Printer's mark

The Temple in Jerusalem depicted as the Dome of the Rock on the printer's mark of Marco Antonio Giustiniani, Venice 1545–52

A printer's mark, device, emblem or insignia is a symbol that was used as a trademark by early printers starting in the 15th century.

The first printer's mark is found in the 1457 Mainz Psalter by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer.[1] One of the most well-known old printer's marks is the dolphin and anchor, first used by the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius as his mark in 1502.[2]

The database Printers' Devices of the Ancient Book Section of the Library of the University of Barcelona, was launched in October 1998.[3] The University of Florida libraries also provide digital access to printers' devices and include The University of Chicago devices that have appeared on the cover of their publication The Library Quarterly.[4]

Printer's mark in use in the modern era

Printers' devices have been incorporated in American library buildings, as a reflection of the British Arts and Crafts Movement.[5]

From 1931 to 2012 Library Quarterly featured 328 printer's marks with an article on the history of each mark.[6]

  1. ^ Roberts, William (1893). Printers' Marks, by. London: George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, & New York.
  2. ^ Nicole Howard (2005), "Printer's Devices", The book: the life story of a technology, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 9780313330285
  3. ^ University of Barcelona. "Printer's Devices" https://marques.crai.ub.edu/en/printers/devices Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/rarebook/devices/device.htm
  5. ^ Karen Nipps, "Printers' Devices as Decorative Elements in Library Architecture." The Library Quarterly 83 (July 2013): 271-278.
  6. ^ Kettnich, Karen, et al. “History of the Book, Printers’ Marks, and Library Quarterly.” The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, vol. 85, no. 4, 2015, pp. 345–46.