This is of course natural, as the armorial plates, which are the only ones demanding any of these styles of decoration, are very little used now. But we have still the Library Interior, the Literary, the Pictorial, and the Allegorical; but these have changed their appearance so much [Illustration: George H. Ellwanger] as to be hardly recognizable as the lineal descendants of those of the same type which went before. Indeed, the recent plates have little in common with the old,--new motives, new designs, new methods, and new conceptions of what a book-plate can be have come in, and the change produced is very marked. Heraldic plates are still in use, and still being made, but the number of plain armorials is quite small. Usually, now, those who wish to show the family arms on the book-plate do not display it all by itself, but accompanied by literary accessories, or pictorial, or with decorative features to relieve what would to-day appear a bare and unfinished plate, but which in the older days would have been the pink of perfection. Among the plain armorial plates of recent days may be mentioned that of _Henry B. Anthony_, the late senator from Rhode Island, which, without even a motto, presents the arms of the family, with the crest, and the name. Another plain armorial plate is that of _John H. Buck_, of the Gorham Manufacturing Company, and the author of “Old Plate.” This, too, is perfectly plain, with no motto. _Frank House Baer_ and _Charles W. Burrows_, of Cleveland, both use the plain armorial style, relieved by slight mantling or scroll work, and with the mottoes on ribbons beneath the shield. _Mr. Appleton Morgan_ has a plain armorial plate, quartering the Morgan and Appleton arms. _Mr. Daniel Ravenel_, of Charleston, also uses a plain armorial shield, relieved with sprays of marigold (the Huguenot emblem) and of wall-flower (the French name for which is _Ravenelle_). A plain armorial plate, in colors, is used by the compiler of “America Heraldica.” An imposing helmet with blue mantling surmounts the shield, and the motto, _Moins faire mieux faire_, is given on a ribbon which encloses the whole design. _Harry Allen Castle_, of Hartford, uses a design borrowed from the plate of Mr. Thomas Bailey Aldrich. The castle on its wreath is enclosed by a square frame in which the name appears, with the words _His Mark_. In the corners of this frame are the letters _I.H.S.V._, standing for the motto, _In hoc signo vinces_. A punning friend, upon seeing this plate, remarked to Mr. Castle, that the letters would seem to mean, “I have some volumes.” _Dr. J. S. H. Fogg_, the late well-known collector of, and authority on, autographs, used a plain armorial plate, with the motto, _Aut pax aut bellum._ _Prof. J. Max Hark_, of the Moravian Seminary at Bethlehem, Pa., has a plain heraldic plate, with thin mantling about the shield. The motto occupies two lines above and below the shield, and is in imitation of the ancient manner.