The True University of These Days Is a Collection of Books

Designed by the American illustrator, Franklin Booth [1874-1948], this bookplate is printed directly on the front paste-down of A German-English Dictionary for Chemists by Austin Patterson. Booth has slightly truncated the quotation from Thomas Carlyle [1795-1881], which is found in his On Heroes and Hero-Worship, and reads in full as "The true University of these days is a Collection of Books."

According to Wikipedia, Booth's distinctive style was derived from his practice as a young boy of emulating illustrations he found in magazines, thinking them to be pen-and-ink drawings when they were in fact wood engravings.