French Book-plates Part 3

He therefore recommends the second plan, namely, the division by countries first, and next, the arrangement in strict chronological order. There are, however, many difficulties in the way of this seemingly ideal plan. One may, it is true, soon learn to distinguish, with a fair amount of accuracy, between French, German, Italian, and British book-plates; but with other nations the distinctions are less marked, and Spanish, Dutch, Swiss, or Belgian plates can be easily confounded with those of their immediate neighbours.

Again, in dealing with plates which have neither name, artist's signature, nor date, the chronological subdivisions can only be decided by a constant comparison of the styles in use at various periods, and by well-known artists and engravers.

This practice gives the collector a great insight into the progress of art, and the development of taste, yet it demands both time and patience to carry it out. Finally, it is true, the collector will have formed a continuous series of heraldic devices ill.u.s.trating family history more completely than can be arrived at in any other manner. It is only by this constant study and comparison that the student of French ex-libris can hope to acquire a knowledge of their details, so as to be able to arrange his collection with a due attention to time, place, and families.

The third system advocated, namely, the arrangement according to the styles of the designs on the plates, may be interesting from an artistic point of view, but is certainly not very methodical.

A collector might divide his French plates under the following heads:

1. _Heraldic._ Subdivided thus: Before 1639. From 1639 to 1789. From 1789 to 1804. From 1804 to the restoration of the Monarchy. Modern plates. Plates having printed dates to be kept apart from those not dated.

2. _Pictorial._ Subdivided thus: Woodcuts. Copper plates. Etchings.

Lithographs. And, again, as library interiors, portraits, war trophies, ladies' plates, landscapes, punning plates, etc.

3. _Artists._ A collection of signed plates carefully arranged under the names of their artists would, no doubt, be of great interest for comparison and study, but rather more for the lover of engraving _pur et simple_ than for the lover of ex-libris, or for the student of heraldry and family history.

The great difficulty of any system of cla.s.sification by the design is, that some plates might very properly be placed under three or four categories, so that, unless the collection be carefully indexed, the trouble is great in seeking hurriedly for any particular plate. The labour involved in writing an exhaustive index can only be appreciated by those who have once made one, and many who start zealously to work at the outset, let the new additions fall in arrear, and the whole scheme is then abandoned as being too troublesome.

In conclusion, I can only repeat that the choice of the system of arrangement depends more upon the tastes of the collector himself than upon any other consideration; but that, on the whole, the balance of advantages appears to incline in favour of the alphabetical cla.s.sification under surnames, keeping each family as distinct as the information, heraldic and other, on the plates will allow.

Plates of royalty and n.o.bility should be kept apart from the commoners, and arranged, _first_, in order of rank, _second_, alphabetically by name. The method most generally in use at present for preserving the plates, when arranged, appears to be what is known as the ex-libris case. If this arrangement be adopted, then each plate must be separately mounted on a card of the correct size. These cases and cards can be purchased ready for use from Mr. W. H. Batho, of 7, Gresham Street, London, and the advantages of this arrangement are that any plate or plates can be withdrawn without injury, and additions can at any time be made, whilst the backs of the cards may be utilized for MS. information about either the plate or its former owner, and newspaper cuttings can be affixed. If the plates are to be inserted in alb.u.ms, the following regulations should be carefully observed:

Arrange the plates on one side only of each leaf in the alb.u.m, allowing ample room for additions in each division of the alphabet. On no account fasten the plate down firmly on the paper, fix it only at one or two corners with a hinge made of gummed paper, or of the outside strip which surrounds sheets of postage stamps.

This method allows of the easy removal of any plate without damage, either to the plate or the alb.u.m, as often as may be desired. The convenience of this will be readily appreciated by veteran collectors, who know how often one wants to exchange one plate for another, and how many good examples have been damaged in the attempt to remove them when once they have been firmly fixed down with gum or "stickphast" paste.

Alb.u.ms are more convenient for large plates than the cases. They are also better adapted for showing off several varieties of a plate on one page, whilst, for collections in large numbers, they are certainly rather cheaper.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF THE BIBLIOPHILE JACOB (PAUL LACROIX).]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER III.

A FEW NOTES ON FRENCH HERALDRY.

Although the nomenclature and fundamental rules of heraldry in France are somewhat similar to those in use in Great Britain, yet in many important details the two systems differ materially.

To show, first of all, the close family resemblance in nomenclature, an amusing copy of verses may be given from an old work (carefully preserving the quaint orthography of the original), of which the t.i.tle was: "La Sience de la n.o.blesse ou la Nouvelle Metode du Blason," par le P. C. F. Menestrier. A Paris, chez Etiene Michallet, premier Imprimeur du Roi, rue S. Jaque, a l'Image S. Paul, MDCXCI.

ABReGe

DU BLASON EN VERS.

"Le Blason compose de diferens emaux, N'a que 4 couleurs, 2 panes, 2 metaux.

Et les marques d'honeur qui suivent la naissance, Distinguent la n.o.blesse, & font sa recompense.

Or, argent, sable, azur, gueules, sinople, vair, Hermine, au naturel & la couleur de chair, Chef, pal, bande, sautoir, face, barre, bordure, Chevron, pairle, orle, & croix de diverse figure.

Et plusieurs autres corps nous peignent la valeur, Sans metal sur metal, ni couleur sur couleur.

Suports, cimier, bourlet, cri de guerre, devise, Colliers, manteaux, honeurs, & marques de l'Eglise, Sont de l'art du Blason les pompeux ornemens, Dont les corps sont tires de tous les Elemens, Les astres, les rochers, fruits, fleurs, arbres & plantes, Et tous les animaux de formes differentes, Servent a distinguer, les fiefs & les maisons, Et des Communautes composent les Blasons.

