EDWARD LAW

ARMS, CRESTS & MONOGRAMS

A STATIONER'S & ENGRAVER'S SAMPLE ALBUM

MASSACHUSETTS c1870

This is a museum quality album of samples of stationery and engraving for die-stamping the same, believed to have originated in the state of Massachusetts c.1870.

Images of the engraving, related to the tabular description below, may be accessed here.

Provenance. The album was offered for sale on eBay auction site on the internet in June 2002, described as:
ca 1900 Engraved Stationery samples monograms: While somewhat tattered and worn, this is still an exceptional collection of engraved stationery, mounted on pages in what was probably a salesman's sample book. There are 65 large (9 x 13") pages, each with at least one envelope or piece of note paper - most have a matching envelope and note sheet, some have up to four pieces of note paper. Each piece carries either an engraved monogram, address or topical vignette (bee, artist's palette). Most of the engravings are a single colour, some are multicoloured. There is a wide variety of different colours and textures of paper. This was part of a printer's collection including dated items from the late 1800s to about 1910, so while this book is undated it's likely these are from that era. There is some creasing and moderate wear to some of the stationery. There are a few blank spots where pieces have been lost, and the album pages are disbound and chipped along the edges. Great fun to look at, and a source of inspiration for present day designers aiming for a vintage look!

This was seen as an opportunity to acquire American crested stationery which from my ten year's experience of collecting crests and crest albums is quite scarce. From the description I assumed the album would contain about 130 items and pitched my bid accordingly. I secured the lot which actually contained 146 pieces of stationery, all engraved. A subsequent enquiry to the vendor elicited the following response:
I'm afraid I can't give you very much more information. Most of the stuff in this lot appears to originate from Worcester, Mass (about 30 miles West of Boston), and is from the very late 19th/early 20th Century.

Some of the stationery carried watermark dates of 1866, 1869 and 1870, and many of the envelopes had impressed maker's details of Berry & Bouvé, 12 West St. Boston. The foregoing imprint on one envelope over-stamped another which, as a result, was not fully legible, --w-l- & Brett 22- Washington St Boston. It seems clear from what is known that it was a sample book of a stationer in Massachusetts c.1870. Because the paper was being offered as samples it would have had to have been readily available. Notepaper dated 1869 was laid down on page 62, near the end of the album, suggesting that the whole album was put together at one point rather than being added to year by year.

It is not possible to say how long the album may have been in use. Even when the stationery became unavailable it might have been used as a sampler only of the engraving. It may have originated in Boston itself, a very fashionable city where there would have been a ready market for high-class stationery; and this was high-class. There are several examples of notepaper which carry a visible pattern created by watermarks which are not often encountered. The quality of some of the engraving is of the very highest order showing a fineness of touch which contrasts most favourably with much of the engraved stationery of the period in England.

It was clear when I first looked at this album that I would have to dismantle it. The plain paper, unwatermarked pages (34.0 x 23.5 cm) were so brittle that they were chipping with the lightest handling, and were much disfigured with dust. With no covers and a minimal part of the spine the album had neither aesthetics nor physical evidence to retain. The album comprised 66 pages and held 146 pieces of stationery; several pieces had clearly been removed.

All the contents were laid onto the pages of the album with four or five dabs of paste per item. The first page carried one envelope which was very dirty. Removed from the page it came off with part of the page attached at the four points where it had been glued. This was encouraging, much better than part of the envelope remaining on the page and creating thins in the envelope. The page remnants and the glue were then removed with water; it left some discolouration on the front of the envelope, but as it is the back which carries the crest it still allowed an effective display. The result gave me confidence to proceed with removal of all the material, copying it after removal, and noting details of the stationery here. One or two of the papers did not come off cleanly and thins resulted, but as all the notepaper was folded to give two sheets the appearance was not greatly affected. Much of the note paper had the same die-stamping on the reverse as was on the front. By this time I felt that the collection was of such importance as to warrant remounting in some way in a replacement album.

Some months were spent looking for a suitable album, and considering how best to remount the material. The album was eventually located on the web site of Aspinal of London. They were also offering a removable adhesive which, if it performed as advertised, would be ideal. Although both album and adhesive were expensive the quality of the collection warranted the expense. The adhesive appears to be all that it was held out to be and the whole of the collection has been mounted with it. Pieces can be removed from the page and the dots of adhesive rubbed off the stationery or page, allowing for rearrangement or temporary removal.

The following listing of the contents was built up from a detailed examination over several months. The weight of paper (grammes per square metre) is an estimate from a comparison with modern samples.

Description.

Images of the engraving may be seen here.

