George Wythe's bookplate
From Wythepedia: The George Wythe Encyclopedia
Wythe's bookplate in volume 7 of The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Kt., Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Based on a Wythe family coat-of-arms[1], the bookplate features a griffin (a mythical beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion) segreant on the crest and three griffins passant on the escutcheon. In heraldry, the griffin denotes strength, intelligence, courage and leadership. Coincidentally, the College of William and Mary chose the griffin as its mascot in 2010.
The motto "seconds dubiisque rectus" translates as "upright in prosperity and in perils."[2]
References
- ↑ Alonso Thomas Dill, George Wythe: Teacher of Liberty, Williamsburg, Virginia: Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission, 1979), 3.
- ↑ Dill, 3.
