American Monogram and Crest Album, ca. 1902

Item Details

Hardcover

Good

Commercially made "Album for Crests, Monograms, Coats of Arms, Postmarks, &c." (New York: Dutton, ND), 7.75" x 6", with approximately 350 individual items (clipped crests/logos and embossed labels from businesses and institutions, personal monograms and coats of arms, etc.) glued to 29 album pages (rectos only), as well as 10 unused album pages with a variety of decorative borders and a 22-page "Supplement of Mottoes and Classical Quotations, With their Meanings, Together with Illustrations of the Arms and Crest of Notable Men, &c, &c." Hinges broken, some leaves detached from text block, pages and affixed items nearly all in very good condition, with the exception of one page, on which items were affixed with acidic tape rather than glue. Good. 

Collecting crests and monograms found  was a popular hobby that emerged in Great Britain in the 1860s. Collectors cut out and mounted colorful logos, coats of arms, small letterhead illustrations, and personal and institutional monograms and coats of arms they gathered in their travels or traded with friends. It was also possible to purchase ready-made sets of crests focused on notable families, educational institutions, royalty, and other themes. European (especially English) crest albums are fairly common in the marketplace, but the hobby was less common (and emerged later) in the United States, and American albums are harder to come by. They offer an interesting record of the hobby itself, the many businesses and institutions documented,  and the graphic design and printing work represented by their logos and emblems. This album contains pieces dated as early as 1881 and as late as 1902 (though the vast majority of items do not have dates) and includes items from numerous hotels (most in the northeast U.S., as well as a few from eastern Canada, the western U.S., and Europe), secondary schools, and colleges and universities, as well as fraternal organizations, railroads, ships, civic organizations, jewelers, and other businesses.