Album
page

Envelope. Cream. Laid paper. No watermark or manufacturer’s imprint.
(A sheet of writing paper had been removed.)
7
Notepaper. Lilac. Laid paper. Watermark A Pirie & Sons 1866. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Lilac. Same watermark. Imprint Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston
8
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark overall grid of small squares, visible as a design. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Same watermark. Imprint Berry & Bouve 12 West St. Boston
9
Envelope 1 (blue crest). Cream. Imprint Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston
Notepaper. Cream. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Envelope 2 (red crest). Crest. Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston
Notepaper. Cream. No watermarks. 115 gm2.
10

11

Notepaper (6 Commonwealth Ave.). Lilac. Laid paper. Watermark: A Pirie & Sons 1866.
Notepaper (2 McLean St.). Cream. No watermark. <85 gm2.
Notepaper (Monogram). Pale blue-green. No watermark. 105 gm2.
12

13

Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 1” spacing. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Same watermark.
14
Notepaper. Pale Blue. Watermark: L-J D L & Co. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. Watermark: laid.
15
Notepaper. Cream. No watermark. 105 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston
16
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: grid of squares, graph paper size and L-J D L & Co. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: grid of squares, graph paper size.
17
Notepaper. Pale green. No watermark. 105 gm2.
Envelope. No watermark or imprint
18
Notepaper. Lilac. Laid paper. Watermark: A Pirie & Sons 1866. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Same watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston
19
Notepaper. Pale green. No watermark. 105 gm2.
Envelope. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston, overstamping another: 
--w-l- & Brett / 22- Washington St Boston.
21
Notepaper, crested, pale blue. Watermark: Italic script (only edge showing). 105 gm2.
Notepaper, crested, lilac. Watermark: A Pirie & Sons 1866. 85 gm2.
Notepaper, monogram, cream. No Watermark. 115 gm2.
Notepaper, monogram, pale blue. No watermark. 105 gm2. The monogram appears twice on the piece.
22

23

Notepaper, cream. No watermark. 115 gm2. The half of the sheet with crest has been removed.
Envelope, cream. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston .
Notepaper, Bee crest. Off white. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Notepaper, monogram. Off white. No watermark. 115 gm2.
24

25

Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 1” spacing. 135 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark same. No imprint.
27
Notepaper. Pale beige. Watermark: Crossing double lines creating diaper effect, visible as a pattern, and L-.
<85 gm2.
Notepaper. Pale beige. Watermark crossing single lines graph paper size, with crossing lines at larger
spacing, creating visible pattern, and D L & Co. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Same watermark. No imprint.
Card with monogram in foliate diaper design.
28

29

Letterpaper. Pale beige. Watermark laid, and Lacroix Fréres. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Same watermarks. No imprint.
30
Notepaper. Pale green. No watermark. 105 gm2.
Envelope. Pale green. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
31
Notepaper, palette crest. Pale beige. Watermark: laid. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Same watermark, with lettering. No imprint.
Notepaper, monogram. Pale blue. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Envelope, monogram. Pale blue. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
32

33

Notepaper. Pale beige. Watermark squares, graph paper size. <85 gm2.
(Envelope removed.)
35
Notepaper, red crest. Cream. No watermark. 135 gm2.
Notepaper, blue crest. Cream. No watermark. The crest appears twice on the piece. 115 gm2.
Notepaper, monogram. Pale Blue. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston, overstamping the same
in a larger font.
36

37

Notepaper. Pale grey. Watermark: laid, 1” spacing, and J Whatman Turkey Mill. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Pale grey. Same watermark. No imprint.
38
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid. 105 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Same watermark. No imprint.
39
Notepaper. Pale blue. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Notepaper. Pale blue. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston
Envelope, Pale blue. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
40

41

Notepaper. Pale blue. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Notepaper. Cream. No watermark. 135 gm2.
Envelope. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
Envelope. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
42

43

Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid. 105 gm2. The monogram appears twice on the sheet.
Envelope. Cream. Same watermark.
44
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: A Pirie & Sons 1869. 105 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: wove lines crossing wider spaced lines. No imprint.
45
Notepaper. Pale blue. Watermark: L-J D L & Co. 105 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
46
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 1” spacing. 135 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Same watermark. No imprint.
47
Notepaper. Pale beige. Watermark of crowns? between lines. Showing as pattern. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Same watermark. No imprint.
48
Notepaper. Pale beige. Watermark: laid, and L-J D L & Co. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Watermark: small grid pattern. No imprint.
49
Notepaper. Fan. Pale beige. Watermark: wove lines crossing wider spaced lines. 110 gm2.
Notepaper, monogram. Pale grey. Watermark: over all abstract. 115 gm2.
Envelope, monogram. Pale grey. Same watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
51

50

Notepaper, small monogram. Pale blue. No watermark. 85 gm2.
Notepaper blue monogram. Pale beige. Watermark: laid. <85 gm2.
Notepaper, red monogram. Pale beige. Watermark: laid. <85 gm2.
52

