Scribner's Bookplate

This ornamental bookplate was designed by American illustrator Homer Wayland Colby for Scribner's publishing house. The composition features two quill pens flanking an open book at the center, surrounded by elaborate Art Nouveau botanical ornament—grapes, leaves, and scrollwork characteristic of early twentieth-century design. The circular frame and banner inscription create a formal heraldic effect suitable for marking ownership of volumes in a distinguished library. Bookplates served as both functional labels and expressions of aesthetic taste, with publishing houses commissioning distinctive designs to reinforce their brands during an era when fine book production and illustration were central to literary culture.