Open Collections

[Bookplate for John Wingfield Larking]

This heraldic bookplate consists of an escutcheon, ermine, charged with three heads of wildcats, possibly lions. Above the escutcheon is a closed helmet, placed in profile, denoting the rank of an esquire or a gentleman, from which, elaborate mantling flows. Upon the helmet is a curved wreath, with a crest of a bird, wings elevated and displayed, holding a branch in its beak.

Heraldry

Larking, John Wingfield

Still Image

Bookplate owner is John Wingfield Larking of Lea, Kent. Father of Colonel Cuthbert Larking (d. 31 Oct. 1910) who married Lady Adela Hare in 1864. John Wingfield Larking was a British consul in Egypt, and is noted as one of the first influential Englishmen in Egypt. Notably, he was a friend of Sir Richard Burton, famous English traveller and author of The Arabian Nights. It was at Larking's house in Alexandria that Burton plunged into his famous disguise as "El Makim el Najee" with the intent to integrate himself in the Muslim culture and faith and visit the holy cities of Medina and Mecca in 1853.
References:
1) Castle, Egerton. "English Bookplate: Ancient and Modern" December 1892. London: George Bell & Sons, pg 158. Digitized 14 Jun, 2007. Original from Harvard University, digitized by Google Books http://books.google.com/books?id=DoMDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158&dq=%22john+wingfield+larking%22&source=web&ots=tWinC588PY&sig=Y24_gO4_urSdjrAznhsOcnNPVFA#PPA158,M1
2) Lundy, Darryl. "John Wingfield Larking." The Peerage.com. 17 July 2004. Accessed on 15 Nov. 2007. http://www.thepeerage.com/p3814.htm#i38139.
3) Stevenson, Janet H. "Alexander Nesbitt, a Sussex antiquary, and the Oldlands estate." Sussex Archaeological Collections 137 (1999): 161-73. Accessed 15 Nov. 2007 http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/SussexArchSoc/SussexArchCol/137/ahds/dissemination/pdf/web/11_stevenson.pdf.
4) Lovell, Mary S. A Rage to Live By: A Biography of Richard and Isabel Burton. London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. Accessed online through GoogleBooks, 15 Nov. 2007 http://books.google.com/books?id=T582hHY1ESQC&dq=%22john+wingfield+larking%22. 118-9.
5) Stisted, Georgiana M. The True Life of Capt. Sir Richard F. Burton. New York: Cosimo Inc, 2004. Accessed online through GoogleBooks, 15 Nov. 2007 http://books.google.com/books?id=MuGKQGpz5awC&dq=%22john+wingfield+larking%22. 73.
6) The Manual of Heraldry. 7th Ed. London: Virtue Brothers & Co., 1866.
7) Heraldic Dictionary. University of Notre Dame, Dept. of Special Collections. 31 July 2000. Accessed 21 Nov. 2007 at http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/heraldry/index.html

RBSC Bookplates

2008

Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from Rare Books and Special Collections: http://rbsc.library.ubc.ca

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