Sender: Rare Books and Special Collections Forum <EXLIBRIS@RUTVM1.BITNET>
I don't have the answer, but I do have some clues. We have a bookplate
as you describe, except that it has no motto. It belonged to Sam Bancroft,
Jr., of Rockford, near Wilmington, Del. Judging from the books it is affixed
to, he was around in the last third of the nineteenth century, and was
interested in American literature. I also find a "Bancroft, of London" with
the crest you describe in Fairbairn's Book of crests.
I can find no correspondence between your motto and any English family
with the resources here, nor any Bancroft with the coat of arms you describe.
Burke's family index records three Bancroft families: two are in Distinguished
families of U. S. A.; one is in Irish family records (neither here).
My guess is that you have the bookplate of an American, and, as we know,
Americans can dream up, appropriate, or alter any coat of arms, crest, or
motto that they like, so you may not be able to locate *your* Bancroft.
John B. Thomas, III, University of Texas.
(Add to second paragraph, first line: named Bancroft; why can't this
feature--no insert--be fixed?)