Ex libris

WHY AND WHEREFORE

In days when a book was a valu- able possession book-plates often carried a warning to the borrower such as the one used by John Hughes, a German of the 17th century, which, translated, read:

"By him who bought me for his own, I'm lent for reading, leaf by leaf. If honest you'll return the loan, If you retain me, you're a thief."

Book-plates were used also to record the fact of a gift and the name of the maker of it, especially in the case where the recipient was an institu- tion. The early book-plate of Harvard College was large, most elaborate and exquisitely design