Description
Harry Bache Smith's bookplate is notable for its lively color and design. It depicts a medieval scene with a jester seated at a desk. Books, written music, a lute and the jester's staff are scattered about the floor. On the desk is a book with the words "Lytell Geste" and the title "Robyn Hood" on its cover.
Harry Bache Smith (1860-1936) was a composer and lyricist who penned the lyrics to the comic opera Robin Hood. Besides the owner's name and the words "Ex Libris," the bookplate contains a reference to "Psalms 37-21." The psalm reads "The wicked borroweth , and payeth not again; but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth."
The bookplate is part of a collection created by Elizabeth Mast Hyatt in the 1920s and 1930s to honor Annie Louise Cary (1841-1921), famed opera and concert singer, who was born in Wayne, Maine. Hyatt was also involved in plans for building a library in the town. The new building was dedicated in 1939 as the Cary Memorial Library.
View additional information about this item on the Maine Memory Network.