Biblioteca John Crerar
1896
This intricate 1896 engraving by Edwin Davis French serves as the bookplate for the John Crerar Library in Chicago, honoring the businessman who left his fortune to create a free scientific library. A solemn portrait of Crerar sits at the center, framed by thistles and palm fronds, while a ribbon unfurls with the motto 'Great is the gift that bringeth knowledge.' Below him, an open book displays a Latin quote attributed to Ptolemy, 'He is not dead who has given life to knowledge,' suggesting that learning grants a kind of immortality. It is a beautiful tribute to the power of books, designed just two years after the library's founding in 1894.
- Technique
- Engraving
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