French Book-plates Part 2

[Ill.u.s.tration: STYLE ReGENCE (1715).]

In what is called the style Regence (some time after 1715) all this is changed, a light arabesque design is found, quite _a la_ Watteau, graceful and frivolous. Little urns on little brackets, tiny heads springing up from nowhere, dainty festoons trailing round and about without any definite aim in life, and finials at top and bottom which finish nothing because nothing has been commenced.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STYLE LOUIS XV. (1730).]

Pretty, but short-lived, the style Regence gave way to what is known as the Louis XV. This has been stigmatized as _Rococo_, but little we heed the sneer; it has given us the loveliest of book-plates, and fortunately this was the period when libraries and book-plates were most in fashion in France. Curiously enough our artistic neighbours claim this style, with all its graceful convolutions and irregularities, its scorn for anything approaching regularity of form, as essentially French, whilst we, with equal certainty, a.s.sign its invention to Chippendale and name it after him. Without stopping to discuss the question of precedence, that name will suffice to indicate to any British collector the style Louis XV.: a pear-shaped shield in a framework ornamented with rockwork, flowers, branches, and ribbons, a coronet, probably very much on one side, not a straight line anywhere, and no two parts of the design similar, the supporters being shown with the same disregard for method or heraldic convention.

The reaction from this style to that of Louis XVI. is again clearly marked. Straight lines and formal outlines reappear with solid square bases to support the shields. Above the shields the coronets are clearly and neatly shown, and from them hang, in graceful curves, wreaths of flowers, festoons of roses, palm branches, or laurel leaves. On the bases, in some cases, the names of the owners appear, in others geometrical ornaments, Greek key patterns, or simple festoons. This style, somewhat formal and severe, yet essentially French, lasted until the Revolution.

Under the first Empire there was no style, or what was worse, a bad style, stiff, formal, semi-Greek, semi-Egyptian, and wholly false.

The Restoration brought little improvement--a Gothic revival, here borrowing, there stealing, from all the styles that had been in vogue, and spoiling all in turn.

And so it lasted until the fall of the second Empire, since when a revival has set in of national life, of national art, and of art in book-plates.

In attempting to identify anonymous and undated French plates, the first point to be noticed is, whether the tinctures and metals are clearly defined in the conventional manner; if they are, the plate will not be earlier than about 1638 or 1639, when this system was first generally adopted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STYLE LOUIS XVI. (1774).]

The heraldic shield, thus emblazoned, with more or less embellishment, allegorical and pictorial, flourished, from 1639, for just 150 years. In 1789 almost all the old symbols of n.o.bility and t.i.tles of honour in France ceased abruptly; crowns and coronets were thought little of at that date, but--and this was worse--a little later on they were thought so much of as greatly to imperil the lives of those who bore them.

Indeed, the revolutionary period affected book-plates very severely from 1789 until the end of 1804, when Napoleon, having obtained the dignity of emperor, wished to restore some appearance of a court. He therefore revived heraldry in a modified form, and placed it under certain clearly defined regulations.

But the new n.o.bility of the Empire cared little for heraldic insignia, and still less for books or book-plates, consequently for the next ten years the crop is small and comparatively uninteresting. As a rule the plates of the Empire are easily identified; if heraldic, by the simplicity and regularity of the design, and by the peculiarly characteristic cap, or _toque_, designed by David, Napoleon's favourite artist, which was used on most of them in place of crest or coronet.

The non-heraldic plates of this period are also very plain, often indeed being merely printed labels, as in the case, for instance, of that of Marshal Suchet.

On the Restoration of the Bourbon, Louis XVIII., all the Napoleonic badges and devices were swept away, and no satisfactory regulations were devised to replace them. The old n.o.bility, or what remained of them, returned to France and resumed their ancient t.i.tles and armorial bearings, but the general public refused to treat them seriously, and _heraldic_ book-plates have been on the wane ever since. Of late years nearly all men celebrated in arts or letters have adopted either allegorical, pictorial, or humorous ex-libris, whilst modern plates which contain the grandest coats-of-arms frequently belong to those who are least ent.i.tled to bear them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF M. DE THILORIEU.]

The task of identifying unknown ex-libris of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, those which bear a simple coat-of-arms without name of owner, or of artist or engraver, requires some patience, a collection of books of reference, and a knowledge of at least the rudiments of heraldry. The collector will soon learn to distinguish early French woodcuts from German, one marked difference being that nearly all German work was cut in relief, whilst French artists worked in the hollow, thus producing an engraving which feels rough where the ink lies. The crests on German plates are also very unlike those used in France; indeed, crests are comparatively rare on French book-plates, whilst the Germans frequently introduce several on one achievement; another very distinctive feature being the two large proboscis, or pipe-like horns, rising from the sides of the helmet, the _Chalumeaux_, of such constant occurrence in German crest heraldry, but rarely, if ever, found on a purely French ex-libris.

A typical example of this peculiar ornament will be found on the ex-libris of _Hieronimus Ebner_, of Nuremberg, dated 1516, which is attributed to Albert Durer; this is reproduced by M. Henri Bouchot, page 25. Another example of this ornament will be seen on the Alsatian plate of Le R. Pere Ingold de l'Hay.

The mode of engraving the armorial tinctures and bearings will probably show, as we have seen, whether the plate is earlier or later than 1639.

Should the plate carry the name of artist or engraver, the date may be arrived at approximately by reference to the list of Artists and Engravers.

