Bookplates from a friend

 At the end of October I was delighted to receive a letter from a friend in heraldry, Stephen Slater, who kindly enclosed a number of bookplates he thought might interest me and for which I am most grateful.

I share then here for all to see but first of all, I though that you might be interested in the lovely seal featured on Steve's note paper:

Granted by The College of Arms 2 March 1985, Steve's arms are, Or three pairs of wings each conjoined in lure and upwards Sable between six cross crosslets Vert. Crest: On a circlet Sable edged and ermined Or between two sickles blades uppermost points inward Argent the handles Gules the outer edges of the blades set with peacocks feathers proper a demi talbot Azure langued Gules. Motto: Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace).

I've always liked these arms and here is a coloured version:

Bookplates: 

Of particular Cheshire interest is the bookplate of Thomas Charlton Clutton, Esq. of Chorlton Hall. (A0570 4 F5172).

Sir Edward Hales Bart. (F13257)

And a couple of coloured ones:

1st, James Frederick Beever.

And finally John Beatson.

A lovely surprise, thank you Steve.

 

 Double Tressure: The very first Newsletters of The Heraldry Society of Scotland

These are the original newsletters of The Heraldry Society of Scotland following its formation on 12th February 1977.

**They are well thumbed and therefore are quite "grubby" and frayed at the edges - in other words, they are showing their age but are nevertheless original records of the beginnings of the Society. Some pages are missing.**

No. 1 August 1977 contains details of the formation of the Society, its officers and a complete list of the names and addresses of the founding members (no Data Protection Act then!). 16 pages

No. 2 March 1978 24 pages

No. 2 August 1978 28 pages (regrettably pages 2,3, 24,25 are missing)

No. 4 March 1979 14 pages.

On the inside back cover is the bookplate of William Ralph McClaymont Adams, one of the elected office bearers.

http://ebay.us/rGtx7g?cmpnId=5338273189

Bookplate - James Robinson Pease

Bookplate of James Robinson Pease  born  about 1825  died 1st Qtr 1888  Scarborough Yorkshire

1881 Census: Westwood House, Beverley St Mary, Yorkshire.

Birthplace: Hessle, Yorkshire, England. Husband of Louisa Frances Barkworth, Father of Harold Robinson Pease.

Pease (HesslewoodHouse Co. York): Vert, a chevron between three stags trippant Or, in the centre chief point a bezant, on a chief per fesse Gules and Argent, an eagle displayed counterchanged. Crest: An eagle's head erased Argent holding in the beak Or, a peascod Vert. Motto: Confide Recte Agens.

This one had gone AWOL from my collection but today I had occasion to use my Fairbairn's and out it slipped! I'm pleased it's turned up; I so seldom find a use for Fairbairn's that it might have remained missing for an awful long time.

Some details of the family can be found here: The Pease Family Homes

Mystery Bookplate

Here is one for the detectives. This mystery bookplate is in a copy of "A Catalogue of British Family Histories" acquired for the princely sum of £2 (I would not have bought the book had it not included the bookplate!). As you can see, it has at some point in its history been wantonly vandalised to remove the name of the original owner!

Bookplate of Henry Morris. A0627.

Bookplate of Henry Morris. A0627.

Bookplate of Earnest Acton Pierce

A nice trio from my collection. The two for Ernest are different sizes (in case you were wondering). I like the one for husband and wife. The impaled arms on the image of Mary's bookplate are those of Grazebrook. The work of Gerald Cobb.

Bookplate of The Reverend Sir George Lee Bt. of Hartwell.

The Reverend Sir George Lee Bt. of Hartwell.

Bookplate of Oswald Prior-Wardell-Yerburgh of Hoole Hall Chester.

 The bookplate of Oswald Prior-Wardell-Yerburgh of Hoole Hall Chester.

The arms in pretence are for Edith Wardell Potts. The Rev Oswald obviously felt that adding Wardell to his name had more cachet than Potts! (with thanks to Richard Lichten).

Bookplate of Reginald Cholmondeley, Condover Hall [Shropshire]

A Bookplate from my collection.

19th century Seal Armorial Bookplate of Reginald Cholmondeley, Condover Hall [Shropshire]. F.5807.

Reginald Cholmondeley of Condover Hall, Shropshire, (1826-1896) son of Rev. Charles Cowper Cholmondeley m.1867 Hon. Alice Mary Egerton (1836-1868) dau of William Tatton Egerton, 1st Baron Egerton (1806-1883) who m.1830, Lady Charlotte Elizabeth (d.1878) dau of John Loftus, 2nd Marquess of Ely, KP PC. Reginald Cholmondeley was host to the American writer Mark Twain (1835-1910) when he visited in 1873 and 1879. The house and estate was sold out of the family in 1897. From 1926 Condover Hall had various institutional uses and is now a residential activity centre. Reginald’s paintings and library were sold soon after his death.

Dimensions of paper: 83x69mm.

Condition: Average.

