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[Transcriber's Note:
This text is intended for users whose text readers cannot use the "real" (unicode/utf-8) version. A few letters such as "oe" have been unpacked, and curly quotes and apostrophes have been replaced with the simpler "typewriter" form. Words in Greek or Hebrew have been transliterated. In quotations of older material, letters such as "e caudata" (e with "tail") are shown in braces as {e,} to avoid confusion with bracketed text.
Where possible, text contained within illustrations of printers' marks has been transcribed. The text is shown on separate lines, corresponding to the original layout; captions—usually the printer's name—will appear on the same line as the word "Illustration". Note that the spelling given in the body text is often different from that of the Mark as pictured. Within illustrations, expanded abbreviations are shown in [brackets].
Typographical errors are listed at the end of the e-text. Capitalization of the word "mark" or "Mark" is arbitrary in the original and has not been changed. Misspellings or misprints within Marks are also never changed, but the most obvious errors are noted.]
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PRINTERS' MARKS.
Printers' Marks
A Chapter in the History of Typography by W. Roberts
Editor of "The Bookworm"
London: George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, & New York. Mdcccxciij.
Chiswick Press: C.Whittingham And Co., Tooks Court, Chancery Lane.
To
T. B. BOLITHO, ESQ., M.P.,
This Volume Is Respectfully Dedicated.
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PREFACE.
There are few phases of typography open to the charge of being neglected. An unquestionable exception occurs, however, in relation to Printers' Marks. This subject is in many respects one of the most interesting in connection with the early printers, who, using devices at first purely as trade marks for the protection of their books against the pirate, soon began to discern their ornamental value, and, consequently, employed the best available artists to design them. Many of these examples are of the greatest bibliographical and general interest, as well as of considerable value in supplementing an important class of illustrations to the printed books, and showing the origin of several typical classes of Book-plates (Ex-Libris). The present Handbook has been written with a view to supplying a readable but accurate account of this neglected chapter in the history of art and bibliography; and it appeals with equal force to the artist or collector. Only one book on the subject, Berjeau's "Early Dutch, German, and English Printers' Marks," has appeared in this country, and this, besides being out of print and expensive, is destitute of descriptive letterpress. The principle which determined the selection of the illustrations is of a threefold character: first, the importance of the printer; secondly, the artistic value or interest of the Mark itself; and thirdly, the geographical importance of the city or town in which the Mark first appeared.
Since the text of this book was printed, however, two additions have been made to the literature of its subject: Dr. Paul Kristeller's "Die Italienischen Buchdrucker- und Verlegerzeichen, bis 1525," avery handsome work, worthy to rank with the "Elsssische Bchermarken bis Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts" of Herr Paul Heitz and Dr. Karl A.Barack (to whom I am indebted for much valuable information as well as for nearly thirty illustrations in the chapter on German Printers' Marks); and Mr. Alfred Pollard's "Early Illustrated Books," an admirable volume which, however, only deals incidentally with the Printer's Mark as a side issue in the history of the decoration and illustration of books in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Mr. Pollard reproduces seven blocks from Dr. Kristeller's monograph on the Devices of the Italian Printers. In reference to the statement on p.116 of this volume that the Mark of Bade "is the earliest picture of a printing press," Mr. Pollard refers to an unique copy of an edition of the "Danse Macabre" printed anonymously at Lyons in February, 1499, eight years earlier, which contains cuts of the shops of a printer and a bookseller.
That this volume has considerably exceeded its intended limit must be my excuse for not including, with a very few exceptions, any modern examples from the Continent. Nearly every French printer and publisher of any note indulges in the luxury of a Mark of some sort, and an interesting volume might be written concerning modern continental examples. The practice of using a Printer's Mark is an extremely commendable one, not merely as a relic of antiquity, but from an sthetic point of view. Nearly every tradesman of importance in this country has some sort of trade mark; but most printers agree in regarding it as a wholly unnecessary superfluity. As the few exceptions indicated in the last chapter prove that the fashion has an artistic as well as a utilitarian side, Ihope that it will again become more general as time goeson.
As regards my authorities: I have freely availed myself of nearly all the works named in the "Bibliography" at the end, besides such invaluable works as Brunet's "Manual," Mr. Quaritch's Catalogues, and the monographs on the various printers, Plantin, Elzevir, Aldus, and the rest. From Messrs. Dickson and Edmonds' "Annals of Scottish Printing" Ihave obtained not only some useful information regarding the Printer's Mark in Scotland, but, through the courtesy of Messrs. Macmillan and Bowes of Cambridge, the loan of several blocks from the foregoing work, as well as that of John Siberch, the first Cambridge printer. Ihave also to thank M.Martinus Nijhoff, of the Hague, Herr Karl W.Hiersemann, of Leipzig, Herr J.H. Ed. Heitz, Strassburg, Mr. Elliot Stock, Mr. Robert Hilton, Editor of the "British Printer," and the Editor of the "American Bookmaker," for the loan either of blocks or of original examples of Printers' Marks; and Mr. C.T.Jacobi for several useful works on typography. Mr. G.P.Johnston, of Edinburgh, kindly lent me the reduced facsimile on p.252, which arrived too late to be included in its proper place. The publishers whose Marks are included in the chapter on "Modern Examples" are also thanked for the courtesy and readiness with which they placed electros at my disposal.
The original idea of this book is due to my friend, Mr. Gleeson White, the general editor of the series in which it appears; but my thanks are especially due to Mr. G.R.Dennis for the great care with which he has gone through the whole work.
W. R.
86, Grosvenor Road, S.W., October, 1893.
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CONTENTS.
Page
PREFACE vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii INTRODUCTION 1 SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE PRINTER'S MARK 40 THE PRINTER'S MARK IN ENGLAND 52 SOME FRENCH PRINTERS' MARKS 100 PRINTERS' MARKS OF GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND 139 SOME DUTCH AND FLEMISH PRINTERS' MARKS 178 PRINTERS' MARKS IN ITALY AND SPAIN 209 SOME MODERN EXAMPLES 233 BIBLIOGRAPHY 253 INDEX 255
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Liechtenstein, Petrus. Frontispiece Bell, George, and Sons. Title-page Andlau, G. U. Von 1 Couteau, Gillet 4 Du Pr, Galliot 5 Lecoq, Jehan 7 Petit and Kerver 9 Du Puys, Jacques 11 Pavier, T. 12 Janot, Denys 15 Faques, William 16 Steels, J. 19 Vrard, Antoine 21 Plate of thirty Marks used chiefly by the Italian Printers 25 Chaudire, Guillaume 28 Roffet, Jacques 30 Tournes, Jean de 31 Breuille, Mathurin 33 Snellaert, C. 35 Rastell, John 37 Leeu, Gerard 39, 185 Fust and Schoeffer 40 Froben, J. 43 Cratander's Mark (attributed to Holbein) 45 Cox, T. 46 Dulssecker, Johann Reinhold 47, 153, 154 Beck, Reinhard 50, 143, 144 Goltz, Hubert 51 Lynne, Walter 52 Caxton, William 55 St. Albans Printer, The 56 De Worde, Wynkyn 58 Pynson, R. 59, 60 Notary, Julian 61 Fawkes, R. 63 Treveris, Peter 64 Scott, John 65 Copland, Robert 66, 68 Wyer, Robert 69 Hester, Andrew 70 Berthelet, Thomas 71 Byddell, John 72 Vautrollier, Thomas 74 Grafton, Richard 75 Middleton, William 76 Wolfe, John 78 Day, John 79 Arbuthnot, A. 81 Singleton, Hugh 83 Wight, John 84 Hall, Rowland 85 Bynneman, Henry 86 Woodcock, Thomas 87 Jaggard, William 88 Kingston, Felix 89 Creede, Thomas 90 Walthoe, John 91 Ware, R. 92 Scolar, John 93 Siberch, John 95 Myllar, Andro 96 Chepman, Walter 97 Davidson, Thomas 98 Charteris, H. 99 Estienne, F. 100 Rembolt, B. 102 Vostre, Simon 103 Regnault, Franois 104 Regnault, Pierre 105 Marchant, Guy 106 De Marnef 107 Du Pr, J. 108 Le Rouge, Pierre 109 Le Noir, Philippe 110 Kerver, Thielman 111 Pigouchet, Philippe 113 Petit, Jehan 114 Bade, J. 115 Hardouyn, Gillet 116 Tory, Geoffrey 117 De Colines, Simon 119 Estienne, Robert 120, 121 Vidoue, P. 124 Cyaneus, Louis 125 Wchel, Andr 126 Wchel, Chrestien 127 Nivelle, Sbastien 128 Merlin, Desboys and Nivelle 130 Topie, M. 131 Treschel, J. 132 Dolet, E. 133 Hughes de la Porte and A. Vincent 134 Gryphe, Sbastien 135 Colomies, Jacques 136 Morin, M. 137 Le Chandelier, Pierre 138 Thanner, Jacobi 139 Grninger, Johann 140 Schott, Martin 141 Knoblouch, Johann 142 Kpfel, Wolfgang 145, 146 Mller, Craft (Crato Mylius) 147, 149 Biener, Matthias (Apiarius) 148 Rihel, Theodosius; Rihel, Josias (und Deren Erben) 150 Zetzner, Lazarus 151 Berger, Thiebold 151 Scher, Conrad 152 Hauth, David 152 Anshelm, Thomas 155 Kobian, Valentin 156 Hoernen, A. Ther 157 Bumgart, Herman 158 Koelhoff, Johann 160 Csar, Nicholas 161 Soter, J. 162 Birckmann, Arnold 163 Oglin, Erhard 164 Pfortzheim, Jacobus de 165 Henricpetri 166 Endter's, Wilhelm Moritz, Daughter 167 Weissenburger, J. 168 Lotter, Melchior 169 Schumann, V. 170 Baumgarten, Conrad 171 Feyrabend, J. 172 Guerbin, L. 172 Stadelberger, Jacob 173 Girard, Jehan 174 Rivery, J. 174 Froschover, C. 175 Brylinger, N. 176 Le Preux, F. 177 Veldener, J. 178 Johann of Westphalia 179 Martens, Theodoric 180 Mansion, Colard 181 The Brothers of Common Life 182 Paffraej, Albertus 183 Van der Meer, Jacob Jacobzoon 186 Van der Goes, Mathias 187 Van den Dorp, R. 188 Back, Godefroy 188, 190 Csaris, A. 191 Hillenius, Michael 192 Bellaert, J. 193 Henrici, H. 194 Destresius, Jodocus 195 Van der Noot, Thomas 196 Grapheus, J. 197 Van den Keere, Henri 198 Waesberghe, J. 199 Hamont, Michel de 200 Velpius, Rutger 201 Hovii, J. M. 202 Plantin, C. 203, 204 Elzevir Sage, The 206 Elzevir Sphere, The 207 Janssens, Guislain 208 Fritag, A. 209 Riessinger, Sixtus 210 Besicken, J. 211 Martens, Thierry 211 Ratdolt, Erhardus 212 Scotto, Ottaviano 214 Sessa, Melchior 216 Meietos, P. and A. 217 Aldine Anchor, The First 218 Torresano, Andrea 219 Aldine Anchor, 1502-15 220 " " 1546-54 221 " " 1555-74 222 " " 1575-81 223 Giunta, P. 224 Giunta, L. 225 Giunta, F. de 225 Sabio, The Brothers 226 Legnano, Gian Giacomo di 227 Rizzardi, Giammaria 228 Rosembach, Juan 230 Fernandex, V. 231 Kalliergos, Zacharias 232 Legnano, J. A. de 232 Vingle, J. de, of Picardy 232 Hugunt, M. 232 Longman and Co. 233, 237 Stationers' Company, The 233 " " " 234 Rivingtons, The 235 Clarendon Press, The 238 Pickering, William 239 Pickering, Basil Montagu 239 Chiswick Press 240, 241 Chatto and Windus 243 Nutt, David 243 Cassell and Co. 243 Macmillan and Co. 243 Unwin, T. Fisher 243, 245 Lawrence and Bullen 243 Kegan Paul and Co. 243 Clark, R. and R. 244 Constable, T. and A. 246 Morris, William 247, 248 Appleton, D., and Co. 250 Cushing, J. S., and Co. 250 Harper Brothers 250 Lockwood, H., and Co. 250 Berwick and Smith 251 De Vinne, Theodore L., and Co. 251 Lippincott, J. B., Co. 251 Nijhoff, M. 251 Norton, William 252 Bell, George, and Sons 261
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PRINTERS' MARKS.
