To assist in identifying ecclesiastical ex-libris, it must here be
mentioned that they carry the head-dresses peculiar to the hierarchy of
the Catholic Church, which are to be distinguished as follows:
_Cardinal._--A red hat having a wide, flat brim, with a cord on each
side, from which hang five rows of red tassels.
_Archbishop._--A hat similar in shape to that of a cardinal, but green
in colour, with a cord on each side, from which hang four rows of green
tassels.
_Bishop._--The same hat as an archbishop, but with only three rows of
green tassels.
_Abbé._--A black hat, with a cord on each side, from which hang two rows
of black tassels.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF H. CHABEUF, OF DIJON.]
As a matter of fact, the distinction between the hats of archbishops and
of bishops appears not to have been generally observed, as we find on
the book-plates of most of the bishops that they carried four rows of
tassels, that is, ten tassels on each side of their shields. Menestrier
admits that the number of tassels is immaterial, but he lays stress on
the colour: “Les chapeaux sont rouges pour les Cardinaux, verts pour
les Archevêques et Evêques, noirs pour les Protonotaires, et autres
dignitez au dessoux des Evêques.” These colours are shown in the usual
heraldic manner.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF L. B. BARBIER.]
Here are a few examples of clerical plates. _Caumartin_, a bishop, after
whom they have named a street in Paris; _Chabeuf_, a modern bishop of
Dijon; _Barbier_, an abbot; and _J. F. Seguret_, a canon of the
cathedral church of Alais. The last is an old plate, and is remarkable
because it contains no ecclesiastical emblems, the arms and supporters
being purely heraldic. The same remarks apply to the plate of the Abbé
Quarré de Monay, Canon of Autun, which is dated 1776, and is a
characteristic specimen of the plate of the period. Observe the large
coronet, the oval shield in a cartouche, the heavy pendent festoons, and
the solid square base, all distinctive features of the style Louis XVI.
(See reproduction, page 188.)
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF CANON SEGURET.]
The plate of Dominique-Barnabé Turgot de Saint Clair, bishop of Seez,
dated 1716, is a good example of the ecclesiastical plate of the period,
in which the mundane coronet is as conspicuous as the bishop’s hat.
Bishop Turgot died on December 18th, 1727, leaving a valuable library,
which was sold in Paris in 1730.
The ex-libris of the library of the college of Eu, founded by the Duc de
Maine in 1729, may be inserted here, as belonging to an educational
establishment. It must be confessed that the plate has a very warlike
appearance, for it carries the arms of the founder of the college, Louis
Auguste de Bourbon, Duc de Maine, who was Captain-General of the
Artillery, hence the warlike devices which surround the pedestal. Being
a Bourbon, his arms were France, debruised by a baton.
[Illustration: BOOK-PLATE OF BISHOP BARNABAS TURGOT.]
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