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BOOKPLATES THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS |
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A historical retrospective 4 EX-LIBRIS: A THEMATIC APPROACH |
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4g EX-LIBRIS OF SOME INTERESTING PERSONALITIES 1700-1970
Ex-libris have been used since their inception by a very wide
range of personnalities. As we have seen, during the earlier period
of their history their owners were mainly nobility and gentry,
ecclesiastical personalities and – generally speaking – people
of some social status who had libraries. From the 17th century
onwards, ownership of ex-libris spreads to a widening circle of
people, their only common characteristic being a desire to
embellish and mark the ownership of their books. The
appearence of collectors of ex-libris diluted this criterion somewhat,
and occasionally in modern times one finds ex-libris made
by artists for celebrities or people they admire which have never
even been seen by their ‘owners’. Such a practice is to be deplored,
and this kind of pseudo ex-libris should not be classified as bookplates
proper. Fortunately, however, they tend to be exceptions.
Over the centuries, the widest possible range of persons have
used ex-libris, and often persons which one would not expect to
bother with having a bookplate; conversely, some personalities
who were famous bibliophiles never took the trouble to commission
an ex-libris. The following selection is thus to some extent
representative in that it is not systematic, but it does not in any
way aim at being more than an indicator of a few well-known persons
who used bookplates.
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4g/1. N. Guérard (F)  PLACIDE DE SAINT-HÉLÈNE, C2, 97 x 61,
c.1715.
The French geographer Placide de Saint-Hélène (1649-1734) was geographer to the Kings Louis XIV and XV, and played an important role in the development of modern cartography. |
4g/2. John Wood (GB, c.1720-1780) DAVID GARRICK, C2, 70
x 75, c.1760. F11710.
Viz. BNL #226.
Great interpreter of Shakespeare, Garrick (1717-1779) was perhaps the most famous actor in Britain in the 18th century. He was one of the earliest collectors of Shakesperian literature and brought together an important dramatic library. |
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4g/3. Pierre Claude de la Gardette (F, 1743-1781) ANTOINE
LAURENT DE LAVOISIER, C2, 85 x 52, c.1770.
Viz. GMN p.116, 117 ill.
The father of modern chemistry, Lavoisier discovered oxygen and its properties, as well as the composition of air and water. He was born in Paris in 1743 and was executed by the Revolutionaries in 1794. |
4g/4. R. B. Hughes (GB, fl. 1770-1790) EDWARD GIBBON, C2,
66 x 45, c.1780.
Viz. BNL #120.
The great historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), author of the History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, used this modest spade-shield ex-libris. This type of bookplate became the most common form of ex-libris in Britain in the 19th century, with crest plates (viz. 4g/10). |
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4g/5. (I) ( VITTORIO ALFIERI ), C2, 109 x 79, c.1900.
Viz. Gelli 16.
The great Italian romantic poet Vittorio Alfieri (1749-1803)... how nice it would be to have his ex-libris! At least this is what the person who made this fake, around 1900, must have thought, when he skillfully re-engraved an earlier plate. It was made in Torino, and the same unscrupulous person made a fake of the Scarampi ex-libris in 1904. In relative terms, the value of bookplates was higher then than now, and collectors were more numerous. There are, however, relatively few falsifications of ex-libris. Another fairly common example is the bookplate of George Washington, of which carefully aged modern prints were made at the same period as the Alfieri from a plate engraved to perfectly copy the original. |
4g/6. ? (F) CHARLES-MAURICE DE TALLEYRAND-PéRIGORD, C1,
92 x 69, c.1800.
Perhaps the greatest statesman in French history, Talleyrand (1754-1838) had the ability to survive all the political changes which occurred during his lifetime, and played a crucial role in European politics, in particular at the Congress of Vienna. He used this ex-libris for the library of his castle of Valençay, and three other bookplates as well. Two are small armorials, which are later than this plate as they bear the crown of Prince of Bénévent, a title he was awarded during the Empire period. The third is a curious plate with a German inscription, which he perhaps used when for a time he lived in Austria. |
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4g/7. ? (F/CH) GERMAINE DE STAEL, C1, 30 x 43, c.1800. Weg
6737.
Daughter of Necker, the banker of Louis XVI, Mme de Stael (1766- 1817) had a great influence on intellectual and political thought of her time, receiving at home all the leading statesmen of the day. She was also an accomplished novelist, and her study De l’Allemagne (1810) had a great influence on French romanticism. |
4g/8. ? (F) HENRI, BARON DE JOMINI, C2, 42 x 67, c.1810. Weg
3851.
Born in Payerne, Switzerland, Jomini (1779-1869) became a General in the service of France (1804-1813), and then served Russia from 1814 to 1843, where he created a military academy. He was the author of several books on strategy and was one of the most brilliant military minds of his time. His ex-libris was nearly certainly also used as a visiting card. |
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4g/9. ? (?D) ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, C2, 82 x 60, c.1830.
The German philosopher and author Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was born in Danzig. Opposed to systematic concepts of the world, he perceived a common will to live in man, animal, vegetable and mineral, which generates human suffering. His ex-libris was probably inspired by an earlier Chippendale-style plate. |
4g/10. ? (GB) CHARLES DICKENS, C1, 42 x 44, c.1850.
F 8619.
Viz. BNL #144.
This is the second of two nearly identical ex-libris which the famous English novelist Dickens (1812-1870) commissioned for his books. It is a crest plate (the arms without shield, helm or mantling), of a type very commonly used in Britain in the 19th century. In fact, he was not entitled to this crest. |
4g11 - 4g20 4g21 - 4g32
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