INTRODUCTION.
Shorn of all the romance and glamour which seem inevitably to surround every early phase of typographic art, aPrinter's Device may be described as nothing more or less than a trade mark. It is usually a sufficient proof that the book in which it occurs is the work of a particular craftsman. Its origin is essentially unromantic, and its employment, in the earlier stages of its history at all events, was merely an attempt to prevent the inevitable pirate from reaping where he had not sown. At one time a copy, or more correctly a forgery, of a Printer's Mark could be detected with comparative ease, even if the body of the book had all the appearance of genuineness.
This self-protection was necessary on many grounds. First of all, the privileges of impression which were granted by kings, princes, and supreme pontiffs, were usually obtained only by circuitous routes and after the expenditure of much time and money. Moreover, the counterfeit book was rarely either typographically or textually correct, and was more often than not abridged and mutilated almost beyond recognition, to the serious detriment of the printer whose name appeared on the title-page. Places as well as individualities suffered, for very many books were sold as printed in Venice, without having the least claim to that distinction. The Lyons printers were most unblushing sinners in this respect, and Renouard cites a Memorial drawn up by Aldus himself on the subject, and published at Venice in 1503.
But apart from the foregoing reasons, it must be remembered that many of the earliest monuments of typographic art appeared not only without the name of the printer but also without that of the locality in which they were printed. Although in such cases various extraneous circumstances have enabled bibliographers to "place" these books, the Mark of the printer has almost invariably been the chief aid in this direction. The Psalter of 1457 is the first book which has the name of the place where it was printed, besides that of the printers as well as the date of the year in which it was executed. But for a long time after that date books appeared without one or the other of these attributes, and sometimes without either, so that the importance of the Printer's Mark holds good.
A very natural question now suggests itself, "Who invented these Marks?" Laire, "Index Librorum" (Sc. xv.), ii. 146, in speaking of a Greek Psalter says: "Habet signaturas, registrum ac custodes, sed non numerantur folia. Litter principales ligno incis sunt, sicut et in principio cujuslibet psalmi viticul qu gallic vignettes appellantur, quarum usum primus excogitavit Aldus." The volume here described was printed about 1495, and the invention therefore has been very generally attributed to Aldus. That this is not so will be shown in the next chapter. We shall confine ourselves for the present to some of the various points which appear to be material to a proper understanding of the subject.
One of the most important and interesting phases in connection with Printers' Marks is undoubtedly the motif of the pictorial embellishment. Both the precise origin and the object of many Marks are now lost to us, and many others are only explained after a thorough study of the life of the particular printer or the nature of the books which he generally printed or published. The majority, however, carry their own prima facie explanations. The number of "punning" devices is very large, and nearly every one has a character peculiarly its own. Their antiquity is proved by the fact that before the beginning of the fifteenth century, apicture of St. Anthony was boldly, not to say irreverently, used by Antoine Caillaut, Paris. Along series of punning devices occur in the books printed by or for the fifteenth century publishers, one of the most striking and successful is that of Michel le Noir, whose shield carries his initials, surmounted by the head of a negress and sometimes supported by canting figures in full. This Mark, with variations, was also employed by Philippe and Guillaume le Noir, the work of the three men covering a period of nearly 100 years. The device of Gilles or Gillet Couteau, Paris, 1492, is apparently a double pun, first on his Christian name, the transition from which to oeillet being easy and explaining the presence of a pink in flower, and secondly on his surname by the three open knives, in one of which the end of the blade is broken. It was almost inevitable that both Denis Roce or Ross, aParis bookseller, 1490, and Germain Rose, of Lyons, 1538, should employ a rose in their marks, and this they did, one of the latter's examples having a dolphin twining around the stem. Jacques and Estienne Maillet, whose works at Lyons extended from the last eleven years of the fifteenth century to the middle of the sixteenth, give in the centre of their shield a picture of a mallet.
One of the boldest of the early sixteenth century examples is that employed by Galliot Du Pr, Paris, and in this we have a picture of a galley propelled with the aid of sails and oars, and with the motto "Vogue la gualee." This device (with several variations) was used by both father and son, and possesses an interest beyond the subject of Printers' Marks, for it gives us a very clear idea of the different boats employed during the first three quarters of the sixteenth century. Another striking Mark of about the same time and covering as nearly as possible the same period, was that of the family De La Porte. The earlier example used in Paris about 1508 was a simple doorway; but the elder Hugues de la Porte, Lyons, and the successors of Aymon De La Porte of the same place, used several exceedingly bold designs in which Samson is represented carrying away the gates of Gaza, the motto on one door or gate being "libertatem meam," and on the other "mecum porto." The two printers of the same name, Jehan Lecoq, who were practising the art continuously during nearly the whole of the sixteenth century at Troyes, employed a Mark on the shield of which appears the figure of a cock; whilst an equally appropriate if much more ugly design, was employed by the eminent Lyons family of Sbastien Gryphe or Gryphius: he had at least eight "griffin" Marks, which differed slightly from one another. Franois Gryphe, who worked in Paris, had one Mark which was original to the extent of the griffin being supported by a tortoise. J.Du Moulin, Rouen, employed a little picture of a windmill on his Mark, as did Scotland's first printer, Andro Myllar; but Jehan Petit, aprolific fifteenth century printer of Paris, confined his punning to the words "Petit Petit," as is seen in the reduced facsimile title, given on p.9, of a book printed by him for T.Kerver. Mathias Apiarius, Strassburg, used at least two Marks expressing the same idea, namely, abear discovering a bee's nest in the hollow of a tree—an obvious pun on his surname. The latter part of the sixteenth century is not nearly so fruitful in really good or striking devices. Guillaume Bichon, Paris, employed a realistic picture of a lap-dog (in allusion to his surname) chasing a hare, with the motto "Nunc fugiens, olim pugnabo"; and equally realistic in another way is the Mark of P.Chandelier, Caen, in which effective use is made of a candle-stick with seven holders, the motto being "Lucernis fideliter ministro." Antoine Tardif, Lyons, employed the Aldine anchor and dolphin, and also a motto, "Festina tarde," which is identical in meaning, if not in the exact words, of that of Aldus. Guillaume De La Rivire, Arras, used a charmingly vivid little scene of a winding river, with the motto "Madenta flumine valles"; and it is not difficult to distinguish the appropriateness of the sprig of barley in the Mark of Hugues Barbon, Limoges. The Mark of Jacques Du Puys, Paris, was possibly suggested by the word puits (or well), and of which Puys is perhaps only a form: the picture at all events is a representation of Christ at the well. In the case of Adam Du Mont, Orange, the christian name, is "taken off" in a picture of Adam and Eve at the tree of forbidden fruit; and exactly the same idea occurs with equal appropriateness in the Mark of N.Eve, Paris, the sign of whose shop was Adam and Eve. Michel Jove naturally went to profane history for the subject of his Mark, and with a considerable amount of success.
Among the numerous other examples with mottoes derived from sacred history, special mention, as showing the connection between the sign of the shop and its incorporation in the Mark, may be made to the following printers of Paris: D.De La Noue, who not only had "Jesus" as the sign of his shop, but also as his Mark; J.Gueffier had the "Amateur Divin" as his sign, and an allegorical interpretation of the device, "Fert tacitus, vivit, vincit divinus amator," as a Mark; Guillaume Julian, or Julien, had "Amitie" as his sign, and a personification of this (Typus Amiciti) as his Mark, with the motto "Nil Deus hac nobis majus concessit in usus"; Abel L'Angelier (and his widow after his death) adopted the sacrifice of Abel as the subject of his Sign and Mark, with the motto "Sacrum pinque dabo nec macrum sacrificabo"; and the motto of both the first and the second Michel Sonnius was "Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?"
- cois premier du nom Iusques en Lan Mil cinq cens vingt Nouuellement imprime a Paris.
PETIT PETIT T K THIELMAN KERVER I P PETIT]
A few punning devices occur among the early English printers, but they are not always clever or pictorially successful. The earliest example is that of Richard Grafton, whose pretty device represents a tun with a grafted tree growing through it, the motto, "Suscipite insertum verbum," being taken from the Epistle to St. James (i.,verse21). John Day's device, with the motto "Arise! for it is day," is generally supposed to be an allusion to the Reformation as well as a pun on his name; tradition has it, however, that Day was accustomed to awake his apprentices, when they had prolonged their slumbers beyond the usual hour, by the wholesome application of a scourge and the summons "Arise! for it is day." We may also mention the devices of Hugh Singleton, asingle tun; and of W.Middleton, atun with the letter W at bottom and M in the centre of the tun; of T.Pavier, in which, appropriately enough, we have a pavior paving the streets of a town, and surrounded by the motto "Thou shalt labour till thou return to dust." Thomas Woodcock employed a device of a cock on a stake, piled as for a Roman funeral, with the motto "Cantabo Iehov quia benefecit"; Andrew Lawrence, aSt. Andrew cross.