53

Letterpaper. Pale beige. Watermark: small grid of double lines, and L-J D L & Co. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Watermark: overall weave design with parallel double lines, 7mm spacing.
54
Notepaper. Lilac. Watermark: A Pirie & Sons 1866. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale green. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
55
Notepaper. Pale beige. Watermark parallel rows comprising 3 lines, 7mm spacing and L-J D L & Co.
<85 gm2. The monogram appears twice on the sheet.
Envelope. Pale beige. Medium squares, 8mm.
56
Notepaper, thistle. Pale green. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Notepaper blue crest. Pale beige. Watermark: diapers formed by crossing rows of 2 lines, 5mm spacing,
appears as design on paper, and L-[J D L & Co.] <85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Same watermarks. No imprint.
57
Notepaper, black-edged. Cream. No watermark. 110 gm2.
Envelope, black-edged. Cream. No watermark. No imprint.
58
Notepaper. Pale blue. Watermark: crowned shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys. 135 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing, and 1870. No imprint.
59
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm spacing. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. No watermark. No imprint.
60
Notepaper. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 26mm spacing and crowned shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys.
135 gm2. The monogram appears twice on the sheet.
Envelope. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing, and _AN. [Probably end of Whatman]
61
Letterpaper. Pale beige. Watermark: laid. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Pale beige. Watermark same. No imprint.
62
Notepaper. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 26mm spacing and crowned shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys.
The monogram appears twice on the sheet. 140 gm2.
Envelope. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing , and .AN. No imprint.
63
Notepaper. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 26mm spacing, and crowned shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys.
140 gm2.
Envelope. Pale green. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
64
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: A P[irie] 65
Notepaper. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 26mm spacing, and crowned shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys.
140 gm2. Arms appear twice on the sheet.
Envelope. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing , and .AN. No imprint.
66
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: A Pirie & S[ons] 1869. <85 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. No watermark. No imprint.
67
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, and L-J D L & Co. 85 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark; laid, 26mm spacing. No imprint.
68
Notepaper. Grey. No watermark. 135 gm2.
Envelope. Grey. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
69
Notepaper. Blue. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing, and crown[ed shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys].
105 gm2.
Envelope. Blue. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing. No imprint.
70
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 23mm and 25mm spacing. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm spacing. No imprint.
71
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 23mm and 25mm spacing. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm spacing. No imprint.
72
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 23mm and 25mm spacing. 100 gm2. Monogram appears twice on the
sheet.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm spacing. No imprint.
73
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 23mm and 25mm spacing. 100 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm spacing. No imprint.
74
Notepaper. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing . and J Whatman. 100 gm2. Monogram appears
twice on the sheet.
Notelet. Off white. Watermark: laid, 25mm spacing, and Jo. [Possibly for Joynson.] 85 gm2.
75
Notepaper. Green. No watermark. 105 gm2. The monogram appears twice on the sheet, plus some misstrikes
on the second sheet.
Envelope. Green. No watermark. No imprint.
76
Notepaper. Pink. No watermark. 120 gm2. See also 64.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: laid, 23mm  spacing. No imprint.
77
Notepaper. Pale blue. No watermark. 115 gm2.
Envelope. Pale blue. No watermark. No imprint.
78
Notepaper. Pale green. Watermark: laid, 27mm spacing, and crowned shield containing stylised fleur-de-lys.
115 gm2.
Envelope. Pale green. Watermark: laid, spacing 26mm. No imprint.
79
Notepaper. Pale grey. No watermark. 115 gm2. Monogram misstruck three times on back sheet.
Envelope. Pale grey. No watermark. No imprint.
81
Notepaper, CHB. Cream. No watermark. 105 gm2.
Notepaper, EAP. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm and 26mm spacing. 105 gm2. Monogram appears twice
on the sheet.
Notelet. Cream. Watermark: laid, 25mm spacing, and J. 85 gm2. Monogram appears twice on the sheet.
Envelope. Cream. No watermark. No imprint.
82


83

Notepaper. Cream. Shiny surface. Watermark: A Pirie & Sons 1869. 105 gm2. Monogram appears twice
on the sheet.
Envelope. Cream. Shiny surface. No watermark. No imprint.
84
Notepaper. Pale blue. No watermark. 135 gm2. 85
Notepaper. Pink. No watermark. 120 gm2. See also 57.
Envelope. Pink. No watermark. Imprint: Berry & Bouvé 12 West St. Boston.
86
(No material.)  
Notepaper. Cream. Watermark: laid, 24mm and 26mm spacing. 135 gm2.
Envelope. Cream. Watermark: same.
87

APPENDIX
Various enquiries established that Messrs Berry & Bouvé were in business in Boston as engravers and stationers from 1868 to 1875. The partners were Andrew C Berry and Allston G Bouvé. The latter had previously worked as a clerk for Ephraim W Bouvé, card engraver, at 6 Bromfield Street, Boston. Allston is noted as a dentist in 1876, whilst Andrew C Berry continued to be listed as an engraver and stationer at 12 West Street.
It seems likely that Allston was related to Ephraim W Bouvé (1817-1897) who is known as an engraver and lithographer. He produced lithographs for sheet music and books, and engraved maps in the 1840s.
The dates for Berry & Bouvé, 1868 to 1875, accord well with the known facts of the contents of the album. Allston's previous employment as a clerk, and subsequent occupation as a dentist, suggest that he was not the engraver in the partnership. I have no knowledge of the background or abilities of Andrew C Berry. Whoever undertook the engraving was an artist of no little ability: perhaps Berry, or could it have been Ephraim W Bouvé?
The single envelope carrying an additional imprint relates to the firm of Lowell & Brett, 228 Washington Street, Boston, engravers and stationers, who were in business from 1866 to 1871; after that date the firm continued as John Adams Lowell & Co., at the same address.

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CREATED OCT 2007