Bonhams 1793 : BOOKPLATES. The bookplate collection of the Late Arthur W. Dorling, arranged in 21 volumes containing a total of some 6,000 plates, A FINE AND EXTENSIVE COLLECTION

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27 Mar 2012 14:00 BST London, Knightsbridge
Books, Maps and Manuscripts
Back to auction 20135

BOOKPLATES

The bookplate collection of the late Arthur W. Dorling, arranged in 21 volumes containing a total of some 6,000 plates, the majority mounted in alphabetical order in 18 stamp albums (lettered on spines A-Z), the remainder contained in 3 further volumes comprising: 2 fine albums of Royal, Noble, Institutional and Collegiate plates, including Queen Victoria, William IV, George III, Edward VII and George V, by Eve, Sherborne, Osmond, Badeley, Whistler, Muirhead Bone and others; and an album devoted to Essex plates, mostly eighteenth and nineteenth century (one by Gravelot), 4to (21)

Sold for £10,625 inc. premium

Footnotes

A FINE AND EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF BOOKPLATES. Arthur Dorling (1902-1984) lived all his life in the Woodford area. A keen local historian and amateur genealogist, his real passion was for bookplates. He played an active part in The Bookplate Exchange Club from the early 1960s onwards and when, in 1972, The Bookplate Society was founded, Arthur was one of the first to join. His collection of bookplates and related publications reflects his long involvement with The Society and his love of plates of all kinds. The plates are meticulously arranged in alphabetical order, with Dorling's preliminary notes on the history and collecting of bookplates, bibliographical information, and indexes of plates by artist.

All styles are represented in the collection, including Early Armorial, Jacobean, Chippendale and Bookpiles, and notable plates include those of David Garrick (2), Charles Dickens, Anthony Trolllope, Gladstone, Walpole and Edward Burne Jones, together with plates designed or engraved by C.W. Sherborn (approximately 80), E.E. Dorling (15), Robert Osmond (approximately 70), H.J.F. Badeley (32), Rex Whistler (5), Reynolds Stone (4), Eric Gill, Edward Gordon Craig, Stephen Gooden, Max Beerbohm (Granville Barker), John Buckland-Wright (Mark Severin), J.E. Millias (Sir Christopher Sykes), and H.W. Fincham (original pen and ink sketch for his own bookplate).

Other highlights include two very early European plates (one French, signed Le Blon and dated 1625, the other German, dated 1605), and the celebrated bookplate of Sir Francis Fust containing the armorials of all his antecedents (2 states). The album devoted to Essex has the bookplate of Richard Edwin Thomas of Beeleigh Abbey, presumably the original owner of the volume, and was purchased from the estate of the collector Hall Crouch, with the subsequent addition of plates by Arthur Dorling.

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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