About this objectBookplate block proof, designed for Dr Adrian Fortescue. It consists of a square black design on glossy paper, showing an imagined medieval city, similar to the later etching ‘Sarras’ by the artist.
MakerFrederick Landseer Maur Griggs RA
Maker RoleArtist
Date Made1917
Period20th Century (1901-2000)
Medium and MaterialsOrganic | Paper
Ink
Inscription and MarksTop: QVÆ.CONSTRVITVR.IN.CÆLIS.VIVIS.EX.LAPIDIBVS (‘Which is built in the heavens from living stones’, a quotation from the Cantus Index for the Mass in dedicatione ecclesiae, the full quote reading ‘Urbs beata Jerusalem dicta pacis visio quae construitur in caelis vivis ex lapidibus et angelis coronata ut sponsata comite’, a reference to the Heavenly Jerusalem.)
Bottom: LIBER.ADRIANI.A. - FORTISCVTO.PRESB. | FORTE.SCVTVM. - SALVS.DVCVM (‘The book of Adrian A - Fortescue, Priest | A shield with strength - the salvation of leaders’, the motto of the Fortescue family, usually and ungrammatically translated as ‘A Strong Shield is the Salvation of Princes’.)
Named CollectionNorth Hertfordshire Museum
Credit LineMichael Gullick, St Bridgets, Radcliffe Road, Hitchin
