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Bookplates and Illuminations



RSW as a young man in front of Redgate Studio
RSW as a young man in front of Redgate Studio
RSW at work in the Redgate Studio
RSW at work in the Redgate Studio
When Robert Strong Woodward first moved back to Massachusetts after the accident which paralyzed him from the waist down, he moved into a small building on the edge of his uncle's farm in Buckland. He converted it into a studio dwelling and called it Redgate. While his dream was to eventually become a landscape painter, he began making bookplates which were still very much in vogue at that time.These he designed with great diligence, including pertinent information about the person who was to put these into each book in his library.
Eugenia Beetle Herring Bookplate
Eugenia Beetle Herring Bookplate
Dr. Lawrence Lunt Bookplate
Dr. Lawrence Lunt Bookplate


A bookplate is a reminder of ownership. For hundreds of years, beginning back in the middle ages, lovers of books were encouraged to have their own bookplate. The designs, when completed were then sent off to an engraver who etched them onto copper plates which could be used to print the designs onto paper. This process also often took several months to complete. The proud owner would then paste a print onto the inside front cover of each book in his library.



Robert Strong Woodward's Business Card
Robert Strong Woodward's Business Card
An illumination is a manuscript or text decorated with illustrations or ornamental designs. Historically, these were typically decorated with gold and silver, but commonly other design elements were used.

Compared to bookplates, the illuminations created by Robert Strong Woodward were one of a kind. These were small, framed-under-glass encapturements of selections from poems embellished by fancy calligraphy. Before the invention of the printing press the monastery monks, who painstakingly made copies of the Bible, developed this art of artistic lettering and embellishments. A typical example by RSW is pictured in My Heart is Like a Singing Bird.

Great Faith in God Alone
An illumination with the poem "Great Faith in God Alone"
Very few of Robert Strong Woodward's bookplates and illuminations have survived to today. Both the bookplates and the illuminations have the initials "R" and "W" or sometimes "RSW:"carefully concealed in the intricacies of the drawings. If you own or know about one, please let us know so that it can be added to our web collection

MLP
December 2012



Bookplate history





RSW biography