File:EIS PHAOS.JPG

Summary

This is an image taken from a scanned file I made of George Bancroft's book-plate. The original book, one of Bancroft's volumes of Migne's Patrologia Latina, is in the Bancroft Collection in Lenox Library in New York City. The bookplate is well-known among aficionados of such things because of its beauty, and the plate is also noteworthy because it contains Bancroft's signature.

Bancroft died in 1891. I am not aware that the image, or Bancroft's signature, is copyrighted in any way and therefore I am uploading this as a two-dimensional work which is under the public domain. The scan is low-quality, and is being uploaded (1) as an example of the signature of a famous man, and (2) as an example of fine book-plate art of the nineteenth century.

If anyone knows the specific law concerning signatures (if such a thing exists), or if they are aware that this work of art has been copyrighted since Bancroft's death, please make the necessary changes.

Licensing:

This image is in the public domain because under the Copyright law of the United States, originality of expression is necessary for copyright protection, and a mere photograph of an out-of-copyright two-dimensional work may not be protected under American copyright law. The official position of the Wikimedia Foundation is that all reproductions of public domain works should be considered to be in the public domain regardless of their country of origin (even in countries where mere labor is enough to make a reproduction eligible for protection).

This image is in the public domain in the United States. In most cases, this means that it was first published prior to January 1, 1930 (see the template documentation for more cases). Other jurisdictions may have other rules, and this image might not be in the public domain outside the United States. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.