Bookplate Society ‘Summer Visit’ to Ashbourne, Derbyshire

The Bookplate Society are putting the final touches to their programme for the Bookplate Society’s  on the 14th July, and very much hope you might be able to join them on the day. The day is planned very much with the idea of providing members a little north of ‘Watford Gap’, with the opportunity to meet other members, swap or purchase bookplates, meet some of the Society’s authors, visit the ancient St Oswald’s Church (dedicated 1241), enjoy a sit-down buffet lunch and visit The Mansion, the fine house of Dr Taylor visited many times by his friend Dr Samuel Johnson (and Boswell). The day will wind-up with a ‘demonstration auction’ over afternoon tea and cakes – bidding restricted to only those members attending on the day.

Partners and friends accompanying members might be interested, in the morning, exploring  Ashbourne’s High Street and its many interesting old shops. The area around Ashbourne is justly famous for its beauty, and those wishing to extend their weekend will find many attractions close by to choose from. I do hope you will consider coming to Ashbourne on the 14th July. The cost of the day is set at £14.50 to include morning/afternoon teas and buffet lunch. Members are encouraged to bring their duplicate bookplates (or albums) either to show & share, swap or sell.

It would be most helpful if you could let  the Secretary: Bruce Robertson, 73 Bow Road, London E3 2AN Tel: 020 8983 4206 Email: secretary@bookplatesociety.org know if you plan to come to Ashbourne, so that he can reserve your place(s).  he will then be in touch in June with final arrangements.

Bookplate of John Vardon

One of the pleasures of editing the Cheshire Heraldry website over the years is that I have benefited from speaking to and corresponding with many people who share my enthusiasm and one such person is Philip Beddows of the City of London who very kindly sent the bookplate of John Vardon to add to my collection.

Verdon, Alton, county Stafford; Or, fretty Gules a crescent for difference.

Mr. Beddows writes:

“John Vardon lived at No. 3 Gracechurch Street in the City of London and came from Congleton in Cheshire. His family’s name was spelt “Verdon” until the later 1600s. They were one of the cadet branches of the de Verduns of Alton, who settled in Cheshire – at Woodford and Fulshaw, Wilmslow. They are remembered in the name of Vardentown near Alderley, which was originally spelt Verdontown.

The other Verdons whose heraldry appears in quarters of some Cheshire families, Sable, a lion rampant Argent, are the Norfolk branch of the family. These arms were recorded at the Dunstable Tournament in 1309, where members of the de Verdons of Norfolk were present with the head of the family, from Alton; the need to tell them apart from each other at the tournament may be the reason for the difference in their heraldry.”

Thank you Philip, I am most grateful.

Thomas Henry Noel-Hill

Some time ago I was privileged to be able to view a manuscript/book housed in the Shrewsbury museum (I call it the Cole Manuscript) and here is but one of the many photographs I took. Cole & Sons were heraldic painters/stationers based in Shrewsbury during the 19th and early 20th centuries and this is the bookplate of  Richard Henry Noel-Hill, 7th Baron Berwick, being used by his nephew, Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, who succeeded to the title as the 8th Baron in  1897, as a template to convey instructions for a newly commissioned bookplate.

Bookplate Society Complains

Bookplate Society Complains;
I copy below a Press release penned by the Chairman of The Bookplate Society as a complaint against The National Library of Scotland. In my humble opinion, use the headline Scottish Avarice was perhaps a little misguided when the complaint is not directed against the Scots in general but the National Library specifically however, the point being made is of heraldic interest:
[Quote] SCOTTISH AVARICE - SCANDAL OF NLS CHARGES FOR REPRODUCTION RIGHTS
PRESS NOTICE
Six scanned images are needed from the National Library of Scotland, without which The Bookplate Society is unable to publish a 3-page article planned for the next 72-page issue of The Bookplate Journal.

In addition to normal reprographic charges, the NLS is demanding licence fees of £60 ($85) per image. The NLS fees appear on its website at www.nls.uk/using-the-library/copying-services/permission/fees. Such an outrageously high level of fees is unaffordable for a small not-for-profit society of 270 subscribers. The sum of £360 ($510) represents about 4% of the Society’s subscription income. In its journal and two-yearly book, the Society publishes over 250 images annually, so if all images were to be sourced from the NLS, the cost would be one-and-a-half times the Society’s total subscription income. Expressed in another way, the NLS has set a fee for the reproduction of an exlibris equal to roughly £2 ($3) per square centimetre of image or £13 ($18) per square inch. The required images cannot be sourced elsewhere because these are of 18th century items of which no other prints are known. This may in UK law be viewed as an unfair contract term and amounts to extortion.

The NLS introduced a new scale of charges last summer, claiming to reflect the principles established in the PSI Directive (the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (SI 2015 No. 1415) which implement European Directive 2013/37/EU). However, the NLS interpretation and scale of charges is totally out of line with other similar institutions and with the spirit of the legislation. In an email dated 27 January 2016, the NLS refuses to modify its charges either for low usage or for not-for-profit entities. The NLS is deaf to suggestions that it is breaching the trust of those who in the past made bequests of collections now in the care of the NLS.

