French Book-plates Part 6

Pierre Sarragoz, of Besancon. Armorial plate, without owner's name, signed P. Deloysi sc. The plate contains a number of coats-of-arms, statues, and a bust of the Emperor Rodolf II., to whom the Sarragoz family, originally from Spain, owed their n.o.bility. Pierre Sarragoz died October 14, 1649, according to his epitaph in the church of St. Maurice at Besancon.

Of engravings by Pierre Deloysi, of Besancon (called _le vieux_), few examples are known. He was a goldsmith, and engraved the coins issued in his native town.

De Regnouart. Armorial plate. Motto: "Age. Abstine. Sustine."

Charreton. Armorial plate, name below shield.

Ex-libris of Roquelaire. Armorial plate, without owner's name, signed L.

Tiphaigne. The arms are surrounded by the collars of the orders of Saint Michael, and of the Holy Ghost.

Cha.s.sebras. Armorial plate, with the name on a ribbon.

Boussac, of Limousin. Armorial plate without owner's name.

Antoine de Lamare, Seigneur de Chenevarin. An armorial plate with the inscription "Ex-libris Antonii de Lamare, D. de Cheneuarin." This plate was found on the cover of a book having the signature Antoine de Lamare, and the date of its acquisition, 1629. A very interesting feature about it is that above the shield is printed (typographically) the blazon of the arms of Lamare, and of those of the families of Croisset and of Clercy, with whom he was connected.

Ex-libris des freres Sainte-Marthe. Armorial plate. Motto: "Patriae flicia tempora nebunt." Signed J. Picart sc.

Jean-Pierre de Montchal, Seigneur de la Grange. Armorial, without owner's name. Motto: "Je lay gaignee." The shield rests on mosaic work, on which the charges are repeated. In his "Traite des plus belles bibliotheques de l'Europe" (1680), Le Gallois mentions the library of De Montchal amongst those recently sold or dispersed.

Nicolas-Thomas de Saint Andre. A large plate without owner's name.

Motto: "Pietate fulcior."

Scott, Marquis de la Mesangere, in Normandy. Armorial plate without the owner's name.

Ex-libris de Garibal. Languedoc family. Name below shield.

Ex-libris de Berulle. Name below shield.

Bovet. Nameless. Armorial. Family of Dauphine.

Bernard de Nogaret, duc d'Epernon. Large nameless armorial plate of handsome design. The shield surrounded by the collars of the orders of Saint Michael, and of the Holy Ghost. A very fine plate, probably the work of an Italian artist.

"Messire Francois de Varoquier. Chevallier de l'ordre du Roy son con^{er} et maistre d'hostel ord^{re} Tresorier de France G^{nal} des Finances et grand voier en la generalite de Paris."

Motto: "Recta ubique sic et cor."

Le Feron. Armorial plate without owner's name. The princ.i.p.al charges are repeated on the mosaic pavement which supports the shield.

Le Puy du Fou. Two sizes, both without owner's name. Armorial. Signed J.

Picart. Poitou family.

Joannes Bardin, presbyter. Motto: "Hic ure, hic seca, modo parcas in aeternum." Two sizes, armorial.

Lesquen. An armorial plate without owner's name. Motto: "VIN CEN TI."

Breton family.

Large nameless armorial. Signed Raigniauld, Riomi, 1644. See reduced reproduction.

Raigniauld, Riomi, 1644. The late Lord de Tabley, in his "Guide," says: "This engraver signs and dates a fine, but coa.r.s.ely executed, anonymous armorial plate. The shield is untinctured and quarterly; first, a star, on a chief, three trefoils slipped; second, a cross pattee; third, a wing; fourth, two bars, in base a wheel; over all an escutcheon charged with a fesse. Fine leaf-like, simple mantling to helmet. No crest. I have no further knowledge of the artist. The more modern French form of this surname is Regnault. Riomi is an old-fashioned town in Auvergne, just north of Clermont." It is now spelt _Riom_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARMORIAL BOOK-PLATE BY RAIGNIAULD, DATED 1644.]

This is the fourth dated plate (1574, 1611, 1613, 1644) before 1650, the next we meet with is that of Andre Felibien, dated 1650.

Francois de Malherbe (1555-1628). The poet had plates in two sizes, both armorial, and both probably engraved early in the seventeenth century, and with the tinctures incorrectly shown. Neither bears the owner's name. Poulet-Mala.s.sis reproduces the larger plate.

Amy Lamy. A curious and exceptional plate, having the portrait of this unknown bibliophile, with the motto: "Usque ad aras," and six lines of complimentary Latin verse.

