Gooden bookplates (AH)

Some bookplates designed by Stephen Gooden

Stephen Gooden (1892-1955) was an artist and engaver, mainly on copper. I have proofs of 35 of the 50 bookplates, book labels, devices and coats of arms that he designed. The bookplates and book labels are shown below in chronological order. I have also created a list of his bookplates, with a link to an image of each plate, if I don't have it and can find one.

Goodens' designs for bookplates issued before 1944 are reproduced in the book by Campbell Dodgson, The Iconography of the engravings of Stephen Gooden (Elkin Matthews, London). There is a newer catalogue, not yet published, by Duncan Andrews, a collector of Gooden's work. I have seen it at Yale University and transcribed it from hand-written sheets. I have added Duncan Andrews' catalogue numbers with the letters DA.

All bookplates are shown in roughly in proportion to each other based on the dimensions of the plate if there is a plate mark, or the size of the image if there is no plate mark.

All bookplates and labels shown below are from my personal collection.

Update on 28/3/2025: Added the first state of the medium plate for the Royal Library at Windsor Castle with the cypher of King Edward VIII, signed by Stephen Gooden. It was very stained but has been beautifully conserved by Lisa Oxenden-Wray. I will scan the image when it is returned to me and upload a whiter version.

(Last updated on 28/3/25)

J.N. Hart

Date: 1923

Signed: SG at base of right column

Plate size: 99 x 67 mm

Paper size: 193 x 149 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD129

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA187

Notes: This is Gooden's first bookplate design, done for a man named John Napthali Hart (1881-1963). J.N. Hart was awarded a CBE in 1955 for political and public services in Enfield. He wrote books on growing roses.

S.L. Courtauld

Date: (1925)

Plate size: 110 x 83 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD133

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA191

Notes: This bookplate was designed for Sir Stephen Lewis Courtauld (1883-1967), a philanthropist who, with his wife Virginia, restored Eltham Palace in South-East London. His library there contains many examples of this bookplate.

Dorothy Moulton Mayer

Date: 1926

Plate size: 96 x 53 mm

Paper size: 153 x 95 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD136

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA194

Notes: Lady Dorothy Moulton Mayer (1886-1974) was a contralto who, late in life, wrote biographies of Louis Spohr (Widenfeld & Nicholson, 1959), Louise of Savoy (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1966), Marie Antoinette (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1968) and (published posthumously) Angelica Kaufmann (Colin Smythe, 1978). In 1919 aged 33 y, she married Robert Mayer (1879-1985) a German musician and industrialist, who became a naturalised British citizen. Dorothy and Robert established concerts of classical music for children before the Second World War that proved very popular. They had two children, a son (b 1922) and a daughter. Dorothy died aged aged 88 y in 1974; Sir Robert married again aged 101 y and died aged 106 y. I found this bookplate in a limited edition of the Collected Poems of John Drinkwater (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1923), which he inscribed to Dorothy with lines of his verse.

Geoffrey Keynes

Date: 1926

Plate size: 49 x 78 mm

Paper size: 59 x 89 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD137

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA195

Notes: Sir Geoffrey Keynes was a surgeon and long-time supporter and friend of Stephen Gooden. Keynes commissioned the bookplates for the Royal College of Surgeons (see below).

Mona Gooden

Date: 1926

Plate size: 50 x 63 mm

Paper size: 63 x 77 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD138

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA196

Notes: Mona Steele Price (1894–1958) was a poet who married Stephen Gooden in 1925. She compiled a book of poems about cats called The Poet's Cat (1946), which Stephen Gooden illustrated. They lived at Chesham Bois, near Amersham. Stephen died aged 62 of bowel cancer; Mona died three years later aged 64 of lung cancer.

Bertine Entwisle Sutton

Date: 1927

Paper size: 96 x 77 mm

Plate size: 87 x 75 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD139

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA197

Notes: This plate was for Air Marshall Sir Bertine Sutton.

