The Harvard Library had some few of this fine engraved label printed in
red ink, and placed in the rarer books of the library--as a reminder that
the works containing the rubricated book-plates were not to be drawn out
by students.

The learned bibliophile and librarian of Florence, Magliabecchi, who died
in 1714, devised for his library of thirty thousand volumes, which he
bequeathed to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a book-plate representing his
own profile on a medal surrounded with books and oak boughs, with the
inscription--"Antonius Magliabecchius Florentinus."

Some book-plates embody designs of great beauty. The late George
Bancroft's, engraved on copper, represented a winged cherub (from
Raphael) gazing sun-ward, holding a tablet with the inscription "_Eis
phaos_," toward the light.

Some French book-plates aim at humor or caricature. One familiar example
represents an old book-worm mounted on a tall ladder in a library,
profoundly absorbed in reading, and utterly unconscious that the room
beneath him is on fire.

To those who ask of what possible utility it can be to cultivate so
unfruitful a pursuit as the devising or the collecting of book-plates, it
may be pertinent to state the claim made in behalf of the amateurs of
this art, by a connoisseur, namely, "Book-plates foster the study of art,
history, genealogy, and human character." On this theory, we may add, the
coat of arms or family crest teaches heraldry; the mottoes or
inscriptions chosen cultivate the taste for language and sententious
literature; the engraving appeals to the sense of the artistic; the names
of early or ancient families who are often thus commemorated teach
biography, history, or genealogy; while the great variety of sentiments
selected for the plates illustrate the character and taste of those
selecting them.

On the other hand, it must be said that the coat of arms fails to
indicate individual taste or genius, and might better be supplanted by
original and characteristic designs, especially such as relate to books,
libraries, and learning.

CHAPTER 5.

THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS.

We have seen in former chapters how the books of a library are acquired,
how they are prepared for the shelves, or for use, and how they are or
should be bound. Let us now consider the important questions which
involve the care, the protection, and the preservation of the books.

Every librarian or book owner should be something more than a custod