Although not in any sense of a "punning" nature, the employment of a printing press as a Mark may conveniently be here referred to. It was first used in this manner, and in more than one form, by Josse Bade, or Badius, an eminent printer of the first thirty-five years of the sixteenth century, and to whom full reference will be found in the chapter on French Marks. AFlemish printer, Pierre Csar, Ghent, 1516, was apparently the next to employ this device; then came Jehan Baudouyn, Rennes, 1524; Eloy Gibier, Orleans, 1556; Jean Le Preux, Paris and Switzerland, 1561; Enguilbert (II.) De Marnef and the Bouchets brothers, Poitiers, 1567; and, later than all, L.Cloquemin, Lyons, 1579.
Next to the section of "punning" devices, perhaps the most entertaining is that which deals with the question of mottoes. These are derived from an infinite variety of sources, not infrequently from the fertile brains of the printers themselves. Their application is not always clear, but they are nearly always indicative of the virility which characterized the old printers. It is neither desirable nor possible to exhaust this somewhat intricate phase of the subject, but it will be necessary to quote a few representative examples. Occasionally we get a snatch of verse, as in the case of Michel Le Noir, whose motto runs thus:
"C'est mon dsir De Dieu servir Pour acqurir Son doux plaisir."
Also in the instance of another early printer, Gilles De Gourmont, who chants—
"Tost ou tard Pres ou loing A le Fort Du feble besoing."
Perhaps the greatest number of all are those in which the printer proclaims his faith to God and his loyalty to his king. One of the early Paris printers enjoins us—in verse—not only to honour the king and the court, but claims our salutations for the University; and almost precisely the same sentiment finds expression in the Mark of J.Alexandre, another early printer of Paris. Robinet or Robert Mac, Rouen, proclaims "Ung dieu, ung roy, ung foy, ung loy," and the same idea expressed in identical words is not uncommonly met with in Printers' Marks. Of a more definitely religious nature are those, for example, of P.de Sartires, Bourges, "Tout se passe fors dieu"; of J.Lambert, "Aespoir en dieu"; of Prigent Calvarin, "Deum time, pauperes sustine, finem respice"; and several from the Psalms, such as that of C.Nourry, called Le Prince, "Cor contritum et humiliatum deus non despicies"; of P.De Saincte-Lucie, also called Le Prince, "Oculi mei semper ad dominum"; and of J.Temporal (all three Lyons printers), "Tangit montes et fumigant," in which the design is quite in keeping with the motto; in one case at least, S.Nivelle, one of the commandments is made use of, "Honora patrem tuum, et matrem tuam, ut sis longvus super terram." Here, too, we may include the mottoes of B.Rigaud, "Afoy entiere coeur volant"; S.De Colines, "Eripiam et glorificabo eum"; and of Benoist Bounyn, Lyons, "Labores manum tuarum quia manducabis beatus es et bene tibi erit." Whilst as a few illustrations of a general character we may quote Geoffrey Tory's exceedingly brief "Non plus," which was contemporaneously used also by Olivier Mallard; J.Longis, "Nihil in charitate violentia"; Denys Janot, "Tout par amour, amour par tout, par tout amour, en tout bien"; the French rendering of a very old proverb in the mottoes of B.Aubri and D.Roce, "Al'aventure tout vient a point qui peut attendre"; J.Bignon, "Repos sans fin, sans fin repos"; the motto used conjointly by M.Fzandat and R.Granjon, "Ne la mort, ne le venin"; and the motto of Etienne Dolet, "Scabra et impolita ad amussim dolo, atque perfolio." Among the mottoes of early English printers, the most notable, partly for its dual source, and as one of our earliest examples, is that of William Faques; one sentence, "Melius est modicum justo super divitias peccatorum multas," is taken from Psalm xxxvii. verse 16; and the second, "Melior est patiens viro forti, et qui dominat," comes from Proverbs xvi., verse 32. The motto of Richard Grafton has already been quoted; that of John Reynes was "Redemptoris mundi arma"; and John Wolfe, "Vbique floret."
torum multas. MELIOR EST PATIENS VIRO FORTI ET QVI DOMINAT Guillam.]
The employment of mottoes in Greek and Hebrew characters is a not unimportant feature in the earlier examples of Printers' Marks, but it must suffice us here to indicate a few of the leading printers who used either one or the other, and sometimes both. B.Rembolt was one of the earliest to incorporate a Greek phrase; De Salenson, Ghent, had a Greco-Latin motto on an open bible, which is the pice de resistance of a pretty Mark, asimilar idea occurring in the totally different Marks of the brothers Treschel, Lyons; another Lyons firm of printers, the brothers Huguetan, employed a Greek motto, and a phrase, also in Greek characters, occurs in one of the Marks of Peter Vidoue. The more notable Marks which contain Hebrew characters, which generally signify Jehovah, are those of Joannes Knoblouchus, or Knoblouch, Strassburg, in which we have not only Hebrew, but upper and lower case Greek, and a Latin quotation—"Verum, quum latebris delituit diu, emergit"; and of Wolfius Cphalus, also of Strassburg; and here again we have the Mark environed by quotations in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. In a few instances we have the unlucky letter of the Greek alphabet—theta—forming a Mark with considerable originality, as in that of Guillaume Morel, where this symbol of death is surrounded by two dragon serpents representing immortality. The theta was also employed by Etienne Prevosteau.
The subject of the sphere in Printers' Marks might profitably occupy a good deal of space in discussing. It is generally considered to be not only the peculiar property of the Elzevirs, but that books possessing it without having one or other of the real or assumed imprints of this celebrated family of printers are impudent frauds. But as a matter of fact, it was used by at least half-a-dozen printers many years before the Elzevirs started printing. For example, it was employed during the last decade of the fifteenth century by Gilles Hardouyn, and early in the sixteenth by Huguetan brothers at Lyons, by P.Sergent and L.Grandin at Paris, by J.Steels, or Steelsius of Antwerp, and P.Lichtenstein of Venice. In these instances, however, it is endowed, so to speak, with accessories. In the earliest Mark it plays only an incidental part, but in the Huguetan example it forms the device itself: it is held by a hand and is encircled by a ring on which the owner of the hand is evidently trying to balance a ball; there is a Greek motto. In a later and slightly different design of the same family, the motto is altered in position, and is in Latin: "Vniversitas rerum, vt Pvlis, in manv Iehovae." Each of the two Paris examples is remarkable in its peculiar way. In Grandin's two Marks the same allegorical idea prevails, viz., one person seizing a complete sphere from an angel out of the clouds, apparently to exchange it for the broken one held by a second person: in the cruder of the two examples of these there is a quotation from the 117th Psalm. In Sergent's bold and vigorous Mark, the sphere, which incloses a figure of the crucified Christ, is fixed into the top of a dead trunk of a tree. It may also be mentioned that this device was frequently used by printers during the middle and latter part of the seventeenth century in this country—it appears, for example, on several books printed by R.Bentley, London, during that period. The sphere as an Elzevir Mark will be referred to in the chapter dealing with Dutch examples.
An element which may be generically termed religious plays no unimportant part in this subject. It will not be necessary to enter deeply into the motives which induced so many of the old printers and booksellers to select either their devices or the illustrations of their Marks from biblical sources; and it must suffice to say that, if the object is frequently hidden to us to-day, the fact of the extent of their employment cannot be controverted. The incident of the Brazen Serpent (Numbers xxi.) was a very popular subject. One of the earliest to use it was Conrad Neobar, Paris, 1538; it was adopted by Reginald Wolfe, who commenced printing in this country about 1543, and its possession was considered of sufficient importance to merit special mention among the goods bequeathed by his widow to her son Robert. It was also the Mark of Wolfe's contemporaries, Martin Le Jeune, Paris, Jean Bien-N, of the same city, and of Jean Crespin, Geneva, the last-named using it in several sizes, in which the foot of the cross is "continued" into an anchor. Apart from crosses in an infinite variety of forms, and to which reference will presently be made, by far the most popular form of religious devices consisted of what may, for convenience sake, be termed angelic. Pictorially they are nearly always failures, and often ludicrously so. The same indeed might be said of the work of most artists who have essayed the impossible in this direction. An extraordinary solemnity of countenance, apainful sameness and extreme ugliness, are the three dominant features of the angels of the Printers' Mark. The subject offers but little scope for an artist's ingenuity it is true, and it is only in a very few exceptions that a tolerable example presents itself. Their most frequent occurrence is in supporting a shield with the national emblem of France, and in at least one instance—that of Andr Bocard, Paris,—with the emblems of the city and the University of Paris. This idea, without the two latter emblems, occurs in the devices of Jehan Trepperel, Anthoine Denidel, and J.Bouyer and G.Bouchet (who adopted it conjointly), who were printing or selling books in Paris during the last decade of the fifteenth century; whilst in the provinces in that period it was employed by Jacques Le Forestier, at Rouen; and by Jehan De Gourmont, Paris, J.Besson, Lyons, and J.Bouchet at Poitiers, early in the following century. The angels nearly always occur in couples, as in the case of Antoine Vrard, one of the earliest printers to adopt this form; but a few exceptions may be mentioned where only one appears, namely, in the Mark of Estienne Baland, Lyons (1515), in which an angel is represented as confounding Balaam's ass; and in that of Vincent Portunaris, of the same place and of about the same time, in which an angel figures holding an open book; in the four employed by G.Silvius, an Antwerp printer (1562), in three of which the figure is also holding a book; in the elaborate Mark of Philip Du Pr, Paris, 1595, and in the exceeding rough Mark of Jannot de Campis, of Lyons, 1505. Curiously enough, the subject of Christ on the cross was very rarely employed, an exception occurring in the case of Schffeler, of Constance, or Bodensee, Bavaria, 1505. The same centre-piece, without the cross, was employed by Jehan Frellon, Paris, 1508, and evidently copied by Jehan Burges, the younger, at Rouen, 1521, whilst that of Guillaume Du Puy, Paris, 1504, has already been referred to. The Virgin Mary occurs occasionally, the more notable examples being the Marks of Guillaume Anabat, Paris, 1505-10, really a careful piece of work; and the elder G.Ryverd, Paris, 1516, and in each case with the infant Jesus. St. Christopher is a subject one sometimes meets with in Printers' Marks: in that of Gervais Chevallon, Paris, 1538, it however plays a comparatively subordinate part, and its merits were only fully recognized by the Grosii, of Leipzig, who nearly always used it for about two centuries, 1525-1732; the example bearing the last date is by far one of the most absurd of its kind—the cowled monk with a modern lantern lighting St. Christopher on his way through the river is a choice piece of incongruity. Another phase of the religious element capable of considerable expansion is that in relation to the part played in Marks by saints and priests generally. Sometimes these are found together with an effect not at all happy, notably the two Marks of Jehan Olivier, Paris, 1518, which, with Jesus Christ on one side, aPope on the other, and an olive tree, are sufficiently crude to present an appearance which seems to-day almost blasphemous. The last of the several religious phases of Printers' Marks to which we shall allude is at the same time the most elaborate and complicated. We refer to that of the Cross. The subject is sufficiently wide to occupy of itself a small volume, but even after the most careful investigation, there are many points which will for ever remain in the region of doubt and obscurity. Tradition is proverbially difficult to eradicate; and all the glamour which surrounds the history of the Cross, and which found expression in, among other popular books, the "Legenda Aurea," maintained all its pristine force and attractiveness down to the end of the sixteenth century. The invention of printing and the gradual enlightenment of mankind did much in reducing these legends into their proper place; but the process was gradual, and whatever may have been their private opinions, the old printers found it discreet to fall into line with the established order of things. Indeed, the religious sentiment was perhaps never so alive as at the time of the invention of printing, in proof of which some of the earliest and most magnificent typographical monuments may be cited,—the Gutenberg Bible, the Psalter of Fust and Schoeffer, for example. The accompanying plate will give the reader a faint idea of the extraordinary variety of crosses to be found on Printers' Marks used chiefly by the Italian printers.
