadt, of New York, keeps his collection in large albums constructed for the purpose. The leaves are of double thicknesses of heavy calendered manilla paper. The plates are pasted down on mounts of a stiff white ledger paper, and are then placed in the book, four to the page, by slipping the corners of the mounts into slits cut for the purpose in the page. This allows the easy readjustment, the easy exchange of a poor specimen for a better one, the re-placing of a plate wrongly classed, and the extension of alphabetical arrangement ad infinitum. The appearance of the volume is handsome.

Mr. Henry Blackwell, of New York, is mounting all his plates on rather large sheets of a stiff paper, of a dark tint, which shows off the plates to good advantage. They are arranged in alphabetical order, and are kept in neat wooden boxes.

The plates of Mr. Pickering Dodge, of Washington, D.C., are mounted on a dove-colored mount, which is an advantageous tint. The plates are arranged according to styles. This collector, however, is about to change to albums.

Mr. Nathaniel Paine, of Worcester, Mass., has his plates mounted directly upon the pages of an album made for them. Portraits, views, etc., are also interspersed.

The present writer used originally the individual mount; but becoming dissatisfied with that method, because of injury by careless handling, adopted the albums, using in both instances the “hinges” of the stamp collector to fasten the plates down with. He is now changing back to the individual-mount plan, as it admits of more freedom in comparison, easy changes, and the better display of the collection, either to a few, or to an audience.

The larger part of our collectors do not mount their plates at all, or have any system of arranging them. They are kept in odd envelopes, boxes, between the leaves of books, or in a desk-drawer, and there await the new arrival, or the shaking up incident to the search for a particular specimen. This is ruinous.

The larger part of our collectors are members of the Ex Libris Society, of England, while many have also joined the societies in France and Germany. No American Society has as yet been seriously proposed.

Others who have collections, or who are interested in book-plates, but are not members of the societies, are: —

THE EX LIBRIS SOCIETIES

THE Ex Libris Society, of London, was organized in 1891, and now has four hundred members, of whom about fifty are residents of the United States. The Society publishes a handsomely illustrated Monthly Journal, which is free to members. The Annual Dues are ten shillings, sixpence. The Entrance Fee is two shillings, sixpence. This Society will probably limit its membership and raise its dues before long. All persons interested in the collecting of book-plates, except dealers in plates, are eligible to membership. The pre-payment of the Entrance Fee and the Annual Dues constitutes one a member.

The Honorable Secretary of the Society is Mr. W. H. K. Wright, of Plymouth, England. The Corresponding Secretary for the United States is Mr. Charles Dexter Allen, Hartford, Conn.

DES EX-LIBRIS-VEREINS ZU BERLIN

The German Society published the first number of its Quarterly in October, 1891. This is beautifully illustrated with many plates in colors, and is free to all members. The Annual Dues are twelve marks. The address of the Secretary is, Friedrich Warnecke, Friedrich-Wilhelmsstrasse, 4. Berlin, W., Germany.

SOCIETE FRANÇAISE DES COLLECTIONNEURS D’EX LIBRIS

The French Society was organized in 1893, and published the first number of its Archives in January, 1894. This monthly is free to all members. The Annual Dues are nineteen francs and fifty centimes. The address of the Secretary is, 3 Foubourg Saint-Jacques, Paris.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AMERICAN, ENGLISH, AND FRENCH

THE AMERICAN BIBLIOGRAPHY

By Eben Newell Hewins

Book-plate collecting in the United States is of such recent growth that the literature on the subject is naturally limited, consisting of only a few scattered magazine and newspaper articles.

The following list is believed to be nearly, if not quite, complete.

The compiler desires his thanks to all who have assisted him in his work; and especially would he thank Mr. H. W. Fincham and Mr. James Roberts Brown, for kind permission to use their exhaustive English Bibliography, which is here reprinted from the journal of the Ex Libris Society; and also Mr. Walter Hamilton, for permission to use his Bibliography, prepared for his “Hand-Book of French Book-Plates.”

Additions to this list are desired, and correspondents having knowledge of articles not noted here will confer a favor by communicating with either the author or compiler.

1. The Heraldic Journal. Vol. I., American book-plate engravers; Thomas Johnson, p. 6; Nat. Hurd, p. 19; John Cole, Jun., pp. 95-108. Vol. II., American book-plate engravers; Thomas Turner, p. 94. Vol. III., The Harris collection of book-plates, pp. 21-24; Thomas Child’s book-plate, p. 190. Vol. IV., The Spooner book-plate, p. 45; the William King Atkinson book-plate, p. 119; Heraldic Painters and Engravers, p. 192.

    J. K. Wiggin, Boston, 8vo, 1865-1868.

2. Whitmore (William H.). Elements of Heraldry.

    Boston, 1866.

Contains copies of book-plates and notices of early American book-plate engravers.

3. Winsor (Justin). A catalogue of the collection of books and manuscripts formerly belonging to the Rev. Thomas Prince, … now deposited in the public library of the city of Boston, v., viii., illustrated.

    Boston, U.S.A., 4to, 1870.

Describes the various book-plates of the Rev. Thomas Prince, 1687-1758.

4. Brown (John Coffin Jones). The Coffin family, its armorial bearings, and origin of the name, illustrated.

    Boston, 8vo, 1881.

5. Literary World. A Library Pest, July 2, 1881. The Study of Book-plates. A review of Warren, Aug. 13, 1881. (By Rev. Dr. Joseph Henry Dubbs.)