Harold Hartley

Date: 1927

Signed: S. Gooden, lower left

Plate size: 87 x 87 mm

Paper size: not known

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD140

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA198

Notes: The bookplate is for Harold Thomas Hartley (1851-1943), a businessman and bibliophile.

I can find only one citation of the phrase 'The Pursuing Conscience' (other than this bookplate), it is from The Peer and the Blacksmith (1845) by Richard Beddingfield: It is to fly the pursuing conscience that the wicked rush into sin.

This is one of the few plates by Stephen Gooden that he signed in the engraving. The description on the British Museum website says that is based on two heads after Simeon Solomon, and it is initialled and dated 'SS 1894' in the image.

Antoinette Brett/Esher

Date: 1927

Plate size: 95 x 65

Paper size: 104 x 77 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD141

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA199

Notes: Antoinette Heckscher (1884–1967) was an American who married Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett in 1912. When her husband's father died in 1930 he became the 3rd Viscount Esher so she changed the bookplate to give her new name. Lucky his name wasn't Northumberland or something long.

Antoinette, if I may be so familiar, is reported to have lost the original copper plate and the new one with her married name, Brett, was perhaps engraved by Kenneth Hobson, not by Stephen Gooden.

Margaret Griselda Wedderburn

Date: 1928

Plate size: 83 x 62 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD142

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA200

Notes: Margaret Griselda Wedderburn (1888-1987) was married secondly to Bertine Sutton, who also had a bookplate designed by Stephen Gooden. She had five children with her first husband, Stuart de la Rue, who died in 1927 aged 44. Two of her sons, Christopher and Patrick, died within 5 months of each other in 1939, aged 23 and 18, before the Second World War started.

George Courtauld

Date: 1931

Plate size: 138 x 79 mm

Paper size: 160 x 100 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD144

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA202

Notes: This bookplate is for George Courtauld V (1903-1980), great-great grandson of the founder of the company Courtaulds, a textile manufacturer, related to Stephen Courtauld (see SG B5).

Imperial Defence College Library

Date: 1932

Paper size: 152 x 89 mm

Plate size: 125 x 61 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD145

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA203

Notes: The lion represents the Army, the trident represents the Navy and the wings represent the Air Force.

The Lakeside Press Library

Date: 1932-33

Plate size: 83 x 79 mm

Paper size: 140 x 111 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD146

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA204

Notes: The Lakeside Press was a publisher in Chicago, Illinois

John Raymond Danson

Date: 1934

Plate size: 108 x 65 mm

Paper size: 118 x 75 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD147

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA205

Notes: John Raymond Danson served in both World Wars and was a collector and benefactor.

George Harrap

Date: 1935

Plate size: 113 x 65 mm

Paper size: 140 x 94 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD148

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA206

Notes: This bookplate was designed for George Steward Harrap (1892-1956), the son of George Godfrey Harrap (1868-1938), both publishers of books illustrated by Stephen Gooden. George junior lived in Chesham Bois, but perhaps before Stephen and Mona Gooden moved there. The bookplate is based on a device that Gooden designed for the publishing firm of George G. Harrap: a 'gee-gee' on the capital H. It wasn't used but Gooden produced it as a bookplate for G.G.'s son G.S.

Liverpool Medical Institution Library

Date: 1936

Paper size: 129 x 84 mm

Plate size: 130 x 87

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD149

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA207

Notes: This bookplate was for Liverpool Medical Institution Library, which was founded in 1779.

The snake wound around a stick is the Rod of Asclepius, an ancient symbol of medicine believed to represent the means of removing the nematode worm Dracunculus medinensis through the small abscess, usually on the lower leg, through which the female worm releases its larvae into water. The worm needs to be removed slowly, otherwise it could break and cause inflammation, so it was wound around a small stick and every day more of the worm was pulled out. By the way, my first career was as a Parasitologist.

