Wilbur Macey Stone

By WILLIS STEELL

AMONG the book-plate designers of the present day the architect may, if he choose, take a high place. He is one whose studies have led him through the paths of artistic training where his eye and hand have learned to see color and form and balance of parts, and while the usual media of his profession are wood, stone, terra cotta and iron, there are many by-paths through which he must travel to appreciate the value of his pencil lines upon the flat.

No more delightful by-way than the book-plate route will open before him, hedged in as it is by purely artistic shrubbery and leading constantly to pretty and even beautiful designs in which the genius of architecture has played a great part. Moreover, all his preceding journey through the hard conventional country to which architecture at first seems limited, has equipped him thoroughly to give expression to his fancy. That the gift of imagination is among his endowments should be taken for granted, however, if the architect is to succeed in the line of drawing book-plates.

Fancy and imagination being in his mental equipment the architect can “rest” his mind in no more delightful fashion than by giving them full scope in this gem-like art. His experience, his collections of drawings, the work of others of his craft which he has studied, all tend to render his fund of information large, and if he has the key to book-plate art, inexhaustible, since nothing comes amiss to the pen of one whose facile fancy can grasp a good motive and direct it to a purpose other than that originally intended.

In the early days of art the architect was not only a designer of buildings but was also a sculptor and sometimes a decorative painter. He was called upon by his patrons to design whatever was needed at the moment, and these men were “all-round” artists, the day of specialization and the speculator not having dawned.

Buonarotti is an awesome name to call up, but this great painter, sculptor, architect and builder touched nothing that he did not adorn, and in many of the hundreds of crayon sketches and cartoons that he left behind him, the feeling of the book-plate artist is clear. Had Lorenzo the Magnificent wanted a book-plate for use in his library, the great Michael Angelo could have filled the want from his own notes, with very little of either suppression or expansion. It may seem strange to think of this Titan of art, the creator of the sweeping “Last Judgment” turning his pencil to the delicate lines, the imperceptible nuances demanded by a book-plate, yet it may be repeated, in his work may be found a myriad of suggestions for these gem-like products.

Buonarotti was not, however, first and last an architect. Painter and sculptor also, these sides of his artist soul would have been drawn on for the book-plate. Therefore the statement that not every architect can design so fanciful and dainty a work as a book-plate becomes a truism patent to everybody. The architect’s profession calls for a two-fold nature, the one side tending toward that of the engineer with its eminently practical and very necessary tables of stress and strain, its mathematical calculations for loads and disposition of carrying walls, while the other side leans to a nice discernment of color and proportion. The laying out of vistas and the arrangement of surfaces and lines, so that the eye is aided in receiving the best impression from all points of view. Of this turn of mind is the one who can and does design book-plates. The very practical architect, if he wishes the glory, which is doubtful, has one of his draftsmen make the design and then signs the drawing and gets the glory. It would be amusing if such an one through some luck charm received constant application for such work. His draftsmen would change and his drawings be as dissimilar as the men who drew them. Possibly the signature would lead the long-suffering public to think him very versatile.

It is not of this class of architect that we write. It is of him who is half painter or sculptor, and who loves his pen and pencil and delights in the personal expression of his ideals. He finds that his way of seeing things is more to his liking than any way of any other man. He sees the infinite beauty of nature and loves her shifting pictures in the clouds. Then too, he must have the ability to clearly comprehend the half-formed ideas of him whose plate he undertakes to draw. This is not always an easy matter. There are but few in the world who can formulate their ideas, much less invent a picture without first seeing it. Here the architect has, perhaps, an advantage over the purely imaginative artist, since the average man does not know the difference between the Classic period and the Gothic, the Napoleon era and the modern German renaissance.

