Warren, one of the first to study book-plates and to give to others the benefit of his researches, has divided the armorial plates into general classes, and has given them suitable names, which are accepted the world over. A considerable number of subdivisions has been made; and while they may be serviceable where book-plates are plentiful, they are but an incumbrance to the collector of the early plates of America, for our examples are few in number, and are quite sufficiently distinguished--for the purpose of the present work, at least--by the following styles: Early English, Jacobean, Chippendale, Ribbon, and Wreath. Distinctive, easily remembered characteristics pertain to each of these, and fairly accurate dates of their adoption and continuance can be given. Adopting then the nomenclature of Warren, and following his lead, we come now to consider the meaning of the different styles and the diversity of their designs. The very earliest class is the Early English, in which the shield of arms is present with all its accessories. In these plates the mantling is very profuse, and in large full-rounded curves surrounds three, and often all four, sides of the shield. This is the only ornamentation, nothing incidental being added as yet; the name of the owner is usually or often accompanied by a title and address, and quite frequently also by the date. [Illustration: Joseph Dudley 1754] We have but few examples of this style; perhaps the most satisfactory as an example of the class will be the plate of _Joseph Dudley_, dated 1754. (This plate was really engraved much earlier than this. Hurd erased the original name, and cut the present one with the date in its place.) In this the mantling, running out beyond the edges of the shield, curls both upward and downward, and completely envelops three sides; the design takes on a strong resemblance to oak leaves, and a single leaf of this is engraved upon the helmet: the background, or space enclosed within the scroll-work, is filled in with perpendicular lines which might be taken for the tincture _gules_; in the name-bracket, the oak-leaf pattern is again made use of, forming a neat finish to the ends. [Illustration: Jer. Dummer Anglus Americanus] In the plate of _The Honourable Wm. Carmichael, Esqr._, the mantling is not so completely transformed into the oak-leaf design, although the latter is here apparent. The plate of _Jer. Dummer, Anglus Americanus_ is peculiar in that the space enclosed by the scroll-work is lined with the solid brick wall of the later Jacobean style; in this the [Illustration: Minot]