American Book-Plates: A Guide to Their Study with Examples. Charles Dexter Allen

N a few years Book-plate literature will have a place in the catalogues of the Libraries, as it now has in those of the dealers in books. The works of the Hon. J. Leicester Warren (Lord de Tabley), Mr. Egerton Castle, and Mr. W. J. Hardy on the English plates, Mr. Walter Hamilton, M. Henri Bouchot, and M. Poulet-Malassis on the French, Herr Warnecke on the German, and M. Carlander on the Swedish, are all the work of master hands, and are recognized as authorities. In our own country the lists and essays of Mr. Richard C. Lichtenstein and Mr. Laurence Hutton have long been of invaluable service, and occupy a position both at home and abroad of undisputed eminence.

A large number of articles has also been contributed to periodical literature by those well informed upon the subject, and numerous monographs testify to the growth of interest in this fascinating study, and by the names of their authors, to the class of scholars and students of antiquarian lore who deem the humble book-plate worthy of their attention.

In view of what has been and of what will be written, this present modest attempt to introduce more fully than has yet been done, the book-plates of America, needs to be understood as simply a pioneer work; a great deal of information will reward the patient and painstaking investigator of the future, which is now inaccessible, and without doubt, too, much will be found even within the present to supplement these pages.

This book could not have been undertaken nor carried to completion had the writer been denied the generous assistance and hearty sympathy of our collectors, to whom he desires to express his appreciation of the kindnesses shown him.

Especially to Mr. R. C. Lichtenstein, Mr. E. N. Hewins, and Mr. Fred J. Libbie of Boston, does he feel under deep obligation for the generous loan of their splendid collections, for ready advice and counsel, for cheerful assistance whenever asked for, and for that tangible sympathy and lively interest which are worth so much to one engaged in such work. To many others also is he indebted, both for the loan of plates and for kindly words of encouragement.

To Mr. S. P. Avery, Mr. Beverly Chew, Mr. E. H. Bierstadt, Mr. Henry Blackwell, Mr. D. McN. Stauffer, Mr. Edward D. Harris, Mr. Laurence Hutton, and Mr. E. W. Nash, of New York City; to Mr. W. G. Brown of Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Va.; Mr. H. E. Deats of Flemington, N.J.; Dr. C. E. Clark of Lynn; Hon. W. A. Courtnay of Charleston, S.C.; Miss Helen E. Brainerd of the Columbia College Library; Mr. Pickering Dodge of Washington, D.C.; Mr. Charles T. Martin, Mr. Frank B. Gay, Mr. A. C. Bates, and Mr. John C. Parsons, of Hartford; Dr. Henry C. Eno of Saugatuck; Dr. J. H. Dubbs of Lancaster, Penn., President of Franklin and Marshall College; Mr. D. V. R. Johnston of the State Library at Albany; Mr. Nathaniel Paine of Worcester; Mr. Daniel Ravenel of Charleston, S.C.; Mr. Howard Sill of Glendale, Md.; Mr. R. A. Brock of Richmond, Va.; Mr. Howard Edwards of Philadelphia; Dr. Swan M. Burnett of Washington, D.C.; Mr. Richard Wijnkoop of Brooklyn; Mr. Bisbee of Dartmouth College; Mr. William Kelby of the New York Historical Society; and to Mr. Lyon G. Tyler of Williamsburg, Va., President of William and Mary College, does he wish to make acknowledgment for the favors which have contributed so much to the value of the work. From over the sea, particularly kind assistance has come from Rev. T. W. Carson, the veteran collector and eminent authority of Dublin.

To all others who by letter, gift, or advice have assisted him, the writer wishes hereby to make suitable and hearty acknowledgment.

The writer’s thanks are also extended to those who have so kindly permitted him the use of their plates for the illustrating of the book.

A word more is due to Mr. E. N. Hewins, who very kindly, at the writer’s request, accepted the labor of preparing the excellent Bibliography which appears in the volume.

CHARLES DEXTER ALLEN.

Hartford, Conn., June, 1894.

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