PROVOCQVER TA GRT MISERI CORDE DE TOVS PECHEVRS FAIRE GRACE ET PARDON ANTHOINE VER[A]D HVMBLEM{~E}T TE RECORDE CE QVIL A IL TIENT DE TOI PARDON
AR]
M. Paul Delalain has touched upon this exceedingly abstract phase of Printers' Marks in the third fascicule of his "Inventaire des Marques d'Imprimeurs," without, as he himself admits, arriving at any very definite conclusion. The cross, whether in its simplest form or with a complication of additional ornaments, has, as he points out, been at all times popular in connection with this subject. It appeared on the shield of Arnold Ther Hoernen, Cologne, 1477, at Stockholm in 1483, at Cracovia in 1510. That it did not fall entirely into desuetude until the end of the eighteenth century is a very striking proof of what M.Delalain calls "la persistance de la croix." It has appeared in all forms and in almost every conceivable shape. Its presence may be taken as indicating a deference and a submission to, as well as a respect for, the Christian religion, and M.Delalain is of the opinion that the sign "eu pour origine l'affiliation une confrrie religieuse." Finally, in his introduction to Roth-Scholtz's "Thesaurus Symbolarum ac Emblematum," Spoerl asks, "Why are the initials of a printer or bookseller so often placed in a circle or in a heart-shaped border, and then surmounted by a cross? Why at the extreme top of the cross is the lateral line formed into a sort of triangular four? Why, without this inexplicable sign, has the cross a number of cyphers, two, or even three, cross-bars? Why should the tail of the cypher 4 itself be traversed by one or sometimes two perpendicular bars which themselves would appear to form another cross of another kind? Why, among the ornamental accessories, do certain species of stars form several crosses, entangled or isolated? Why, at the base of the cross is the V duplicated?" All these are problems which it would be exceedingly difficult to solve with satisfaction. We do not propose offering any kind of explanation for these singular marks; but it will not be without interest to point out that among the more interesting examples are those used by Berthold Rembolt, Andr Bocard or Boucard, Georges Mittelhus, Jehan Alexandre, Jehan Lambert, Nicole De La Barre, and the brothers De Marnef, all printers or booksellers of Paris; of Guillaume Le Talleur, Richard Auzolt, of Rouen; of Jaques Huguetan, Mathieu Husz, Franois Fradin, Jacques Sacon or Sachon, and Jehan Du Pr, all of Lyons; of Jehan Grninger, of Strassburg; of Lawrence Andrewe, and Andrew Hester, of London; the unknown printer of St. Albans; of Leeu, of Antwerp; of Jacob Abiegnus, of Leipzig; of Pedro Miguel, Barcelona; of Juan de Rosembach of Barcelona and other places; of the four "alemanes" of Seville, and hundreds of others that might be mentioned.
[Illustration:
1. Benedetto d'Effore. 2. Bonino de Boninis. 3. Bernardino de Misintis. 4. Bernardino Ricci. 5. Bernardino Stagnino. 6. Baptista de Tortis. 7. Bernardinus de Vitalibus. 8. Bartholomeus de Zanis. 9. } Dionysius Bertochus. 10. } 11. Dominicus Roccociola or Richizolo. 12. William Schomberg. 13. Christopher de Canibus. 14. Hercules Nani. 15. Giovanni Antonio de Benedetti. 16. Samuel de Tournes (Geneva). 17. The Somaschi. 18. Justinian de Ruberia. 19. J. Treschel (Lyons). 20. L. de Gerla, Gerlis or Gerula. 21. Laurentius Rubeus de Valentia. 22. Lazaro Suardo or da Suardis. 23. Matthew de Codeca or Capsaca. 24. Nicholas de Francfordia. 25. Dionysio Berrichelli. 26. Octavianus Scottus. 27. Peregrino de Pasqualibus. 28. Philip Pinzi or Pincius. 29. Caligula de Bacileriis. 30. J. Sacer.]
It is curious to note that, in spite of its great medival popularity, the subject of St. George and the Dragon rarely enters into the subject of Printers' Marks, and of the few examples which call for reference, those of Thomas Prier and Guillaume Bourgeat, of Paris and Tours respectively, are among the best both in design and execution. The idea was also adopted by Guillaume Auvray, of Paris; and by M. de Hamont, Brussels.
The personification of Time and Peace were both popular; and each has its successful examples. One of the earliest instances of the former is a pretty little mark, executed with a considerable amount of vigour, of Robert De Gourmont, Paris; alarge and vigorous Mark—one of several—employed by Simon De Colines, Paris, in which it is interesting to note that the scythe is not invariably denticulated; two very crude but very distinct examples employed by Michel Hillenius or Hooghstrate, Antwerp, 1514; and two, one large and the other small, of Guillaume Chaudire, Paris, 1564; whilst Jean Temporal, of Lyons, 1550, used it as an evident play on his name. The emblem of Peace does not appear to have been much employed until well on into the sixteenth century; N.Boucher, 1544, used as his motto, "pacem victis;" Guillaume Julien, to whom reference has already been made; as likewise Michel Clopejau, of a few years later, who used the words "Typus amiciti" on his mark, with the further legend of "Quam sperata victoria pax certa melior;" these three lived in Paris, whilst by far the best decorative Mark in this connection was that adopted by Julien Angelier, abookseller and printer of Blois, 1555, the centre of whose device, besides the words "Signum pacis," includes a dove bearing two olive branches. The fraternal device of two hands clasped may also be here alluded to: it is of special interest from the fact that it was employed by one of the earliest to practice printing in Paris—Guy or Guyot Marchant, 1483, one of whose Marks gives us a view of two shoemakers working with musical notes representing So La (Sola), and "fides ficit" in gothic type. Thomas Richard, sixty years afterwards, elaborated on a portion of this idea, and his Mark shows two hands holding a crowned sceptre with two serpents entwined around it. Designs much superior to these were employed by Bertramus of Strassburg, at the latter part of the sixteenth century. Following the example of Marchant, musical notes have occasionally been employed by later printers. The rebus of this printer evidently suggested that of Jehan and Anthoine Lagache, father and son, Arras, in 1517, the first syllable of whose name, La, is indicated by a musical note, and is immediately followed by "gache." Pierre Jacobi, Saint-Nicholas-de-la-Port, and Toulouse, 1503, adopted Marchant's idea by giving "Sola fides ficit" with a musical start, so to speak; and a distinctly novel phase of the subject is employed by Jacobus Jucundus, Strassburg, 1531, in which a goose is represented as playing on a violin.
Printers' marks in which the pictorial embellishments partake of a rustic nature, such as bits of landscape, seed-sowing, harvesting, and horns of plenty, are numerous, and in many cases exceedingly pretty. J.Roffet, Paris, 1549, employed the design of the seed-sower in several of his Marks; and of about a dozen different Marks used at one time or another by Jean De Tournes the first, Lyons, 1542, one of the most successful is a clever one having for its central figure a sower; the same idea, in a very crude form, was contemporaneously employed also by De Laet, Antwerp. The Cornucopia, or horn of plenty, was a very favourite emblem, and it appears in a manifold variety of designs, sometimes with a Caduceus (the symbol of Mercury) which is held by two clasped hands, as in the case of T.Orwin, London, 1596, in a cartouche with the motto: "By wisdom peace, by peace plenty;" four of the eight marks used by Chrestien Wchel, Paris, 1522, differ from Orwin's in being surmounted by a winged Pegasus; and Andr Wchel, of the same city, 1535, employed one of the smaller devices of Chrestien, with variations and enlargements of the same; in the Mark of J.Chouet, Geneva, 1579, the caduceus is replaced by a serpent, the body of which is formed into a figure 8; in that of Gislain Manilius, Ghent, the horns appear above two seated figures. In each of the foregoing examples two horns appear. Georg Ulricher von Andlau, Strassburg, 1529, used the cornucopia, and in one of his Marks the figure is surrounded by an elaborate array of fruit and vegetables; single horns appear also in the clever and elaborate marks of R.Fouet, Paris, 1597, whose design was a very slight deviation from that of J.De Bordeaux, Paris, 1567. The oak-tree, sheltering a reaper and with the motto "Satis Quercus," was employed by George Cleray, Vannes, 1545; and the fruit of this tree—the acorn—by E.Schultis, Lyons, 1491. The thistle appears on the marks of Estienne Groulleau, Paris, 1547; the Rose on the more or less elaborate designs of Gilles Corrozet, Paris, 1538; arose-tree in full flower occupies the centre of the beautiful mark of the first Mathieu Guillemot, Paris, 1585; asolitary Rose-flower was the simple and effective mark of Jean Dallier, Paris, 1545; and a flowering branch of the same tree is one of the items on the charming little Mark on the opposite page of Mathurin Breuille, Paris.
