French Book-plates. Walter Hamilton
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 nobility, or what remained of them, returned to France and resumed their ancient titles 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 entitled to bear them.
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 Dürer; this is reproduced by M. Henri Bouchot, page 25. Another example of this ornament will be seen on the Alsatian plate of Le R. Père 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, assuming 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 Chassant, 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 illustrations of some hundreds of family badges and devices, which are of great assistance in deciding the ownership of foreign nameless plates.
Finally, assuming 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 principal 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 nobility, but has, on the contrary, given the preference to the gentry, the minor public officials, and middle-class families.
There is a similar heraldic table, but on a limited scale, in the “Armorial du Bibliophile,” by Joannis Guigard. This work contains illustrations 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 principal 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 Père 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 Engolismum | " | }Angoulême. |
| Argentina, or Argentinensis | " | }Strasbourg. |
| Atrebatum | " | Arras. |
| Aurelia | " | Orleans. |
| Avenio | for | Avignon. |
| Bisuntia | " | Besançon. |
| Buscum Ducis | " | Bois-le-duc. |
| Cadomum | " | Caen. |
| Carnutum | " | Chartres. |
| Divióne | " | Dijon. |
| Dola | " | Dol. |
| Duacum | " | Douay. |
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