De leurs termes precis enoncez les figures, Selon qu'elles auront de diverses postures.

Le Blason plein echoit en partage a l'aine, Tout autre doit briser comme il est ordonne."

The _deux panes_ in the second line refers to furs (_pannes_ in modern heraldry). This book is ill.u.s.trated, and in it the tinctures are correctly represented by lines and dots, and the remark is made "Autrefois on marquoit les Emaux par des lettres," but the author does not allude to the invention of the system of dots and lines attributed to Father Silvestre Petra Sancta.

The introduction states that the author, the Reverend Father Claude Francois Menestrier, was born in Lyons in 1631, and had been for many years a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). He wrote many other learned treatises on heraldry.

For the tinctures the French use the same terms as ourselves, except that for green they employ _sinople_, because _vert_, properly p.r.o.nounced, is not easily to be distinguished from the fur _vair_. This is a sensible distinction, as is also their expression, _contre hermine_, to describe what British heralds call ermines, in contradistinction to ermine, a difference so little marked in our case as easily to pa.s.s unnoticed and give rise to errors.

The conventional system above mentioned of engraving the tinctures is also the same in France as in Great Britain, and these devices may be easily fixed on the mind of the merest novice by a short study of Mr. J.

Ashby-Sterry's entertaining (proposed) work on "Heraldry made Easy:"

"If _Argent_, my friend, you would wish to attain, You'll do it by leaving your paper quite plain.

If metal more tempting you wish to seek for, Deck paper with dots, it will represent _Or_.

Perpendicular lines, by armorial rules, Convey to the herald the notion of _Gules_.

But lines horizontal and perfectly true Mean _Azure_, best known to the vulgar as blue.

For _Vert_ take your pencil,--I beg you'll attend,-- Draw parallel lines to the course of the bend.

The sinister bend you must follow, I'm sure, To give to the eye the idea of _Purpure_.

Lines crossing each other and forming a plaid Will simulate _Sable_, so sombre and sad.

For _Tenne_ your pencil should cunningly blend The lines of the fess and the sinister bend.

Lines crossing each other and forming a net, Will signify _Sanguine_, you must not forget!"

As most of the princ.i.p.al heraldic devices used on British arms were adopted when Norman French was our courtly language, and are described in that tongue, it does not require much study to enable anyone who can decipher a British coat-of-arms to do the same with an ordinary French s.h.i.+eld, or even to understand the written description of one.

Yet coming to more advanced heraldry, dealing with such questions as descents, marriages, arms of a.s.sumption, of succession, of concession, and the proper marshalling of arms, the difficulties increase, and many apparent contradictions arise.

Until the downfall of Louis XVI., the aristocracy of France was not only the most ancient and the proudest in Europe, but, speaking generally, possessed higher hereditary privileges and greater power than the n.o.bility of any other civilized nation in the world.

One of their most cherished rights was that of bearing coat armour, but little by little a rich middle cla.s.s sprung up (the despised _bourgeoisie_), which misappropriated coronets and coats-of-arms, and shortly before the outbreak of the Revolution, heraldry in France was in a most confused and chaotic condition.

As to the origin of French heraldry, little is known with any certainty.

That tournaments were first held in Germany about 938 is generally admitted. At these the fundamental rules of all heraldry must, no doubt, have been formulated, whence they gradually pa.s.sed into France, through the north-eastern provinces. Then followed the Crusades, which gave a great impetus to the science of heraldry, as is shown by the vast number of crosses in early arms; the crescents and stars, which were copied from the captured standards of the Saracens; and the fabulous monsters of the East, which became the heraldic devices of many n.o.ble families descended from ancient warriors who fought in Palestine. Louis VII.

(Louis le Jeune), who superintended all the arrangements for the coronation of his son, Philip Augustus, was the first to employ the _Fleur-de-Lys_ as the royal badge of France, which he caused to be emblazoned on all the ornaments and utensils employed in the coronation ceremony. He was also the first king who employed that badge on his seal.[1] This was before 1180.

Henceforward heraldry became generally popular, and many works were written to define the rules of chivalry, each one more elaborate than the preceding. King John of France devoted much attention to heraldry, as did several of his successors, and then the historians Froissart, Monstrelet, and Olivier de la Marche introduced it into their chronicles. Indeed, there is scarcely one early French romance which does not contain the full blazon of the imaginary arms conferred upon its fabulous personages.

When at length heraldry became fully recognized, its signs and emblems were chosen as the badges of hereditary n.o.bility. In the course of time this attracted the envy of vain and unscrupulous people, who usurped the insignia of n.o.bility which they were not by law ent.i.tled to wear.

These malpractices gave rise to great confusion, and were not only severely reprehended by all true lovers of heraldry, but were the subject of many royal edicts, commanding that all offenders should be heavily fined.

Before the year 1555 it had been a recognized custom that a member of any one of the great families of France might change his name and his arms without royal authority, a practice which was particularly useful in certain marriages.

Thus, supposing the last inheritor of a famous family name to have been a female, on marriage her husband could a.s.sume her name and armorial bearings, and thus perpetuate a line which otherwise (as in Great Britain) would have become extinct.

But, as may be easily imagined, this voluntary subst.i.tution of name and arms gave rise to many abuses and disputes. Accordingly, by an ordinance of King Henry II., dated at Amboise, March 26, 1555, it was forbidden to a.s.sume the name, or the arms, of any family other than one's own, without having first obtained letters patent, and a fine of 1,000 livres was to be paid by any person usurping the arms and insignia of n.o.bility.