Part 7 (1/2)
Guillaume Tronson. Signed A. B. Flamen.
Hadriani de Valois, dom. de la Mare.
Jerome Bignon, grand maitre de la Bibliotheque du Roi. A fine armorial plate, probably engraved by Francois Chauveau.
Leonor Le Francois Sr. de Rigawille. Motto: ”Meliora sequentr,” dated 1673.
Charles Maurice Le Tellier, archeveque de Reims. Signed J. Blocquet, 1672.
Louis Francois du Bouchet, Marquis de Souches. Signed ”Mavelot, graveur de Mademoiselle.”
Mgr. Pellot, Premier President du Parl^{mt} de Normandie. Signed J. T., probably Jean Toustain, an engraver of Normandy.
This President Pellot possessed a valuable collection of Spanish and Italian books.
Guyet de la Sordiere, a plate bearing the arms of several family alliances of la Sordiere.
Charles, Marquis et Comte de Rostaing. Signed P. Nolin. This fine heraldic plate does not bear the name of its owner, but as it is exactly reproduced in the Armorial of Segoing, with the inscription ”Armes d'Alliances de Messire Charles marquis et comte de Rostaing, gravees par son tres humble serviteur Pierre Nolin, 1650,” we are enabled at once to identify the plate, and to fix its date.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF MONSIEUR DE LORME.]
Simon Chauuel, chevalier, Seigneur de la Pigeonniere, Conseiller du Roy, etc. Signed P. Nolin.
This book-plate is also reproduced in the Armorial of Segoing, which indeed contains about sixty copies of ex-libris copied by Nolin, either from his own works, or from other plates belonging to his customers, or engravings by his brother artists.
Denis G.o.defroy. Died in 1681. Ex-libris in two sizes, both armorial.
Potier de Novion. A nameless ex-libris, identified by the arms, and signed by Trudon. The only known book-plate signed by this artist, who yet engraved all the plates to ill.u.s.trate his work ent.i.tled ”Nouveau traite de la science pratique du blason,” published in 1689.
Jules-Hardouin Mansart, superintendent of buildings under Louis XIV.
Signed Montulay Lenee. Heraldic plate, no name.
Jean-Nicolas de Tralage, a nephew of La Reynie, commandant of police. De Tralage presented his valuable collections to the Abbey of Saint Victor in 1698.
In many cases these plates have been identified only by the arms they carry. Ex-libris had not yet become truly fas.h.i.+onable amongst bibliophiles of the first rank, arms and devices being still generally stamped on the covers of their books, and the names of the owners were seldom considered necessary in a society where every person of any position was compelled to understand heraldry, and to be acquainted with the armorial bearings of the princ.i.p.al families.
The men of letters of the seventeenth century were not apparently inclined to adopt ex-libris, comparatively few have been found; those of Malherbe (who was, however, a n.o.bleman and a courtier as well as an author), the historiographer, Andre Felibien; Jerome Bignon, who was chief librarian in the Royal Library; Denis G.o.defroy, the historian, have been named, and the collectors, Menage and Bishop Huet; yet these latter scarcely count, for the plates bearing their names and arms were only engraved to place in the books they had generously presented to the Jesuit fathers.
We seek in vain for the ex-libris of Corneille, Moliere, or Racine, Boileau, La Fontaine, La Bruyere, for hitherto none have been discovered. In 1684 Madame de Sevigne wrote: ”J'approuve fort de ne mettre autour de mon chiffre que _Madame de Sevigne_. Il n'en faut pas davantage: on ne me confondra point pendant ma vie et c'est a.s.sez.”
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER VI.
EXAMPLES OF EX-LIBRIS. From 1700 TO 1789.
The rapid multiplication of books and libraries during this period naturally led to a corresponding increase in the use of ex-libris. About the same time a new style of ex-libris comes in, more fanciful and artistic than of yore, but it must be confessed of a less practical character. These remain, for the greater part, heraldic in design, in fact, more pretentiously heraldic than ever. For, with the progress of education and the advance of philosophical speculation in France, people began to realize the absurdity of purchasing heraldic bearings, and, seeing what a sham the whole thing had become, finished by a.s.suming arms and coronets to keep in the fas.h.i.+on. ”Le blason,” wrote the Sieur de Chevigni in 1723, ”est devenu un jardin public ou chacun s'accommode a sa fantaisie pour les armoiries comme pour les couronnes.”