A large nameless armorial book-plate (unknown), with the motto "In ma.n.u.s tuas Domine sortes mea," signed J. de Courbes fecit, with several other plates which cannot be identified, complete the list of plates of this period mentioned by Poulet-Mala.s.sis. In most cases he gives details of the arms and crests which students who desire to be conversant with French heraldry may consult with advantage.

It will thus be seen that the proportion of book-plates which can be positively a.s.signed to a date prior to 1650 is small. Omitting those which were produced in the provinces on the German frontier, or under the influence of foreign artists, it will be remarked that all the plates produced within the geographical limits of the France of that period were essentially heraldic in character, composed of emblazoned shields, with helmets, crests, mantling, and supporters, often surrounded by wreaths of laurel or palm branches, and frequently resting on handsome mosaic platforms, decorated with the princ.i.p.al charges of the shield. And so generally was the science of heraldry understood in those days, that on only about one-half of the plates was it deemed necessary to add the owner's name to the shield displaying his arms.

In the reigns of Henri IV. and Louis XIII. book-plates were probably very uncommon, and the large size in which they were produced, for the ma.s.sive folios then in vogue, has militated much against their preservation. They are, of all book-plates, the most eagerly sought for by collectors; they are rare, they have great artistic merit, and the heraldry is of the grandest and purest style ever known in France.

Pierre d'Hozier compiled a list (which has never yet been published) of the names, t.i.tles, and arms of one hundred and twenty-five persons, who, living in 1631, were known as collectors and lovers of works on heraldry, history, and genealogy. This list was accompanied by drawings of the armorial bearings of each of the one hundred and twenty-five collectors (engraved by Magneney and J. Picart), the cream of the book-lovers of the day, _la fine fleur des bibliophiles_, all possessors of libraries, and it may also reasonably be supposed, all possessed of ex-libris.

Yet of all these Poulet-Mala.s.sis a.s.serts that he has found but five whose plates are known at present, namely, those of Le Puy du Fou, Montchal, Auzoles de la Peyre, Jean Bigot, and the brothers Sainte-Marthe. Of the remaining one hundred and twenty no book-plates are known; that some amongst their number must have had them is reasonably certain. But where shall we find them, or shall we ever find them?

_Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?_

[Ill.u.s.tration: NAMELESS ARMORIAL PLATE.]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER V.

EXAMPLES OF EX-LIBRIS. FROM 1650 TO 1700

The plates of _Andre Felibien_, escuier, sieur des Avaux, seigneur de Iavercy, Historiographe du Roy, are notable as being dated 1650 and as marking the commencement of a transition period. The heraldic style begins to show variations; the mantling becomes less sumptuous and decorative, and the helmets are displaced by coronets, often usurped by those who have no right to them, either by birth, t.i.tle, or estates. The shields change from the old square French shape to oval, surrounded by a framework, or a decorative cartouche. The fashion of resting the shield and supporters on a mosaic pavement, having a geometrical heraldic design, disappears, to be replaced by a small piece of landscape with gra.s.s and flowers, or the shield and supporters stand firmly on a square solid base resembling a flight of steps, or an architectural plinth.

Of this transition period the most interesting plates are those recording, in the one case a gift, in the other a legacy, of valuable books to the College of Jesuits, in Paris, in 1692.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF PIERRE DANIEL HUET.]

These books had been collected by two of the most famous bibliophiles of the century, Pierre Daniel Huet, Eveque d'Avranches, and Gilles Menage, Doyen de St. Pierre d'Angers. Bishop Huet chose to present his books during his lifetime (he survived the parting, and lived until 1721), and the gift was of great value, consisting as it did, of 8,312 volumes, besides many rare ma.n.u.scripts.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF ANDRe FELIBIEN, 1650.]

The Jesuit fathers recorded their grat.i.tude on ex-libris (in four sizes) of an appropriately rich character, carrying the arms of Bishop Huet.

They went to less expense in showing their appreciation of the legacy of Menage, perhaps because he was dead (he died July 23rd, 1692), or perhaps because he only left them about 2,000 volumes. Neither Bishop Huet nor Dean Menage appears to have used an ex-libris, but the bindings of their books carried their arms stamped in gold on the covers. An account of the libraries of these famous collectors is given in "L'Armorial du Bibliophile."

Between 1650 and 1700 the number of book-plates is not large, nor are they of any exceptional interest, beyond showing the gradual alteration in style. It will suffice to name a few of the finest examples.

Nicolas Martigny de Marsal, by Sebastien Le Clerc. Four sizes, two dated respectively 1655 and 1660.