Bookplate for Melville Clark
1937 / Charles P. Morse, Syracuse, NY
A heraldic-style bookplate in black ink on ivory paper with a border with leaf motifs. The upper part of the border features symbols for Rotary Club and Circle K, which are leadership and service organizations. In the upper left corner there is a bald eagle symbol with the initials W.W. and the date 1914. In the upper right corner there is the text "G.W. Clark Est 1858." In the lower left corner, there is an image of a hanging sign with the text "Drovers Tavern, 1820." In the lower right corner there is a piano and the date 1853, and in the center of the lower part of the frame there is a harp with the letter C above it and the date 1905 below. The central image is of a shield divided into two fields, with a lion head and two crosslet crosses in the upper field, and a lion rampant in the lower field, which is sable. The shield is topped with a wreath bearing a lion rampant holding a cross, and there is a banner beneath with the motto "Victor mortalis est," which translates loosely from Latin to "He is a mortal conqueror." On either side of the shield there are two medals. The medal on the left has a Masonic square and compass on it, and the one on the right has a five-pointed star. Above the shield is the text "Ex libris," and below the banner is the name Melville Clark.