My dad owns a recycling business and recently he found an old book stamp thing in with some scrap metal he purchased. We've been trying to research it, but have been coming up pretty empty. As the attached pictures show, it's 2.5x4.25 inches in size and appears to have the name "Mabel C. Bryden" under "Ex Libris." From what I can make out, I believe it depicts an angel with its arm outstretched, a cornucopia, a lamp, and two swastikas. We were hoping someone could enlighten us on the significance of the item and a potential value? Thanks!
Put a piece of paper over it and use a pencil sideways to take an impression of it - like a gravestone rubbing
It looks as if it ought to be a printing block for a bookplate (used to show the ownership of a book) but the relief is so deep I suspect it may be for an embossing press that would emboss the owner's bookplat on the flyleaf or free endpaper of the book.
Thank you, all! I tried taking a couple rubbings earlier, but they didn't turn out well, unfortunately. I couldn't get all the detail to translate.
Here's a reversed negative image: I agree with af that this is probably for embossing. You'd never get a decent ink print with all those soft contours. The symbol in the upper right looks to me like a winged ox - symbol of St. Luke, patron saint of artists ands students (among others). The swastikas are probably pre-Nazi and good luck.
You'll probably want to find out who Mabel C. Bryden is or was... The ex-Libris on the "plate" you have indicates that it was most likely used for her own books. Just for general info: When I worked in the library of a fancy-schmancy boarding school, we used a local press for book plates. The book plates were used inside books financed by a number of very specific donor funds. The printers kept what they called "the plates" on file, so when we needed reprints, we could order more. We had probably 35-40 different ones. For instance: The Joe Schmo Literary Fund The John J Famous Scientist Book Fund The Senator & Mrs All-too-Important Fund for Political Science The I'm a Famous Author Fund for Literature etc, etc, etc. Some of those bookplates had been in use for well over a hundred years and were quite ornate. I always thought they were very, very cool!
familysearch.org has a Mabel C. Bryden in Iowa and one in Minnesota. Are you in either one of those places? Debora