In the category of what may be termed extinct animals, the Unicorn as a subject for illustrating Printers' Marks enjoyed a long and extensive popularity. The most remarkable thing in connection with these designs of the Unicorn is perhaps their striking dissimilarity, and as nearly every one of the many artists who employed, for no obvious reasons, this animal in their Printer's Marks had his own idea of what a Unicorn ought to have been like, the result, viewed as a whole, is not by any means a happy one. Still, several of the examples possess a considerable amount of vigour and have a distinct decorative effectiveness. But apart from this its appearance in the Marks of the old printers is a very striking proof of the fact that the medival legends died hard. Curiously enough, the proverbial "lion and unicorn" do not often occur together. The family of printers with whose name the unicorn is almost as closely associated as the compass is with Plantin, is that of Kerver, for it has been employed in over a dozen different forms by one or other members from the end of the fifteenth century to the latter part of the sixteenth. Sometimes there is only one Unicorn on the mark, at others there is a pair. Le Petit Laurens, Paris, was using it contemporaneously with the first Thielman Kerver, and possibly the one copied the other. Snant, Vivian, Kes, and Pierre Gadoul, Chapelet, and Chavercher, were other Paris printers who used the same idea in their marks before the middle of the sixteenth century. It was long a favourite subject with the Rouen printers, one of the earliest in that city to use it being J.Richard, whose design is particularly original, inasmuch as the shield is supported on one side by a Unicorn, and on the other by a female, possibly intended to represent a saint, an idea which was apparently copied by Symon Vincent, Lyons; the Unicorn was also used in the marks of L.Martin and G.Boulle, both of Lyons; and also in the very rough but original design employed by H.Hesker, Antwerp, 1496; whilst for its quaint originality a special reference may be made to the Mark of Franois Huby, Paris, of the latter part of the sixteenth century, for in this a Unicorn is represented as chasing an old man. The origin of the Unicorn Mark is essentially Dutch. The editions of the Printer, "la licorne," Deft, 1488-94, are well known to students of early printing. The earliest book in which this mark is found is the "D{-y}alogus der Creaturen" ("Dialogus Creaturarum") issued at that city in November, 1488. Henri Eckert de Hombergh and Chr. Snellaert, both of Delf, used a Unicorn in their Marks during the latter years of the fifteenth century.
Among other possible and impossible monsters and subjects of profane history, the Griffin, the Mermaid, the Phoenix, Arion and Hermes has each had its Mark or Marks. In the case of the first named, which, according to Sir Thomas Browne, in his "Vulgar Errors," is emblematical of watchfulness, courage, perseverance, and rapidity of execution, it is not surprising that the Gryphius family, from the evident pun on their surname, should have considered it as in their particular preserves. As may be imagined, it does not make a pretty device, although under the circumstances its employment is perhaps permissible. Sebastien Gryphius, Lyons, and his brother Franois, Paris, who were of German parentage, employed the Griffin in about a dozen variations during the first half of the sixteenth century. The Griffin, however, was utilized by Poncet Le Preux, Paris, some years before the Gryphius family came into notoriety, and it was employed contemporaneously with this by B.Aubri, Paris. The Mermaid makes a prettier picture than the Griffin, but its appearance on Printers' Marks is an equally fantastic vagary of the imagination. In one of the earliest Marks on which it occurs, that of C.Fradin, Lyons, 1505, the shield is supported on one side by a Mermaid, and on the other by a fully-armed knight; half a century after, B.Mac, Caen, had a very clever little Mark in which the Mermaid is not only in her proper element, but holding an anchor in one hand, and combing her hair with the other. During the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the idea was, with variations, used by G.Le Bret, Paris, and J.De Junte, Lyons, as well as by John Rastell, London, 1528, whose shop was at the sign of the Mermaid.
To summarize a few of the less popular designs, it will suffice to give a short list of the vignettes or marks used by the old printers of Paris (except where otherwise stated), alphabetically arranged according to subjects: Abraham, Pacard; an anchor, Christopher Rapheleng, Leyden, Chouet and Pierre Aubert, Geneva; two anchors crosswise, Thierry Martens, Antwerp, and Nicholas le Rich; one or more angels, Legnano, Milan; Henaud and Abel L'Angelier, and Dominic Farri, Venice; Arion, Oporinus or Herlist, Brylinger, Louis le Roi, and Pernet, Basle, and Chouet, Geneva; aBasilisk and the four elements, Rogny; Bellerophon, the brothers Arnoul and Charles Angeliers; Guillaume Eustace, and Perier, and Bonel, Venice; aBull with the sign Taurus and the Zodiac, Nicholas Bevilacqua, Turin; aCat with a mouse in her mouth, Melchior Sessa and Pietro Nicolini, de Sabio, Venice; two Doves, Jacques Quesnel; an Eagle, Balthazar Bellers, Antwerp, Bladius, Rome, G.Rouille or Roville, Lyons, and the same design—with the motto "Renovabitur ut aquil juventus mea"—occurs in the books published in the early years of the seventeenth century by Nicolini, Rabani, Renneri and Co., Venice; the personification of Fortune, Bertier, J.Denis (an elaborate and clever design in which a youth is represented climbing the tree of Fortune), and Adrian le Roy and Robert Ballard, Berde and Rigaud, Lyons, and Giovanni and Andrea Zennaro, Venice; aFountain, M.Vascosan, the second Frederic Morel (with a Greek motto importing that the fountain of wisdom flows in books), and Cratander, Basle; aHeart, Sebastian Hur and his son-in-law Corbon; Hercules, with the motto, "Virtus non territa monstris," Vitr, Le Maire, Leyden; aLion rampant, Arry; alion rampant crowned on a red ground, Gunther Zainer; alion led by the hand, Jacques Creigher; alion supporting a column, Mylius, Strassburg, and a lion with a hour glass, Henric Petri, Basle; aMagpie, Jean Benat or Bienne; this bird also occurs among Robert Estienne's Marks, and the same subject, with a serpent twining round a branch was used (according to Horne), by Frederic Morel; Mercury, alone or with other classic deities, David Douceur, Biaggio, Lyons; Jean Rossy, Bologne; Verdust, Antwerp, and Hervagius, Basle; aPelican, N.De Guinguant, S.Nivelle, Girault and De Marnef, C. and F.Franceschini, Venice; Mamarelli, Ferrara; F.Heger, Leyden; E.Barricat, Lyons; and Martin Nuyts and his successor who carried on business under the same name, Antwerp; aPhoenix, Michael Joli, Wyon, Douay; Leffen, Leyden; Martinelli, Rome; and Giolito, Venice; aSalamander, Zenaro, Venice; St. Crespin and Senneton, Lyons; Duversin and Rossi, Rome; aStork, Nivelle and Cramoisy; St. George and the Dragon, Michel de Hamont, Brussels; aSwan, Blanchet; whilst a swan and a soldier formed the Mark of Peter de Csaris and John Stoll, two German printers who were among the earliest to practise the art in Paris.
[Decoration]
SOME GENERAL ASPECTS OF THE PRINTER'S MARK.
From what has already been stated, it will be seen that the Printer's Mark plays a by no means unimportant part in the early history of illustration,—whether the phase be serious or grotesque, sublime or ridiculous, we find here manifold examples, crude as well as clever. Although it cannot be said with truth that the Mark as an institution reached, like typography itself, its highest degree of perfection at its inception, some of the earlier examples, nevertheless, are also some of the most perfect. The evolution from the small monogram, generally in white on a black ground, to an elaborate picture occupying from a quarter to a whole page, was much less gradual than is generally supposed. The unambitious marks of the first printers were clearly adopted in consonance with the traders' or merchants' marks which began to be so generally employed during the latter part of the fifteenth century.
The very natural question, Which was the first Printer's Mark? admits of an easy answer. It was employed for the first time in the form of the coupled shield of Fust and Schoeffer, in the colophon of the famous Psalter printed by these two men at Mainz in 1457. This book is remarkable as being the costliest ever sold (aperfect copy is valued at 5,000 guineas by Mr. Quaritch): it is the third book printed, and the first having a date, and probably only a dozen copies were struck off for the use of the Benedictine Monastery of St. James at Mainz. It is, however, quite as remarkable for the extraordinary beauty of its initial letters, printed in red and blue ink, the letters being of one colour and the ornamental portion of the other. The Mark of Fust and Schoeffer, it may be mentioned, consists of two printer's rules in saltaire, on two shields, hanging from a stump, the two rules on the right shield forming an angle of 45: the adoption of a compositor's setting-rule was very appropriate. It was nearly twenty years before the introduction of woodcuts into books became general, Gunther Zainer beginning it at Augsburg in 1471-1475. The inception of this movement was naturally followed by a general improvement, or at all events elaboration, of the Printer's Mark, which, moreover, now began to be printed in colours, as is seen in the Fust and Schoeffer mark in red which appears beneath the colophon of Turrecremata's Commentary on the Psalms printed by Schoeffer in 1474. Reverting for a moment to the Psalter which has been very properly described as "the grandest book ever produced by Typography," avery curious fact not at all generally known may be here pointed out. Although the few existing examples with two dates are of the same edition, there are several very curious variations which are well worthy of notice. It will be only necessary, however, in this place to refer to the fact that the beautiful example in the Imperial Library at Vienna—which, from its spotless purity, Heineken calls the "exemplaire vierge"—differs from the others in being without the shield of Fust and Schoeffer, afact which points to the probability of this copy having been the first struck off.
