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Edwin Davis French (c. 1851–1906) was a bookplate engraver, who produced at least 330 engravings beginning in 1893.
Born in North Attleboro,
University of Rochester Library Bulletin Vol. II #2, February 1947, by Mary E. Oemisch
*[http://www.sscommons.org/openlibrary/#3, search, 6, UD20Library3A20William20Augustus20Brewer202E2E2E3A20Edwin20Davis20French2028in20Creator29, Filtered20Search, , , type3D3626kw3Dedwin20davis20french7C31303026geoIds3D26clsIds3D26collTypes3D26id3D3737323934323126bDate3D26eDate3D26dExact3D26prGeoId3D Bookplates by Edwin Davis French] in the University of Delaware Library'
William Augustus Brewer Bookplate CollectionContemporary book citing French and his prominent clients, amongst other bookplate engravers of the era.
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Edwin Davis 1850s births 1906 deaths American engravers Artists from Massachusetts 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Volapük Brown University alumni Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)
Edwin Davis French (c. 1851–1906) was a bookplate engraver, who produced at least 330 engravings beginning in 1893.
Born in North Attleboro, Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, his artistic career had begun in 1869 with silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
engraving for the Whiting Manufacturing Company. Later, he became a founding member and trustee of the American Fine Arts Society. Two men who influenced French's work were Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
and Charles W. Sherborn. Many of his patrons belonged to the Grolier Club.
He was interested in constructed languages and was active in the Volapük movement, and also learned Esperanto
Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...
.
His obituary in the ''New York Times''
relates:
Mr. French's hobby was universal language, for he was a facile linguist. He was Secretary of the Volapük Society of America, and had a considerable library in that language. Esperante (sic) and Idiom Neutral similarly attracted him. He was a member of the American Fine Arts Society, the International Academy of Volapuk, Ex-Libres Society of London, Ex-Libres Verein of Berlin, the Grolier Club, National Arts Club, Club of Odd Volumes, and Bibliophile Society.French had suffered from poor health most of his life, having left Brown University in his sophomore year because of it, and eventually succumbed to
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
.
References
Further reading
*External links
University of Rochester Library Bulletin Vol. II #2, February 1947, by Mary E. Oemisch
*[http://www.sscommons.org/openlibrary/#3, search, 6, UD20Library3A20William20Augustus20Brewer202E2E2E3A20Edwin20Davis20French2028in20Creator29, Filtered20Search, , , type3D3626kw3Dedwin20davis20french7C31303026geoIds3D26clsIds3D26collTypes3D26id3D3737323934323126bDate3D26eDate3D26dExact3D26prGeoId3D Bookplates by Edwin Davis French] in the University of Delaware Library'
William Augustus Brewer Bookplate Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Edwin Davis 1850s births 1906 deaths American engravers Artists from Massachusetts 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Volapük Brown University alumni Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)