The book-plates first used in America were of English make, brought over by the wealthy colo nists. They possess great. interest as memorials of the old families; but the plates engraved by the hands of our Iirst American engravers, Nathaniel Hurd and Paul Revere, of Boston, Amos Doolittle, of Connecticut, and Alexander Anderson, of New York (the last of more recent date but the first to engrave on wood), easily surpass them in value. The earliest date On an American book-plate by an American engraver is 1749, on the Thomas Dering plate engraved by Hurd. There were numerous early engravers through the New England Colonies and States, and in and around New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, whose work is highly prized by the collector and student. All of these followed in the main the English styles, though some etude designs, incorrect heraldry, and clumsy engraving mark certain efforts as the work of untrained hands who had no good models to work from. The book-plate of George Washington. though engraved in England, is the most highly valued American book-plate of the early period. The few plates known to be the work of Paul Revere rank next, and high prices have been paid for them.
The present revival of interest in the book plate dates from the foundation of the Ex Libris Society in 1890. Though the headquarters are in London, the membership is thoroughly cosmo politan. An illustrated monthly journal is is sued to members. France and Germany also 'have societies which issue publications at stated intervals. All these club journals are of the utmost value and importance to those who wish to keep in touch with the progress of book-plate affairs. There is no organization of book-plate collectors in the United States. Book-plates have become of sufficient importance to be listed by the sellers of old books and to have an occasional catalogue devoted to them entirely. Auction sales of book-plates are not uncommon, and their recognition as interesting items of literary prop erty is widespread. The late Sir Augustus Wol laston Franks, of London, had a collection which is said to have numbered toward 200,000. 1 t is now in the British Museum. The late Dr. Joseph Jack son Howard (who acquired the first collection of book-plates known to have been made) possessed more than 100,000 specimens. The Count Karl
Emich zu Leiningen-Westerburg has a very large and valuable collection. Several important col lections exist in the United States, notably those of John P. Woodbury, Henry S. Rowe, and Fred. J. Libbic, of Boston, W. E. of Bridgeport, Conn., and the Grolier Club, of New York, which gave, in 1S94, the first public exhibition of book plates in America. At the present day the black and-white reproductions of drawings form the greater number of book-plates, but the copper plate engraver has found in the renewed interest in these marks of book-possession an increasing demand for his art. Edwin Davis French, of Saranac Lake, N. Y.. Sidney L. Smith, of Boston, W. F. Hopson, of New Haven, Conn., Charles W. Sherborn and George W. Eve, of London, have international reputations as engravers on copper.
Book-plate literature has increased rapidly in the last decade. Very numerous contributions to periodicals and many monographs of permanent interest, but which deal with subdivisions of the subject, have been published. These would swell a complete bibliography to the dimensions of a book. The following list comprises the authori tative works relied upon by the serious student of book-plates: Poulet-Malassis, Les Ex Libris francais (Paris, 1875) ; Warren, A Guide to the Study of Book-Plates (London, 1880) ; Car hinder, Svenska Bibliotck och Ex Libris a•uteck fingar (Stockholm, 1889) : Warnecke, Die deutschen Biieherzeirhen (Berlin,1S90) ; Guigard, Nouvel armorial du bibliophile (Paris, 1S90) ; Bouchot, Les Ex Libris et les marques de pos session du liere (Paris, 1891) ; Castle, English Book-Plates (London, 1392) ; Hamilton, French Book-Plates (London, 1892) ; Hardy, Book-Plates (London, (893) ; Allen, American Book-Plates (New York and London, 1894) ; Labonchere, Ladies' Book-Plates (London and New York, 1895) ; Hamilton, Dated Book-Plates (London, 1390) • Fincham, The Artists and Engravers of British and American Book-Plates (London, 1897) ; Count Karl Emieh zu Leiningen-Wester burg, Deutsche nnd iisterreichischc Bibliothck Zeichen, Ex Libris (Stuttgart, 1901) ; Stone, Women Designers of Book-Plates (New York, 1902).