Royal Library Windsor Castle, medium design

Date: 1937

Paper size: xxx x xxx mm

Plate size: 165 x 121 mm

States: second of four

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD152.ii

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA209.ii

Notes: This is the second state of the medium bookplate for the Royal Library which has the Royal cypher for King Edward VIII at the top. As he abdicated before becoming King, Gooden modified the cypher for King George VI, but not before he had printed some proofs which he sold to friends or gave away, presumably like the proof shown here.

Royal Library Windsor Castle, medium design

Date: 1954

Paper size: 177 x 133 mm

Plate size: 122 x 85 mm

States: four of four

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA209.iv

Notes: This medium bookplate for the Royal Library at Windsor was first designed with a Royal cypher at the top for King Edward VIII(see above), which was changed for King George VI. When he died the cypher was removed in 1954 by Gooden and the plate was cut down.

Royal Library Windsor Castle, large design

Date: 1937

Plate size: 173 x 110 mm

Paper size: 216 x 146 mm

States: seven of seven

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD153

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA211

Notes: This large bookplate was first designed for King George VI. This seventh state lacks the initials G R, to the left and right of the crown, and the Roman numerals VI within the letter G to the left, which is reported by Dodgson to be the final version. These letters were removed by Steven Gooden in 1954.

Hertfordshire Art Society

Date: 1938

Plate size: 137 x 84 mm

Paper size: 150 x 98 mm

States: one

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD154

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA212

Notes: This is an award label rather than a bookplate. The society held its first exhibition in 1889 at Hertford but seems to have died out during the Second World War.

William George Arthur, IVth Baron Harlech

Date: 1938

Plate size: 131 x 105 mm

Paper size:

States: four

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD155

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA214

Notes: William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore (1885-1964) was a Conservative politician and Secretary of State for the Colonies between 1936 to 1938, the year he inherited his title and the year he commissioned Gooden to design a bookplate for him. At the top is part of the family crest, described as: a Dexter Arm embowed in armour proper holding in the hand a Man's Leg also in armour couped at the thigh.

The father of the first Lord Harlech was born William Gore in Ireland in 1779. In 1815 he married Mary Ormsby, an heiress, and added her family name to his to become Ormsby-Gore.

The bookplate is initialled 'SG' in the scroll, lower right. Click on it to see it in more detail.

Ethel Luce-Clausen

Date: 1940

Plate size: 107 x 67 mm

Paper size: not seen

State: four

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD156

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA215

Notes: Ethel Marjorie Luce-Clausen was student at Trinity College, Dublin with Mona Gooden, Stephen's wife. Dr Clausen worked at the University of Rochester, New York, and was a paediatrician and an expert on rats. She asked Gooden to draw an animal for her bookplate, but not a rat. Gooden apologised and said 'the rat crept in when I wasn't looking.

Dr Clausen was probably responsible for getting the Rochester Print Club to commission a design for a print by Gooden, entitled Diana (1940).

After her husband, Dr Samuel Woolcott Clausen, died in the USA in 1952, Ethel retired to her family home of Jersey. She died there in about 1965.

Elizabeth R (large plate)

Date: 1942

Plate size: 134 x 94 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD183

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA219

Notes: This plate is for the books of Queen Elizabeth, the wife of King George VI and mother of Queen Elizabeth II.

Ashwell Merchant Taylor's School

Date: 1942

Plate size: 113 x 76 mm

States: three

Campbell Dodgson (1944): CD185

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA221

Notes: This is the first state of an award plate, to be pasted inside a book to be given as a prize. The lettering on the plate was corrected to Ashwell Merchant Taylors' School in the second state. Later, another engraver changed the lettering to Ashwell County Primary School.

City of Liverpool Public Libraries, large plate

Date: 1944

Plate size: 124 x 91 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA222

Notes: The main library in Liverpool is now called Liverpool Central Library. The Liver bird on the plate is represented as a Comorant with laver seaweed in its bill. The box to enter details about who the book was presented by has a separate plate mark.

