A friend and bibliophile, Jim McCue sends this on the bookplate:
The bookplate offered for sale is presumably the little wood-engraving
(image area 3in x 3 3/4in) showing a naked, hirsute young brunette with
her arms above and behind her head, against a lightly sketched
background of wispy flowers, all within a single white-line border. The
name "TH . S . // ELIOT" appears either side of the figure in mildly
incompetent san serif capitals. Probably engraved some time after
Eliot's death, this rather attractive little image is reminiscent of
Robert Gibbings or John Buckland Wright but nowhere near as accomplished
as their work. At the bottom right-hand corner there is a small
monogram (about the size of the lady's navel), something like a
printer's long-s or a musical stave mark. The image is known to
bookplate collectors, none of whom, I think, consider it genuine. The
form of the name alone demonstrates that it is not. The artist may well
be known. I don't think the bookplate was a serious attempt to deceive,
and the copy I bought was, if I remember rightly, catalogued accordingly
ten years ago.
> On Monday, September 20, 2004, at 03:40 AM, Rickard A. Parker wrote:
>
> > There is a bookplate claimed be one of Eliot's up for bid on eBay (I
> > don't want it so if you are interested you won't be bidding against
> > ME.)
> > I am curious though as to whether it is authentic. Has anyone seen
> > this
> > in a book of Eliot's? It shows a naked woman.
> >
> > http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/
> > eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20045&item=6927494662&rd=1
> >
> > Regards,
> > Rick Parker
> >
>
>
>
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