Or, a.s.suming that the plate has neither the name of the owner nor that of the artist, it may carry a motto, in which case several works may be consulted for information. One of the most modern is "Le Dictionnaire des Devises," by Alphonse Cha.s.sant, which contains an enormous number of war cries, mottoes, and devices, adopted by distinguished families, not only in France, but in other nations. For readiness of reference these are arranged in alphabetical order, according to the first word of the sentence.

Another useful reference book is "Historic Devices, Badges, and War Cries," by Mrs. Bury Palliser (London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1870). This contains not only war cries and mottoes, but ill.u.s.trations of some hundreds of family badges and devices, which are of great a.s.sistance in deciding the ownership of foreign nameless plates.

Finally, a.s.suming a French plate to have no other distinctive mark than a shield with heraldic bearings, the first work to consult should be the heraldic dictionary of the engraver Paillot, "La vraye et parfaite science des armoiries ou l'indice armorial de feu maistre Louvan Geliot, advocat," par Pierre Paillot; Paris, 1660. In this M. Paillot has arranged in alphabetical order all the terms used in heraldry, with cross references to those in whose arms the various charges occur. Thus, supposing an ex-libris has a shield on which appears a lion rampant, by consulting his work under the words "lion" and "rampant," some reference will probably be found to the family in which this ex-libris took its origin.

Although this work dates from the seventeenth century, it may often be consulted with advantage for modern arms, as in many good old families the princ.i.p.al charges have not been altered very materially. Another advantage in Paillot's "Armorial" is the fact that he has not confined his attention only to princes and the n.o.bility, but has, on the contrary, given the preference to the gentry, the minor public officials, and middle-cla.s.s families.

There is a similar heraldic table, but on a limited scale, in the "Armorial du Bibliophile," by Joannis Guigard. This work contains ill.u.s.trations of many hundreds of French coats-of-arms, copied from the bindings of books, all of which are fully described. There is also an index to the princ.i.p.al charges borne on the shields of most of the great book collectors of France, information which is fully as useful to the collector of ex-libris as to the collector of ancient bindings.

There are other works also, such as "Les Grands Officiers de la Couronne," by Pere Anselme, and the "Armorial" of Chevillard, but they are not so well adapted for book-plate collectors who have only limited time, and probably but a rudimentary knowledge of French heraldry.

On a few early plates the names of French towns may be found latinized, thus:

Abbatis Villa for Abbeville.

Ambiani " Amiens.

Andegavum " Angers.

Angolismum, or } " Angouleme.

Engolismum } Argentina, or } " Strasbourg.

Argentinensis } Atrebatum " Arras.

Aurelia " Orleans.

Avenio for Avignon.

Bisuntia " Besancon.

Busc.u.m Ducis " Bois-le-duc.

Cadomum " Caen.

Carnutum " Chartres.

Divione " Dijon.

Dola " Dol.

Duac.u.m " Douay.

Ebroic.u.m " Evreux.

Ganab.u.m and } " Orleans.

Aurelia } Gratianopolis " Gren.o.ble.

Landumum " Laon.

Lugdunum, or } " Lyons.

Lugd. } Lutetia Parisiorum " Paris.

Ma.s.silia " Ma.r.s.eilles.

Matisco " Macon.

Milhusini " Mulhouse.

Nanceium " Nancy.

Nannetes " Nantes.

Parisii " Paris.

Pictavium " Poitiers.

Rothomagum " Rouen.

Sylva Ducis " Bois-le-duc.

Tholosa " Toulouse.

Turones " Tours.

Vesontio " Besancon.

These are the towns most likely to be met with; should others occur, not here enumerated, the collector may consult _A Topographical Gazetteer_, by the Rev. Henry Cotton, D.C.L.

Which is the best system of cla.s.sification?

This question has often been asked, and no satisfactory reply to it has yet been given.

It must, indeed, remain to a large extent a matter of individual taste, depending on the leisure and pecuniary means of the collector, the extent and value of his collection, and the special circ.u.mstances (if any) for which the collection has been formed. There are three princ.i.p.al systems, each of which has its advantages and its drawbacks, 1. The simple alphabetical. 2. The national, with subdivisions. 3. The arrangement according to the styles of the designs.

No doubt the purely alphabetical arrangement, according to the family names of the plate owners, is at once the easiest to plan out, and the simplest for the purposes of reference. It also lends itself well to the tracing of family history, and the comparison of the modifications of heraldry in successive generations.

In libraries, public inst.i.tutions, and very large private collections, this alphabetical method must almost necessarily be adopted, each plate being as readily accessible for reference as is a word in a dictionary.

But it involves a large number of alb.u.ms to allow sufficient room in each letter for additions, and the plates are all mixed in one heterogeneous ma.s.s, with little regard to age, style, or beauty in design. In the department of engravings in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, there are upwards of sixty large volumes full of ex-libris, arranged alphabetically. This collection was commenced about twenty years ago, and, under the energetic supervision of M. Georges Duplessis, it has rapidly increased, and the alphabetical arrangement has been adopted to facilitate easy reference and comparison.

But M. Henri Bouchot, who, being an official in the print department there, speaks with authority, remarks that enthusiastic collectors are also students of history in their special branches, and will (that is, if their leisure permit) be certain to prefer some more regular and distinctive system of cla.s.sification than the simple alphabetical arrangement.