By the end of the fifteenth century the Printer's Mark had assumed or was rapidly assuming an importance of which its original introducers had very little conception. Indeed, as early as 1539, alaw, according to Dupont, in his "Histoire de l'Imprimerie," was passed by which these marks or arms of printers and booksellers were protected. Unfortunately the designs were very rarely signed, and it is now impossible to name with any degree of certainty either the artist or engraver, both offices probably in the majority of cases being performed by one man. There is no doubt whatever that Hans Holbein designed some of the very graceful borders and title-pages of Froben, at Basle, during the first quarter of the sixteenth century, and in doing this he included the graceful Caduceus which this famous printer employed. It does not necessarily follow that he was the original designer, although he was in intimate association with Froben when the latter first used this device. The distinctive Mark of Cratander, or Cartander, which appears in the edition of Plutarch's "Opuscula," Basel, 1530, has also been confidently attributed to the same artist: if there is any foundation for this statement Holbein was guilty of plagiarism, for this Mark is a very slight modification on one used by the same printer in 1519, and not only so dated but having the artist's initials, I.F. Those who have the opportunity of examining the "Noctes Attic" of Aulus Gellius, printed by Cratander in 1519, will come upon several highly interesting features in connection with this Mark, which is emblematical of Fortune: the elaborately engraved title-page contains an almost exact miniature of the same idea on either side, and it is repeated in a larger form in the border which surrounds the first chapter. The Mark occurs in its full size on the last page of all. The title-page, borders and Mark are all by the same artist, I.F. In the earlier example the woman's hair completely hides her face, whilst in that of eleven years later it is as seen on the opposite page, and the whole design is more carefully finished. Drer had dealt with the same subject. In reference to Froben, however, it should be pointed out that his Marks, of which there were several, show considerable variation in their attendant accessories, and that Holbein could not possibly have had anything to do with the majority of them.
recti.]
To attempt to identify the designers of even a selection of the best Printers' Marks would be but to embark on a wild sea of conjecture. The initials of the engravers, which occur much more frequently than those of the artists, are of very little assistance to the identification of the latter. Many of them possess a vigour and an originality which would at once stamp their designers as men of more than ordinary ability. For picturesqueness, and for the care and attention paid to the minutest details, it may be doubted if either B.Picart in France, or J.Pine in this country, has ever been excelled. The examples of the former come perhaps more in the category of vignettes than of Printers' Marks, although the charming little pictures on the title-pages of Stosch's "Pierres Antiques Graves," 1724, the "Impostures Innocentes," 1734, and the edition of Cicero's "Epistol," printed at the Hague by Isaac Vaillant, 1725,—to mention only three of many—may be conveniently regarded as Printers' Marks. So far as we know, Pine only executed one example,—representing a Lamb within a cleverly designed cartouche—and this appears on the title-page of Dale's Translation of Freind's "Emmenologia," printed for T.Cox, "at the Lamb under the Royal Exchange," 1729: in its way it is unquestionably the most perfect Mark that has ever been employed in this country. Any rule differentiating the Printer's Mark proper from a vignette is not likely to give general satisfaction; for a writer on the subject of vignettes will unfailingly appropriate many that are Marks, and vice versa. The present writer has found it a fairly safe rule, to accept as a Mark a pictorial embellishment (on a title-page) to which is appended a motto or quotation. The temptation to persuade oneself that several of these vignettes are Printers' Marks needs a good deal of resisting, especially when such an exquisite example as that of Daniel Bartholomus and Son, of Ulm, is in question. The same holds good with several of the dozen used by J.Reinhold Dulssecker, Strassburg, about the latter part of the seventeenth and earlier part of the eighteenth century; and very many others that might be named.
It is interesting to note that the Printer's Mark preceded the introduction of the title-page by nearly twenty years, and that the first ornamental title known appeared in the "Calendar" of Regiomontanus, printed at Venice by Pictor, Loeslein and Ratdolt in 1476, in folio. Neither the simple nor the ornate title-page secured an immediate or general popularity, and not for many years was it regarded as an essential feature of a printed volume. Its history is intimately associated with that of the Printer's Mark, and the progress of the one synchronizes up to a certain point with that of the other. In beauty of design and engraving, the Printer's Mark, like the Title-page, attained its highest point of artistic excellence in the early part of the sixteenth century. This perhaps is not altogether surprising when it is remembered that during the first twenty years of that period we have title-pages from the hands of Drer, Holbein, Wechtlin, Urse Graff, Schauffelein and Cranach. In his excellent work entitled "Last Words on the History of the Title-Page," Mr. A.W. Pollard observes "From 1550 onwards we find beauty in nooks and corners. Here and there over some special book an artist will have laboured, and not in vain; but save for such stray miracles, as decade succeeds decade, good work becomes rarer and rarer, and at last we learn to look only for carelessness, ill-taste, and caricature, and of these are seldom disappointed." These remarks apply with equal force to the Printer's Mark, although some exceptionally beautiful examples appeared after that period.
The position allotted to the Printer's Mark may not be of very great importance, but it offers some points of interest. It appeared first in the colophon, in which the printer usually seized the opportunity not only of thanking God that he had finished his task, but of indulging in a little puff either of his own part of the transaction or of the work itself. The appearance of the Mark in the colophon therefore was a natural corollary of the printer's vanity. It soon outgrew its place of confinement; and when a pictorial effect was attempted it became promoted, as it were, to the title-page. In this position it was nearly always of a primary character, so to speak, but sometimes, as in the case of Reinhard Beck, it was almost lost in the maze of decorative borders. But it is found in various parts of the printed book: in some cases, among which are the Arabic works issued by Erpenius of Leyden, we find the Mark at what we regard as the beginning of the book, but which in reality is its end. Sometimes the Mark occupies the first and last leaves of a book, as was often the case with the more important works issued by Froben, by the brothers Huguetan and others. These two Marks at the extreme portions of a book either differed from one another or not, according to the fancy or convenience of the printer. The Mark also appeared sometimes at the end of the index, or at the end of the preliminary matter, such as list of contents or address of the author, and its position was generally determined by several circumstances.
Now and then we have what may be described as a double Mark; that is, of printer and bookseller, the one keeping a sharp look out to see that the other did not have more than his fair share of credit. This is the case with several books printed by Jehan Petit for Thielman Kerver, Paris, of which an example is given in the previous chapter; Wynkyn de Worde used Caxton's initials for a time on his Mark, but the only motive which could have prompted this was an affectionate regard for his master. Some of the books which Jannot De Campis printed at Lyons for Symon Vincent contained not only the printer's, but two examples of the bookseller's Mark.
[Decoration]
THE PRINTER'S MARK IN ENGLAND.
The consideration of the Printer's Mark as an institution in this country is characterized by extreme simplicity, both as to its origin and to its design. From an entry in one of the Bagford volumes (Harleian MSS. 5910) in the British Museum, we learn that "rebuses or name devices were brought into England after Edward III. had conquered France: they were used by those who had no arms, and if their names ended in Ton, as Hatton, Boulton, Luton, Grafton, Middleton, Seton, Norton, their signs or devices would be a Hat and a tun, aBoult and a tun, aLute and a tun, etc., which had no reference to their names, for all names ending in Ton signifieth town, from whence they took their names." Even in England, therefore, the merchant's trade device was the direct source of the Printer's Mark, which it antedated by over a century. It will be convenient, first of all, to explain that the first printing-press in England was that of William Caxton at Westminster, whose first book was issued from this place November 18, 1477; the second was that of Theodoricus de Rood, at Oxford, the first book dated December 17, 1478; the third was that of the unknown printer at St. Albans, 1480, and the fourth was that of John Lettou, in the city of London, 1480, the last-named being soon joined by William de Machlinia, who afterwards carried on the business alone. The earliest phases of wood-engraving employed at one or other of these four distinct houses were either initial letters or borders around the page. At Caxton's press, as the late Henry Bradshaw has pointed out in a paper read before the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, February 25, 1867, simple initials are found in the Indulgences of 1480 and 1481; at the Oxford press an elaborate border of four pieces, representing birds and flowers, is found in some copies of the two books printed there in October, 1481, and July, 1482. Of illustrations in the text, we find a series of diagrams and a series of eleven cuts illustrating the text of the first edition of "The Mirror of the World," 1481; aseries of sixteen cuts to the second edition of "The Game of Chesse Moralised," 1483; and two works of the following year, "The Fables of Esop" and the first edition of "The Golden Legend," each contains not only a large cut for the frontispiece, but in the case of the former, aseries of 185 cuts, and, in the latter, two series of eighteen large and fifty-two small cuts. At the Oxford press only two books are known with woodcut illustrations, in neither case cut for the work; at the St. Albans press the only known illustrations in the text are the coats-of-arms found in the "Book of Hawking, Hunting and Coat-Armours," 1486; at the press of Lettou and W. de Machlinia there is no trace of illustrations.
These few introductory facts, condensed from Mr. Bradshaw's paper above mentioned, have a distinct interest to us as leading up to the employment of the Printer's Mark. It is certainly curious that at Caxton's press the very familiar device was only first used about Christmas, 1489, in the second folio edition of the Sarum "Ordinale." At first this bold and effective mark was used, as in the "Ordinale," the "Dictes of the Philosophers," and in the "History of Reynaud the Fox," at or close to the beginning of the volume. In Caxton's subsequent books it is always found at the end. At the St. Albans press the device with "Sanctus Albanus" is found in two of the eight books printed there, "The English Chronicle," 1483, where it is printed in red, and in "The Book of Hawking," etc., 1486; it is formed of a globe and double cross, there being in the centre a shield with a St. Andrew's cross.
So far as regards Caxton's device, it is easier to name the books in which it appeared than to explain its exact meaning. The late William Blades accepts the common interpretation of "W.C. 74." Some bibliographers argue that the date refers to the introduction of printing in England, and quote the colophon of the first edition of the "Chess" book in support of this theory. But the date of this work refers to the translation and not to the printing, which was executed at Bruges, probably in 1476. Caxton did not settle at Westminster until late in that year, and possibly not until 1477. In all probability the date, supposing it to be such, and assuming that it is an abbreviation of 1474, refers to some landmark in our printer's career. Professor J.P. A.Madden, in his "Lettres d'un Bibliophile," expresses it as his opinion that the two small letters outside the "W.74C" are an abbreviation of the words "Sancta Colonia," an indication that a notable event in the life of Caxton occurred in 1474 at Cologne. Ames, Herbert, and others have copied a device which Caxton never used: it is much smaller than the genuine one (which, in other respects, it closely resembles) which we reproduce from Berjeau. The opinion that the interlacement is a trade mark is, Mr. Blades points out in his exhaustive "Life," much strengthened by the discovery of its original use. In 1487, Caxton, wishing to print a Sarum Missal, and not having the types proper for the purpose, sent to Paris, where the book was printed for him by G.Maynyal, who in the colophon states distinctly that he printed it at the expense of William Caxton of London. When the printed sheets reached Westminster, Caxton, wishing to make it quite plain that he was the publisher, engraved his design and printed it on the last page, which happened to be blank. Mr. Blades gives 1487 as the year in which this Missal (of which only one copy is known) was printed, but Mr. Bradshaw puts it at 1489. The former enumerates twelve books printed by Caxton in which his device occurs—all ranging from the aforesaid Missal to the year 1491, the date of his death.
