Collection of Three Unused Sheets of "Reward of Merit" Bookplates
N.p. 1830. Three steel-engraved broadsides (ca. 32x13cm.); each leaf depicting five unused "Reward of Merit" bookplates within typographically decorative borders. Some light dust-soil, else Very Good or better overall. Very Good+. Item #21591
N.p.: ca. 1830s. Three sheets of American "Reward of Merit" bookplates which adorned gift books awarded to elementary school students for good marks and comportment. Minor soil, else Very Good to Near Fine.
Each leaf depicts five unique images, ranging from the pastoral (a mill at the top of a hill, a beaver, a lush countryside landscape); to the historical (twice George Washington, Christopher Columbus arriving in the West Indies); to the mythical (cherubs and angels galore). Date of production based on one example we have located, at the Library of Congress, depicting a young farmer and his wife taking a rest during the harvest, dated 1837 on the verso. A lovely, uncommon collection.
Price: $250.00