Bookplate for American Antiquarian Society
Date Unknown / J.B.J. Wilcox, Boston
An elaborate pictorial-style bookplate in black ink on ivory paper. The central image is a room with three bookshelves on the far wall, and a window on the right. Under the window is a simple bench, and a ladder leans against the central bookshelf. In the foreground is a table with books, scrolls, and loose papers. Above this image are two portraits of previous Antiquarian Society Presidents, with their names and dates of service written on the ovals framing their portraits. On the left is written Isaiah Thomas Pres't, 1812-1831." On the right is "Stephen Salisbury Pres't 1854-1884." Above these portraits is a circle with the words "Nec Poterit Ferrum, Nec Edax Abolere Vetustas" surrounding an image of a classical building with columns and a rotunda, and "Amer. Antiq. Soc" engraved on the portico. The Latin phrase is from Ovid's Metmorphoses and translates to "Nor sword, nor the gnawing tooth of time shall ever be able to destroy." In front of the building is a male winged figure draped in a robe, sitting on a globe and holding a scythe which has broken against an hourglass. The central image and the insets above them are surrounded by a border in the style of decorative columns, with heavy drapery at the top. Beneath the image is the inscription "Ex libris American Antiquarian Society Founded 1812," written in blackletter script.