The Bookplate Society is run by volunteers who, it seems, will now have to spend time escalating a formal complaint to the Office of the Information Commissioner.
We have already introduced a request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 for the NLS to supply an explanation with complete and detailed costings of how it calculates its fee for the re-use of still images. This is for the reason that the NLS is working out its licence fee on a fully-costed basis instead of a marginal costing basis, and we believe that the difference between the two methods is huge. The NLS has until 19 February 2016 to reply.
This is not a minor one-off issue, but is of material importance for any publisher who now wishes to print images sourced from the NLS.

Readers of this notice are invited to send emails of complaint to Dr John Scally, National Librarian and Chief Executive (john.scally@nls.uk) and to James Boyle, a former Controller of BBC Radio 4, recently appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees at the National Library of Scotland (chair@nls.uk).

Anthony Pincott
Hon Treasurer and Membership Secretary
The Bookplate Society [End Quote]

Bookplate Baron Bingley

I received the bookplate of George Richard Lane Fox, 1st Baron Bingley, a while ago as a gift from Steve Slater (for which grateful thanks have been extended) and have only just got round to adding it to my albums so I thought it appropriate to post it here as well.

Lieutenant-Colonel George Richard Lane-Fox, 1st Baron Bingley PC (15 December 1870 – 11 December 1947), was a British Conservative politician. He served as Secretary for Mines between 1922 and 1924 and again between 1924 and 1928.



On 24 July 1933 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Bingley, of Bramham in the County of York.

Lord Bingley died in December 1947, aged 76. As he had no sons the barony died with him.

Thomas Arthington Esq - Bookplate

The latest addition to my collection is the bookplate of Thomas Arthingron Esq (F. 753  Size: 10.5 x 8cm) from the Greenwood Album*

An 18th c. bookplate of Thomas Arthingron Esq of Arthington Yorkshire.

The Arthingtons were around in the 12th century , when Peter de Arthington gave a grant to fund the establishment of a Cluniac nunnery.

The seal of Arthington Priory ( National Archives)

The family history seems to be lost in the mists of time, although Thomas is listed as the Sheriff of Yorkshire 1767-1768 and that his will was proved in the Court of York 5 December 1801.

*Called the Greenwood Album, after the album’s manufacturer rather than the albums previous collector(s). This is because exact provenance is a little mixed. It is believed that many of the plates are duplicates from the John Simpson collection which sold at Bonhams in May 2005 and the album came to the present owner by way of Dr. Geoffrey Vevers, a past secretary of the Bookplate Society.

Gerald Lysaght Bookplate for sale at £100

I have only recently become familiar with the world of armorial bookplates and have embarked upon a small and growing collection of my own however, some desirable plates are, I confess, way beyond my purse.

Presently for sale on Ebay is the bookplate of Gerald Lysaght, a major backer of the tragic 1921 - 22 Shackelton/Rowett expedition. It is an attractive plate in its own right but no doubt the history behind its owner has prompted a buy it now price of £100; this is too rich for my meager budget.

If my memory serves me correctly, one of these plates (possibly even this one) was included in an auction held by the Bookplate Society a few years ago with a guide price of £10. It is likely to have gone for far more than £10 and I remember being tempted then but feeling, even at that price, that it was likely to be too expensive for me! It looks as though I'm going to have to confine my collecting to the also-rans.

Anthony Gosselin Trower Bookplate

I received a very pleasant surprise in the post this morning from Steve Slater who had been sent a number of bookplates from the family of a Mr. A. G. Trower of Stanstead Bury near Ware in Hertfordshire; apparently the family have been there for a couple of centuries. Although far removed from Cheshire, Steve thought that I might like one of the bookplates for my collection; how right he was. Thank you very much Steve (and Mr. Trower's son).

Two new bookplates added to the Gallery

The latest acquisitions to be added to the Cheshire Heraldry Gallery:

Bookplate of Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham, 9th Baron Stafford

New to the collection.



Ex Libris Henrici Baronis de Stafford.

Very finely engraved full armorial with two crests, all within the name garter and surmounted by a baron's coronet. Not in the Franks Collection.

Signed (at each end of the motto scroll) CAB in ligature and OJ monogram.

Biographical info: Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham, 9th Baron Stafford (1802-1884).

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Stafford-Jerningham,_9th_Baron_Stafford.

Orlando Jewitt (1799-1869) produced some superb work, noteworthy for the fine detail he achieved on wood. For his details see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Jewitt.

This bookplate must date between 1851 and 1869.

Dimensions of paper: 114x106mm

Condition: Good albeit bottom corners creased and some small spots on the paper.

Armorial Bookplate - William Craig

Recently acquired - the bookplate of William Craig (1745-1813), Scottish judge and litterateur, see in Oxford DNB.



Probably a cadet of Craig of Riccartoune (Lyon Register Volume 1, page 130 1672 - 1694)