City of Liverpool Public Libraries, Presented by

Date: 1944

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA223

Plate size: 39 x 91 mm

(1st state, click to enlarge)

(Final state, click to enlarge)

Liverpool Public Libraries, Reference Library

Date: 1944

Plate size: 101 x 48 mm

States: four

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA224

Notes: This shows the four states of the design.

The main library in Liverpool is now called Liverpool Central Library. The Liver bird on the plate is represented as a Comorant with laver seaweed in its bill.

(1st state, click to enlarge) (2nd state, click to enlarge)

(3rd state, click to enlarge) (Final state, click to enlarge)

Elizabeth

Date: (1946)

Plate size: 138 x 92 mm

Paper size: 254 x 187 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA225

Notes: This bookplate was for designed by Gooden for Princess Elizabeth in 1946, when she was 20 years old, so before she became Queen. My copy is a trial proof on a sheet of thick wove paper, which is often used by engravers to check their designs, about 355 x 190 mm. It is not listed in Dodgson (1944).

Central African Archives Library

Date: 1946

Plate size: 138 x 83 mm

Paper size: 158 x 102 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA227

Notes: The Central African Archives was established in 1946 by the Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia Archives Ordinances. The Ordinances transformed the Southern Rhodesia Archives in to a Central African Archives to provide common archival services for Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi). All the three territories were then under the colonial administration of Britain. The archive was established in Salisbury (now Harare). In 1958 the Central African Archives was renamed as the National Archives of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In 1963 the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved and this was followed by the independenceof Malawi in July 1964 followed by Zambia’s independence in October 1964. The white minority government of Rhodesia declared independence unilaterally in 1965 leading to a 15-year war until 1980, when Zimbabwe was created.

I suspect that Stephen Courtauld (see above) may have been instrumental in commissioning this bookplate. In 1951 he moved to Mutare in Southern Rhodesia where he lived for the rest of his life and where he was a notable philanthropist. I suspect that he had been to Rhodesia before he moved there.

The National Archives Library

Date: 1946

Image size: 120 x 78 mm

Notes: This is only known from a reproduction, bought in the sale of John Deacon, son of a collector of Gooden's work and a collector himself. It has the same dimensions as the engraved plate of the Central African Archives and the same design except that the two shields are missing and the title shield at the top is shorter, as there are only four lines in the title, not five. I wonder if it was a trial or abandoned design, as the shield with pick axe and scrolls beneath are probably specific to the institution. Perhaps the plate was designed before the Central African Archive was a created, when it was known as the National Archives?

Derek Spence

Date: 1949

Plate size: 84 x 84 mm

Paper size: 122 x 2226 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA229

Notes: This proof of the bookplate is gummed.

This bookplate was for the Chairman of Peter Spence & Sons, industrial chemists and importers of alum. The Centaur is standing on a crystal of alum. A similar design of a female centaur on a crystal of alum, was used as a tailpiece in a book The Earliest Chemical Industry by Charles Singer published by the Folio Society in 1948 in two formats: numbers 1-100 were hand-bound in red morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, signed by the author and Derek Spence; and numbers 101-1100 were numbered and issued in red cloth.

I have a drawing by Gooden of a male Centaur on a crystal, which may be a trial design for this endpiece.

Royal College of Surgeons, small plate

Date: 1952

Plate size: 66 x 51 mm

Paper size: 92 x 77 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA232

Notes: The Royal College of Surgeons is a professional body that regulates surgery. The designs for this plate can be seen here.

Royal College of Surgeons, large plate

Date: 1953

Plate size: 117 x 89 mm

Paper size: 164 x 126 mm

Campbell Dodgson (1944): after CD

Duncan Andrews (unpublished): DA233

Notes: The Royal College of Surgeons is a professional body that regulates surgery. The designs for this plate were presented to the RCS by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, who also had a bookplate designed for him in 1926 by Gooden.