SINCE the first edition of this Handbook was published in 1892 the taste for collecting book-plates has spread with such rapidity that that which was formerly the hobby of a few, has now become the serious pursuit of the many.

Societies devoted to the collection and study of ex-libris have been founded by eminent genealogists and heraldists, not only in Great Britain, but also in Germany, France, and the United States, all of which are in a flourishing condition, numbering many active and enthusiastic members. Each of these societies publishes an illustrated Journal in which the book-plates of all ages and countries are being reproduced and described from almost every point of view. Whilst the ever-widening circle of literature on the topic shows that the taste has now also spread to Sweden, to Italy, to Belgium, to Switzerland, and to South America.

Such intense literary activity has led to the recent publication of many interesting records of French ex-libris, and in order to keep my readers au courant with the present state of knowledge, it has been found necessary to increase the number of chapters, to add materially to the others, and to include nearly a hundred facsimiles, in addition to those in the former edition.

The writings of Poulet-Malassis, Henri Bouchot, Octave Uzanne, le PÈre Ingold, Auguste Castan, A. Benoit, Henri Jadart, and H. JardÈre, are all well-known to French collectors, but they have not been translated, and what is even more serious for the British collector, the original editions are now for the most part unobtainable.

I have therefore attempted to embody all the principal facts to be gleaned from these authorities with the information derived from my own collection, so as to produce a succinct history of French book-plates from 1574 (the year named on the first known dated French book-plate) to the present day. In the alphabetical list of artists and engravers will be found such a concentration of information useful to collectors as does not exist in any other work on the subject.

Heraldic details have been avoided as far as possible, yet some little space has necessarily been devoted to the explanation of the principal differences between the systems of the two nations, in order to enable a collector of French book-plates to understand certain peculiarities either not to be found on British armorial bearings, or conveying a different meaning to that ascribed to them in British heraldry.

Of the illustrations, many have been reproduced from rare old examples, whilst those of modern date are of interest, either on account of the fame of their artists, or their owners, or for the beauty or quaintness of their design.

As the majority are dated specimens, they have an educational value in representing the styles of heraldry and of ornamentation in vogue at the various periods during the last three centuries.

To Dr. Bouland, President of the French Society, I am greatly indebted for the loan of several interesting reproductions, and my thanks are also due to Messieurs AglaÜs Bouvenne, Henry AndrÉ, L. Joly, LÉon Quantin, le PÈre Ingold, and other artists and owners of book-plates for their kind permission to reproduce them here.

A final tribute of gratitude remains to be paid to one who shares all my labours, or my cares, and adds that charm to life that makes success worth striving for.

Every line in this little book has passed under her eyes, for revision or correction, and I would pray:

“ELLARBEE,”
Clapham Common, Surrey.

October, 1896.