Wynkyn de Worde, a native of Lorraine, who was with Caxton at Bruges or Cologne, carried on the business of his master at Westminster until 1499, when he removed to the sign of the Golden Sun, Fleet Street, London. He had nine Marks, the earliest of which is often described as one of Caxton's, from the genuine example of which, as we have already stated, it differs in being smaller, with a different border, and in having a flourish inserted above and below the letters. The second is an elongated variation of No.1, with the name Wynkyn de Worde on a narrow white space beneath the device. The next four devices are more or less elaborations upon that of which we give a reproduction; the seventh is the Sagittarius device in black with white characters: between the sagittarii is seen the sun and flaming stars, and below the initials "WC" in Roman letters, with the name Wynkyn de Worde at the foot; the eighth is a picturesque Mark copied from one belonging to Froben, with the omission of part of the background; it consists of a semicircular arch, supported by short-wreathed pillars, with foliated capitals, plinths and bases: on the top of each is a boy habited like a soldier, with a spear and shield bending forwards; alarge cartouche German shield is supported by three boys. The ninth Mark of this printer was a large and handsome one, being a royal and heraldic device which Wynkyn de Worde used as a frontispiece to the Acts of Parliament, in the form of an upright parallelogram which encloses a species of arched panel or doorway, formed of three lines, imitating clustered columns and Gothic mouldings, and two large square shields, that on the left charged with three fleurs-de-lys for France, and the other bearing France and England quarterly, each of which is surmounted by a crown. For a very minute description of these Marks, and their variations, the reader is referred to Johnson's "Typographia," and Bigmore and Wyman's "Bibliography of Printing," the former of whom enumerates 410 books which issued from this press.
Among the 200 odd books which Richard Pynson printed between 1493 and 1527, we find six Marks (besides variants), of which five are very similar, and of these we give two examples, the smaller being one of the earliest, in which it will be noticed that the drawing is much inferior to the larger example; the sixth Mark is a singular one, consisting of a large upright parallelogram surrounded by a single stout line, within which are the scroll, supporters, shield and cypher, crest, helmet and mantling, and the Virgin and St. Catherine, and in many other particulars differing from the other five examples. Robert Redman, who, after quarrelling with Richard Pynson, and apparently succeeding him in business, employed a device almost identical with that which Pynson most frequently used, and to which therefore we need not further refer. In chronological sequence the next English printer who employed a device is Julian Notary, who was printing books for about twenty years subsequent to 1498, first at Westminster, then near Temple Bar, and finally in St. Paul's Churchyard. He had two devices (of which there are a very few variations), of which we give the more important. The other has only one stout black line, and not two, and it has also the Latinized form of the name—Julianus Notarius. About two dozen different works of this printer are known to bibliographers. In connection with Notary, we may here conveniently refer to an interesting, but admittedly inconclusive article which appears in The Library, i., pp. 102-5, by Mr. E.Gordon Duff, in which that able bibliographer publishes the discovery of two books which would point to the existence of an unrecorded English printer of the fifteenth century. One of these has the title of "Questiones Alberti de modis significandi," and the other, of which only a fragment is known to exist, is a Sarum "Hor," which is dated 1497. In the colophons of neither does the name of the printer transpire, but his Mark is given in both—in the former book in black, and in the latter in red. This mark is identical with Notary's, with this important exception, that, whereas in Notary's device his name occurs in the lower half of the device, in these the lower half is occupied by the initials I.H., and the upper half by the initials I N B, the I N being in the form of a monogram, and not distinct. In 1498 this same block was used on the title-page of the Sarum "Missal," printed by Notary, who altered it to suit his own requirements. We cannot follow Mr. Gordon Duff in his conjectures as to the probability of who this unknown printer may have been, but the matter is one of great bibliographical interest. William Faques, who was the King's Printer, and who is known to have issued seven books between 1499 and 1508, had only one Mark, which is totally different from those of any of his predecessors, as may be seen from the example given on page 16, where will also be found references to the sources of the scriptural quotations on the white and black triangles.
The extreme rarity of this printer's books will be best understood when it is stated that there are only two examples in the British Museum; one of these is a "Psalter," 1504. With W.Faques we exhaust the fifteenth century printers who employed marks to distinguish the productions of their presses.
Notwithstanding the similarity in their surnames it is not at all certain that Richard Fawkes (1509-1530), who also appears as Faukes, Fakes, and Faques, was related to the last-mentioned printer. His books are now of excessive rarity. The unicorn (regardant on either side of the device) appears for the first time in an English mark. Henry Pepwell (1505-1539), of the Holy Trinity in St. Paul's Churchyard, was a bookseller rather than a printer, and all his earlier books were printed in Paris; his Mark, in which occurs the heraldic device representing the Trinity, was suggested by the sign of his shop. The most important example of the thirty books which issued from the little-known press of Peter Treveris, who was apparently putting forth books from 1514 to 1535, is "The Grete herball whiche geveth parfyt knowlege and und[er]standing of all maner of herbes," etc., 1526, afinely printed folio ("at the signe of the Wodows"), of which a second edition appeared in 1529. The earlier edition contains, on the recto of the sixth leaf, afull-page woodcut of the human skeleton, with anatomical explanations, whilst the last leaf contains a full-page woodcut of the printer's Mark, with the imprint at the foot. Herbert supposes that the sign of the "Wodows," mentioned by Treveris in the colophon, might possibly be put for wode hommes or wild men, and alludes to the supporters used in the device. Treveris printed for several booksellers, notably John Reyves, of St. Paul's Churchyard, and for Lawrence Andrewe, of Fleet Street. In this printer's Mark, and in fact nearly every other sixteenth century example, there is a very evident French influence, whilst many of the examples are the most transparent imitations of Marks used by foreign printers. Of the three used by John Scott or Skot, who was printing books from about 1521 to 1537, two were mere copies of the Marks used by Denis Roce of Paris. We give an illustration of one example; the second is of the same design, but with a very rich stellated background, and the motto, "Al'aventure, tout vient a point qui peut attendre." His own device was an exceedingly simple long strip, with the letters Iohn Skot in antique Roman characters. An example of the last mark will be found in "The Golden Letanye in Englysshe," printed by Skot in "Fauster Land, in Saynt Leonardes parysshe"; but examples of this press are excessively rare, only one, "Thystory of Jacob and his XII Sones," fourteen leaves, in verse, and printed about 1525, being in the British Museum, and another tract, "The Rosary," 1537, being in the Althorp Library now transferred to Manchester.
diuitie mnlte. Prou. xxu. R ROBERT COPLAND]
Robert Copland, who was a beneficiaire and pupil of Wynkyn de Worde, was a translator as well as a printer and stationer, and his shop was at the sign of the Rose Garland in Fleet Street. Although he carried on business from 1515 to about 1548, only a few of his books are now known, none of which appear to be in the British Museum. The majority were purely ephemeral. The most interesting phase of this printer's career occurs in connection with one or two books printed by Wynkyn de Worde, notably "The Assembly of Foules," 1530, at the end of which is "Lenvoy of Robert Copland boke prynter," one of the three verses running thus:
"Layde upon shelfe, in leues all torne With Letters, dymme, almost defaced cleane Thy hyllynge rote, with wormes all to worne Thou lay, that pyte it was to sene Bounde with olde quayres, for ages all hoorse and grene Thy mater endormed, for lacke of thy presence But nowe arte losed, go shewe forth thy sentence."
The three Marks of Copland make allusion to the roses which appeared as a sign to his shop. The most elaborate design is an upright parallelogram within which appears a flourishing tree springing out of the earth, and supporting a shield suspended from its branches by a belt and surrounded by a wreath of roses; on the left-hand side is a hind regardant collared with a ducal coronet standing as a supporter, and on the right is a hart in a similar position and with the same decorations; there are four scrolls surrounding the centre-piece, on the top one is "Melius est," on the right-hand one "nomen bonum," on the bottom one "qdiuitie," and on the left-hand one "multe. Prou. xxii," i.e. "Agood name is better than much riches." The second device, of which we also give an example, is self-explanatory, and is perhaps the more original. It has also an additional interest from the fact that it was used by William Copland, 1549-1561, who was probably a son of Robert, and who simply altered the mark to the extent of substituting his own Christian name for that of Robert in the scroll at the bottom of the device. Over sixty books by this printer are described by bibliographers, and many of them are in the British Museum. Robert Wyer, whose shop was at the sign of St. John the Evangelist, in St. Martin's parish, in the rents of the Bishop of Norwich, near Charing Cross, was another printer whose works were more remarkable for their number than for their typographic excellence. His earliest dated work is the "Expositiones Terminarum Legum Anglorum," 1527, and his latest "ADyalogue Defensyue for Women," 1542, but as to nearly sixty others of his works no date is attached, he may have commenced earlier than the first date and continued after the second. The marks of Wyer consisted of two or three representations of St. John the Divine writing, attended by an eagle holding the inkhorn; he is seated on a rock in the middle of the sea intended to represent the Isle of Patmos. Laurens, or Lawrence, Andrewe, by Ames stated to be a native of Calais, printed a few books during the third decade of the sixteenth century, and resided near the eastern end of Fleet Street at the sign of the Golden Cross. His Mark consisted of a shield which is contained within a very rudely cut parallelogram; the escutcheon is supported by a wreath beneath an ornamental arch, and between two curved pillars designed in the early Italian style, with a background formed of coarse horizontal lines. Three of his books are in the British Museum. The Museum possesses only one book with the imprint of Andrew Hester, who was a bookseller of the "White Horse," St. Paul's Church Yard, and this is an edition of Coverdale's Bible, "newly oversene and correcte," which appears to have been printed for him by Froschover, of Zurich, 1550. Among English Marks of the period, Hester's possesses the merit of being original.