Of the architects who have obtained unquestioned recognition in this exquisite art, Thomas Tryon is among those whose work is especially prized. His adaptation of architectural forms to the confined space of the book-plate shows the work of a man who has command of his tools and knowledge, and despite the narrow confines of the field his work is not at all “cabined or cribbed.” The illustrations accompanying this essay are taken rather at random from among Mr. Tryon’s designs, but they will convey to those unfamiliar with his work, a fair idea of its scope and treatment. His first design was a plate for his father, an ornate armorial design, the name being set up in type at the base. The plate for Miss Annah M. Fellowes is quite elaborate. A long-haired and bewhiskered knight stands before us in a suit of rich armor, his right hand bearing his sword and helmet, and his left resting upon his shield. His helmet is surmounted by a pair of spreading wings. The design is backed by a rambling rose bush on which is hung the motto ribbon.

Mr. Frank Pool is obviously a lover of the drama. In an oval window set in masonry, is a Roman gentleman, laurel crowned, reading from a large volume, while at the upper right and left sides are comedy and tragedy masks from which hang a gracefully festooned wreath. Palms, ribbon and name plate finish the design. For Mr. Farragut, the son of our old admiral, Mr. Tryon has made a very “salt water” arrangement of arms. The shield is surmounted by a quaint ship and the bearers are dolphins, which on one side encircle a trident and on the other a sword. The conventional acanthus leaves give body and decoration to the whole. Perhaps one of the most distinctively beautiful of Mr. Tryon’s designs is the fleur-de-lis for Mr. Marcus. In this the artist has blended most delightfully the natural and the heraldic flower and has produced a gem of which one never tires. For his sister and her children Mr. Tryon has made a light and airy design, distinctively feminine and graceful. The main feature of the design is an ornate cypher of the letters S T. On the ribbon below the name is shown. This is changed to the names of Mrs. Stone’s three daughters for their individual use. The plate reproduced here is that of one of Mrs. Stone’s daughters. The design for “The Boys Club” is surmounted by the American eagle perched upon the globe, and the flag of our country is draped over the tablet bearing the lettering. This plate has been reproduced both by photo-process and copper plate.

Of the three color plates reproduced the first was made for Mr. A.W. Brunner, and has for “piece de resistence” a very ingenious monogram set in an oval frame. For bearers there are two graceful palms and the keystone is surmounted by a pile of books and a classic student’s lamp. The base of the design is relieved by a pleasing arrangement of acanthus leaves. The plate for Miss Cox is a seal-like design, dignified yet dainty, and would be entirely in place in all kinds of volumes. The plate for Mr. Steell quite speaks for itself and makes the sportsman feel wildly for the trigger of his gun. The buck and doe silhouetted against the yellow of evening and the reflection in the stream are a delight. Three of Mr. Tryon’s designs have been engraved by Mr. E.D. French. The famous Sovereign plates being two, and one for Mr. Havemeyer being the third. This plate for Mr. Havemeyer is indicative of the owner’s collection of Washingtoniana, and is surrounded by several of the well-known portraits of the father of his country, while at the top is a small view of Mount Vernon. The portraits and view are interwoven with foliage and ribbon and form a frame in which Mr. Havemeyer’s arms are displayed. The “Sovereign” plates, which were made in 1895 for the library of Mr. M.C.D. Borden’s yacht, are of great richness, the first or “crown” design being especially so. This one did not please the owner, who had a second one made surmounted by an eagle instead of a crown. This is simpler in treatment and not so decorative as the earlier design. These plates were both cut on the copper by Mr. French who treated them in a very sympathetic manner and brought out in clear relief the ideas of the designer.

Mr. Tryon’s production has not been great, reckoned by the number of plates made, but as his work is never done hurriedly or slightingly it carries an air of finished dignity and worth that gives it lasting qualities. As he usually has one or two plates in hand to which he adds a few lines and a few thoughts from time to time, we may still expect pleasant surprises in this miniature art from his workshop.

BOOK-PLATES OF TO-DAY
TONNELÉ & COMPANY
NEW YORK