Bookplate of William Wollaston

Bookplate of William Wollaston

Wollaston, William, 1731-1797

This is the bookplate of William Wollaston, esq. of Finborough, Suffolk. Wollaston was born around 1731 and served as colonel of the Eastern Battalion in the Suffolk Militia. He followed in his father William’s footsteps and served as a Member of Parliament for Ipswich from 1768-1784 in three consecutive sessions. His grandfather (also William), was a prominent scholar and reverend.

Wollaston befriended painter Thomas Gainsborough, who completed his portrait around 1758. He was married to Blanche, daughter of Robert Hyde Page and sister of Sir Thomas-Hyde Page. He was an avid gambler, and in 1794 sold the family estate to pay off his debts. He died at Bath on November 9th, 1797.

Wollaston’s bookplate features a ribbon around the family coat of arms, a griffin segreant argent coming out of a mural crown grasping a mullet sable pierced argent. The Wollaston family motto “Ne Quid Falsi” (“Nothing False”) is included below the bow.

Bickham, George, 1684?-1758?

Burke, Bernard. Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain. 4th ed. London: Harrison, Pall Mall, 1863. 1689.

Fletcher, W. G. D. Leicestershire Pedigrees and Royal Descents. Leicester: Clarke and Hodgson, 1887. 147-148.

Franks, Augustus Wollaston. Ellis’s Catalogue of British and American Book-plates. London: Ellis, 1905. 220.

History of Parliament

Howe, E. R. J. Gambier. Franks Bequest. Catalogue of British and American Book Plates Bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks. Vol. 3. London: Printed by Order of the Trustees, Sold at the British Museum, 1904. 232.

Nichols, John. Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century. Vol. 1. London: Printed for the author, by Nichols, Son, and Bentley, 1817. 884.

Supplement to The Suffolk Traveller. Compiled by Augustine Page. Ipswich: Joshua Page, 1844. 536.

Wikipedia

Digital Image: Washington University in Saint Louis

Paper

English, Latin

Bookplate

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