But we have been digressing, and have not yet spoken about the second of the two book-plates just now mentioned, that of the Hon. Mrs. Damer, which, in design and execution, certainly surpasses any ladies' book-plate yet noticed; it is really a beautiful picture. First let me speak of Mrs. Damer and her surroundings; her book-plate becomes the more interesting as we call these to mind. The daughter of Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway, she made for herself, at an early age, a name, both in England and Italy, as an accomplished sculptress. From infancy--she was born in 1749--she was the pet of Horace Walpole, and throughout her life his intimate friend, living, after her husband's[14] suicide, close to him at Strawberry Hill, which he bequeathed to her by his will, and where, by the way, the work of her artistic fingers might be seen in profusion. Friends of herself and of Walpole were Robert Berry and his daughters Mary and Agnes--'my twin wives,' Walpole calls them. Mrs. Damer's book-plate is the work of the latter of these two ladies--Walpole's 'sweet lamb, Agnes.' It shows us a kneeling female figure, pointing to a newly-cut inscription on a block of stone, 'Anna Damer';[15] above is a shield bearing the arms of Damer, with those of Seymour-Conway on an escutcheon of pretence, and on the right and left of this are elegantly drawn dogs. The work was engraved by Francis Legat, and is dated '1793.' Miss Mary Berry's book-plate has been already spoken of (p. 177). As an illustration to this chapter on ladies' book-plates, I have taken one which is both artistic and interesting, from the fact that it shows us--in the figure contemplating the bust--what is presumably a picture of the owner. I fear, however, that proof of its authenticity as a likeness sufficient to allow of its incorporation as a 'Portrait' book-plate (see pp. 216-220) will not be forthcoming; but whether it is one or not, it is certainly a pleasing book-plate. Frances Anne Acland, the owner, was born in 1736, became the wife of Richard Hoare of Barne Elms in 1761 and thus stepmother to Richard Colt Hoare, the future antiquary and the historian of Wiltshire; she died in the year 1800, and was buried at Beckenham. [Illustration]