Book-Plates

Name: Book-Plates
Author: Hardy, William John

Hardy, William John

Bookplates

Of course Sam Pepys was a vain man--that we all know; but the difference
between the two inscriptions has more to do with the fashion of the time
than with the characteristics of the two men. In enlarging on his
pedigree, social position, and secretaryship to the Admiralty, Pepys was
only following the custom of his day. There are many examples of similar
inscriptions on book-plates contemporary with Pepys's:--'Charles
Pitfeild of Hoxton, in the Parish of St. Leonards, Shoreditch, in
Middlesex, Esq^{r.,} descended of the ancient family of the Pitfeilds of
Symsbury in Dorsetshire, and is now married to Winifred, one of the
daughters and Coeheyrs of John Adderley, of Coton in Stafordshire,
Esq^{r.}' And again:--'S^{r}. Henry Hunloke of Wingerworth, in
Derbyshire, Bart. In y^{e} escocheon of pretence is y^{e} Armes of
Katherine his Lady, who was sole daughter and heyre of Francis Tyrwhit
of Kettleby, in Lincolnshire, Esq^{e}, y^{e} last of y^{e} Eldest branch
of y^{t} great and ancient family.' Equally proud of his ancestry is
'Thomas Windham of Sale in Devonshire, Esq^{r.,} one of the Grooms of
his Majesties Bed-chamber, third son of S^{r} Edmund Windham of
Cathanger in Somersetshire, Kt., Marshall of his Majesties most
Hon^{ble} household,' who concludes the inscription on his book-plate by
telling us that he was 'lineally descended from the antient family of
the Windhams of Crown-Thorpe, in the County of Norfolk.'

But this habit of expressing pride in ancestry, though it became less
frequent, certainly survived Pepys's time. Mr. J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A.,
has a copy of the _Eikon Basilike_, printed in 1649, on the title-page
of which is written, 'Dan. Mercator.' Within the book is an armorial
book-plate engraved in the Jacobean style, and, since it belonged to a
man born in 1640, one of the early examples of that style. The owner was
the eminent mathematician, Nicholas Mercator, who was born at Holstein,
and afterwards settled in England, where his mathematical ability was
recognised by his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Nicholas
was proud of his ancestors' efforts in the cause of Protestantism, and
also wished his English friends to be aware of them; he therefore
inscribes his book-plate, 'Nicholas Mercator, a Descendant of the
Kauffmans of Prague, in Bohemia, Coadjutors with Luther in the
Reformation.'

On the Continent, lengthy eulogies of ancestors are common, and they
commence at an early date. Here is one, which is also a sigh for the
purity of nobility in ages past. It is uttered, in 1565, by John Giles
Knöringen, who writes, below his shield of arms, given in colour:--

    'These are the famed insignia of my sires,
       Which in their proper colour you may see;
     Not bribes, as is the fashion in these days,
       But virtue, raised them to nobility.'

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Book-PlatesHardy, William John

History

Book-Plates

Hardy, William John

Bookplates

Of course Sam Pepys was a vain man--that we all know; but the difference
between the two inscriptions has more to do with the fashion of the time
than with the characteristics of the two men. In enlarging on his
pedigree, social position, and secretaryship to the Admiralty, Pepys was
only following the custom of his day. There are many examples of similar
inscriptions on book-plates contemporary with Pepys's:--'Charles
Pitfeild of Hoxton, in the Parish of St. Leonards, Shoreditch, in
Middlesex, Esq^{r.,} descended of the ancient family of the Pitfeilds of
Symsbury in Dorsetshire, and is now married to Winifred, one of the
daughters and Coeheyrs of John Adderley, of Coton in Stafordshire,
Esq^{r.}' And again:--'S^{r}. Henry Hunloke of Wingerworth, in
Derbyshire, Bart. In y^{e} escocheon of pretence is y^{e} Armes of
Katherine his Lady, who was sole daughter and heyre of Francis Tyrwhit
of Kettleby, in Lincolnshire, Esq^{e}, y^{e} last of y^{e} Eldest branch
of y^{t} great and ancient family.' Equally proud of his ancestry is
'Thomas Windham of Sale in Devonshire, Esq^{r.,} one of the Grooms of
his Majesties Bed-chamber, third son of S^{r} Edmund Windham of
Cathanger in Somersetshire, Kt., Marshall of his Majesties most
Hon^{ble} household,' who concludes the inscription on his book-plate by
telling us that he was 'lineally descended from the antient family of
the Windhams of Crown-Thorpe, in the County of Norfolk.'

But this habit of expressing pride in ancestry, though it became less
frequent, certainly survived Pepys's time. Mr. J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A.,
has a copy of the _Eikon Basilike_, printed in 1649, on the title-page
of which is written, 'Dan. Mercator.' Within the book is an armorial
book-plate engraved in the Jacobean style, and, since it belonged to a
man born in 1640, one of the early examples of that style. The owner was
the eminent mathematician, Nicholas Mercator, who was born at Holstein,
and afterwards settled in England, where his mathematical ability was
recognised by his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Nicholas
was proud of his ancestors' efforts in the cause of Protestantism, and
also wished his English friends to be aware of them; he therefore
inscribes his book-plate, 'Nicholas Mercator, a Descendant of the
Kauffmans of Prague, in Bohemia, Coadjutors with Luther in the
Reformation.'

On the Continent, lengthy eulogies of ancestors are common, and they
commence at an early date. Here is one, which is also a sigh for the
purity of nobility in ages past. It is uttered, in 1565, by John Giles
Knöringen, who writes, below his shield of arms, given in colour:--

    'These are the famed insignia of my sires,
       Which in their proper colour you may see;
     Not bribes, as is the fashion in these days,
       But virtue, raised them to nobility.'

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Book-Plates

Book-Plates

No reviews yet