Quite possibly this purchase inspired the bookplate, which bears not a little resemblance to that of his dear friend, David Garrick, upon whose library as well as that of " Eugenius," on whose shelves there seem to have been collected some store of " facetiae," Sterne depended a good deal for his reading, particularly perhaps before the purchase recorded in the letter.
The book-plate of David Garrick is of pleasing design. The name is engraved upon a graceful cartouche around which are disposed such emblems indicate the tastes of Garrick. There is the as mask of comedy, the bauble of the fool, the lyre of poetry, and such "properties" of the stage as the goblet, crown, sceptre, and sword. The bust of Shakespeare crowns the whole design and below runs the motto, -
La premiere chose qu'on doit faire quand on a emprunte un Livre c'est de le lire afin de pouvoir le rendre plutot.
Garrick's library contained many rich and priceless Shakespearian quartos, which this plate was well fitted to adorn. No wonder that " the great Cham of literature," as Warren dubs Dr. Johnson, was not allowed to make use of Garrick's volumes, although the refusal made cause of troublesome complaint.
There is a very handsome book-plate of which but few copies are known and which bears the name Capt. Cook. The design exhibits a shield upon which the globe is seen showing the Pacific Ocean, and round the shield flags and guns are disposed in graceful arrangement. This at a glance one would take for the plate of that famous Captain Cook whose surname was James and among whose famous exploits was the discovery of the Sandwich Islands, upon the shores of which he lost his life at the hands of the natives. But the great circumstance navigator probably was not the owner of this plate, which was in all probability made for his son, who was not really a captain, but whose title was properly Commander.
William Hogarth was apprenticed by his own preference to a silversmith, and there studied the arts of designing and engraving to good purpose. In addition to the book-plate made for himself, there are three others which are supposed to have been from his graver. These are for Ellis Gamble, his master, John Holland, the heraldic artist, and George Lambart, the scene-painter. These must be accounted early endeavors of the future expert and they display little of the ingenuity his celebrated pictures are so famous for. Heraldic in treatment, they introduce a few allegorical features, the plate of Holland being especially favored in this way. Here Minerva is seated evidently in the studio of the artist and about her are four cupids who disport themselves upon the floor with books and the shield and crest of arms for toys. John Wilkes, of fascinating manners and dissolute conduct, founder of the North Briton, the thorn in the flesh of the Bute administration, the clever, courageous, unscrupulous scamp whose conversation could charm all and whose repartee was full of delicious wit, scholar and orator, had three bookplates to denote his ownership of a library in which one fancies must have been some of the works of the old wits and the poetry and novels of his time. Hogarth drew his picture, a picture of Jack Wilkes sitting in jaunty posture and leering beneath his liberty cap, which will never fade from the memory.
The book-plates date between the years 1755 and 1770, and they all show the arms with accessories corresponding to the style of the period in which the plates were engraved.
Horace Walpole, eminently fitted to be remembered by the book-lover as the writer of many charming epistles, as the owner of a private press from which charming books were issued, and as a collector, indiscriminate yet by no means objectless, used one or two book-plates which are considered an important addition to the book-plate collector's album. The first of these is an armorial arrangement with the words Mr. Horatio Walpole upon a festoon at the bottom. The design is very simple, and one wonders at it somewhat when he considers the lurid style of architectural ornament with which Strawberry Hill was embellished and which brought its builder such generous measure of ridicule and criticism.
But the glory of the collector is that while the world outside may fail to understand the purposes or the delights of his ways, he himself is gathering about him for his own delectation and that of the few choice spirits able to appreciate them with him those bits which eventually prove even to the sceptical world to have had a value beyond their conception. I presume that if the various collections contained in Strawberry Hill and which were sold in the months of April and May, 1842, were to be sold to-day they would bring well toward $750,000. The sale was not well conducted; George Robins, the well-known auctioneer, managed it, and his catalogue of the library is a lamentable piece of work. This rare collection of books, manuscripts, engraved portraits, etc., brought about $40,000, and the miniatures (which were extremely good), the pictures, coins, drawings, porcelains, stained glass, armor, furniture, plate, etc., were sold for something like $166,000. Wai-pole lived fifty years in his villa at Twickenham, enjoying his collections, his roses and lilacs, his nightingales, and, of course, his friends. We may believe with certainty that these book-plates were used in the books gathered there. Towards the end of his life he succeeded his nephew George as Earl of Orford, and he had a new book-plate to commemorate the fact. This is a circular design, with the arms in the centre and the words Sigillum Horatii Comitis de Orford around the edge. There has been some idea that he may have used the delightful vignette of Strawberry Hill as a bookplate, but recent investigation leads to the conclusion that it was never so used. The picture of the life which Walpole enjoyed, as so delightfully set forth by Austin Dobson, comes anew to the mind as one turns in the hand these old marks of book-ownership used by this famous dilettante.
One cannot help wishing that Walpole had continued that parody on the Letters of Lord Chesterfield to his son, which he commenced under the title of the New Whole Duty of Woman, and which was intended to be a series of letters from a mother to a daughter. This vivacious and witty gentleman, whose personal appearance in no wise fitted his intellectual gifts, is described by Lord Hervey as being, " as disagreeable as it was possible for a human figure to be without being deformed. He was very short, disproportioned, thick, and clumsily made; had a broad, rough-featured, ugly face, with black teeth, and a head big enough for a Polyphemus. One Ben Ashurst, who said a few good things, though admired for many, told Lord Chesterfield, once, that he was like a stunted giant, — which was a humorous idea and really apposite."
This strong picture is one not easily forgotten, although one hardly likes to have it in mind when reading those choice epistles in which the manners of the times were reflected for the improvement of that son, who died before reaching the position he was intended to fill, leaving his father a disappointed and broken-down man. The book-plate of Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, shows the arms, the Earl's coronet, the ermine mantle, the royal motto on the encircling garter, but no name.
Perhaps the most beautiful ladies' plate known to the collector, is the one designed by Miss Agnes Berry for Mrs. Anna Damer, and which was engraved by Francis Legat. In this the designer has drawn a scene which is most perfectly adapted to the charming and gifted person who was to use it. The scene is out of doors. Before a stone pedestal of imposing proportions, upon the top of which in beautiful carving stands out the shield of arms in a curved lozenge of delightful form, having two hounds as supporters, kneels a female figure clad in classic robes, who with one hand resting upon the coping, with the other points to the emblems of the sculptor's trade, which are carved upon the base and are surrounded with the wreath of the victor. The distant view is of the mountains in dim outline, while near at hand are the protecting trees. This plate is one of the most beautiful known to the collector, and one of exceeding interest from its association with the lives of delightful and gifted ladies, brilliant and worthy men. It is related that Anna Conway, not then Mrs. Darner, walking one day with David Hume about the streets of London and meeting a vendor who bore upon his head a board containing plaster dogs and shepherdesses and the like images, some remark made by the light-hearted young lady caused the historian to say, " Be less severe, Miss Conway. Those images at which you smile were not made without the aid of both science and genius. With all your attainments now, you cannot produce such works." Hume was a bit heavy in conversation, and the seriousness with which these words were delivered led Miss Conway to determine to show Hume that, if she chose, she could make images equal to those of the vendor's collection.



Continued on this page