One of the most prolific of the printers of the first half of the sixteenth century was Thomas Berthelet, who succeeded Pynson in the office of King's Printer, at a salary of 4 yearly, and who (or his immediate successors, for he died at the end of 1555) issued books from 1528 to 1568, of which nearly 150 are known to bibliographers, sixty being in the British Museum. His shop was at the sign of the "Lucretia Romana," acharming engraving—the most carefully executed of its kind used in this country up to that time—of which, with his own name on a scroll, he used as a Mark. Several of his books were printed in Paris. He issued a large number of works in classical literature, and among the more notable of his publications were Chaloner's translation of Erasmus's "Praise of Folly," 1549, Gower's "De Confessione Amantis," and the "Institution of a Christen Man," with a woodcut border to the title by Holbein. John Byddell, otherwise Salisbury, 1533-44, was another printer whose Mark was derived from the sign of the shop in which he carried on business, namely, "Our Lady of Pity," next Fleet Bridge, but he afterwards removed to the Sun near the Conduit, which was probably the old residence of Wynkyn de Worde, for whom he was an executor. The Lady of Pity is personified as an angel with outstretched wings, holding two elegant horns or torches, the left of which is pouring out a kind of stream terminating in drops, and is marked on the side with the word "Gratia"; that on the right contains fire and is lettered "Charitas": the lower ends of these horns are rested by the angel upon two rude heater shields, on the left of which is inscribed "Johan Byddell, Printer," and on the other is a mark which includes the printer's initials; round the head of the figure are the words, "Virtus beatos efficit." This is merely a copy of one of the Marks used by J.Sacon, aLyonese printer, 1498-1522. Byddell's books were distinctly in keeping with the seriousness of his sign, and among others we find such titles as "News out of Hell," 1536, "Olde God and the Newe," 1534, "Common Places of Scripture," 1538, etc., besides two "Primers." Thomas Vautrollier, who printed books at Edinburgh and London from about 1566 to 1605, had four Marks, in all of which an anchor is suspended from the clouds, and two leafy boughs twined, with the motto "Anchora Spei," and with a framework which is identical with that of Guarinus, of Basle. Vautrollier was a native of France; nearly all his books were in Latin. In 1584 he printed an edition of Giordano Bruno's "Spaccio de la Bestia Trionfante," with a dedication to Sir Philip Sidney, and for which he had to flee the country, for the imprint, "Stampato in Parigi," was an obvious and unsuccessful attempt to hoodwink the authorities. In the following year he printed at Edinburgh "ADeclaration of the Kings Majesties intention and meaning toward the lait Actis of Parliament." J.Norton, 1593-1610, also used the same Mark.
Richard Grafton, 1537-72, who was a scholar and an author, is one of the best known of the sixteenth century printers, and, although he issued a large number of books, confined himself to a single Mark, which was a rebus or pun upon his name. Grafton was for several years in partnership with Edward Whitchurche, and also with John Butler. The most important works accomplished by the two first named were the first issue of the Great or Cromwell's Bible, 1539, and Coverdale's version of the New Testament, 1538-9, in Latin and English; the latter being partly printed in Paris by Regnault, and completed in London: as nearly the entire impression was burnt by order of the Inquisition, it is of great rarity and value. Grafton, who was printer to Edward VI. both before and after his accession to the throne, issued a magnificent edition of Halle's "Chronicle," 1548, and an "Abridgement of the Chronicles" by himself in 1562, which in ten years reached a fourth edition. Grafton found printing a much more hazardous calling than the grocery business to which he had been brought up, for he was constantly in difficulties, which on one occasion nearly cost him his life. The idea which found expression in Grafton's Mark naturally suggested itself to William Middleton, or Myddleton, 1525-47, who succeeded to the business of Robert Redman, and issued books from the sign of the "George next to St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street." He had two devices, of which we give the larger and more important: in the smaller the shield is supported on either side by an angel. About forty of William Middleton's books have been described, one of the most notable being John Heywood's "Four P's, avery merry Enterlude of a Palmer, aPardoner, aPoticary, and a Pedler." Reginald or Reynold Wolfe, 1542-73, was the King's Printer and a learned antiquary. Wolfe was probably of foreign extraction, for there were several early sixteenth century printers of the same surname in France, Germany, and Switzerland. His printing-office was in St. Paul's Churchyard, at the sign of the Brazen Serpent, which emblem he used as a device, asubject which, as we have already seen, was frequently employed for a similar purpose abroad. Wolfe's other device, of which there are two sizes, consisted of an elegant cartouche German shield, on which is represented a fruit-tree and two boys, one of whom is drawing down the fruit with a stick, whilst the other is taking it up off the ground. Over sixty books have been catalogued as the work of Reginald Wolfe. John Wolfe, originally a fishmonger, started printing about 1560, and from that year until 1601 we have an almost continuous stream of his books, on a very great variety of subjects. Like several others of the early printers, he was in constant warfare with the authorities, whose rules and restrictions of the press were a source of ever-recurring annoyances. He appears to have had as much difficulty in managing his "authors" as with the Stationers' Company, for he is referred to more than once in very uncomplimentary terms in the Martin Marprelate tracts of the period. The Mark here reproduced from Berjeau represents a fleur-de-lys seedling supported by two savages, with the motto "Ubique Floret." John Day, 1546-84, is undoubtedly one of the best known and most prolific of the sixteenth century printers, nearly 300 books having him as their foster-father. He appears to have started in business at the sign of the Resurrection, alittle above Holborn Conduit, but removed in or about 1549 to Aldersgate Street; he had several shops in various parts of the town, where his literary wares might be disposed of, and he is remarkable in being the first English printer who used Saxon characters, whilst he brought those of the Greek and Italic to perfection. It is not possible to give in this place even a brief summary of Day's career, and it must suffice us to mention that Archbishop Parker was among his patrons, and that the more important books which appeared from his press included Fox's "Acts and Monuments," 1563, and the "Psalmes in Metre with Music," 1571 (for the printing of which he received a patent dated June 2, 1568). His best known device, of which we give an example, has a double meaning; first it is a pun on his name, and secondly an allusion to the dawn of the Protestant religion. He used another Mark, which is a large upright parallelogram, within the lines of which is a very elegant Greek sarcophagus bearing a skeleton lying on a mat. At the head of the corpse are two figures standing and looking down at it, of which the outer one is in the dress of a rich citizen, having his left hand on his sword, and the other, who is pointing to the body, is dressed like a doctor or a schoolmaster: from his mouth issues a scroll rising upwards in eight folds, on four of which are engraven in small Roman capitals, "Etsi Mors in dies accelerat," and the remainder of the sentence, "Post Fvnera virtus vivet tamen," appears in similar letters on another scroll, which is elegantly twined round the branches of a holly placed behind the sepulchre, to indicate by a tree that blooms at Christmas the evergreen nature of virtue; the sarcophagus, figures, and tree stand by the side of a river, with some distant vessels, on the left hand of which are rocky shores, with cities, etc., and in the upper corner of the left is the sun breaking out of the clouds; the initials ID appear on the lower left hand. This Mark is exceedingly rare; it occurs on the last leaf of J.Norton's translation of the Latin "Catechism," 1570, and also at the end of Churton's "Cosmographical Glass." There are several variations of the Mark which we reproduce on p.79. William Seres, who was for some time anterior to 1550 in partnership with Day (and at other times with Anthony Scoloker, Richard Kele, and William Hill), printed over 100 books, in many of which his monogram serves the purpose of a Mark.
Like so many other of the early printers, Richard Jugge, 1548-77, whose shop was at the sign of the Bible at the north door of St. Paul's, was a University man, having studied at King's College, Cambridge. "He had a license from Government to print the New Testament in English, dated January, 1550; and no printer ever equalled him in the richness of the initial letters and general disposition of the text which are displayed therein." On the accession of Elizabeth to the throne, he printed the proclamation, November 17, 1558. About seventy books are catalogued as coming from his press. His elegant Mark consists of a massive architectural panel, adorned with wreaths of fruit, and bearing in the centre an oval within which is a pelican feeding her young, surrounded by the mottoes, "Love kepyth the Lawe, obeyeth the Kynge, and is good to the commen welthe," and "Pro Rege Lege et Grege." On the left of the oval stands a female figure having a serpent twined round her right arm, with the word "Prudentia" underneath, whilst the second female figure, with a balance and a sword, is called "Justicia"; in the bottom centre in a small cartouche panel is the name R.Jugge in the form of a monogram. This Mark was also used by J.Windet and by Alexander Arbuthnot, of Edinburgh, of which we give the example of the last named. Hugh Singleton, 1548-82, appears to have earned as much notoriety among his contemporaries for his "rather loose" principles as for the books which he printed. He was often in conflict with the authorities, and very narrowly escaped severe punishment for printing one of Stubbs' outbursts, for which the author and Page the publisher had their right hands cut off with a butcher's knife and a mallet in 1581; Singleton was pardoned. His Mark, of which there are variations, is sufficiently self-explanatory, although it may be mentioned that for a time he dwelt at the Golden Tun in Creed Lane. Walter Lynne, 1547-50, who was a scholar and an author, had a shop at "Sommer's Key near Billingsgate" and printed about twenty sermons and other religious tracts in octavo, employed the device given as an initial to the present chapter. John Wyghte, or Wight, resembled Singleton somewhat in his facility for running his head against established customs, and was on one occasion fined for keeping his shop open on St. Luke's Day, and on another for selling pirated books. His shop was at the sign of the Rose, St. Paul's Churchyard, and his books—beginning with an edition of the Bible—range from the year 1551 to 1596. His device was a portrait of himself, which varies considerably both in size and in other respects. Perhaps the most curious and interesting work which he published was "ABooke of the arte and manner how to plant and graffe all sortes of trees," 1586, translated from the French by Leonard Mascall, and dedicated to Sir John Paulet.
The employment of the Geneva arms as a Printer's Mark is confined, in this country, to Rowland Hall, who, at the death of Edward VI., accompanied several refugees to Geneva, where he printed the Psalms, Bible, and other works of a more or less religious character; his books range from 1559 to 1563, and about two dozen are known to bibliographers, and half of this number are in the British Museum. His Mark has a double interest; first, from his residence in Geneva, and secondly from the fact that the sign of his shop, "The Half Eagle and Key," was a still further acknowledgment of the protection which he enjoyed in Geneva. This was not his only Mark, but it is the only one to which we need refer. The name of Richard Tottell, 1553-97, is much better remembered in connection with the epoch-making little book, "Songes and Sonettes," 1557, the first miscellany of English verse, than either of the other seventy or eighty publications which bear his imprint. His shop was in Fleet Street at the sign of the Hand and Star, the same idea serving him as a Mark: the hand and star in a circle, with a scroll on either side having the words "cum privilegio," the whole being placed under an arch supported by columns ornamented in the Etruscan style. One of the most curious of the large number of books which came from the press of Henry Bynneman, 1567-87, is "The Mariners boke, containing godly and necessary orders and prayers, to be observed in every ship, both for mariners and all other whatsoever they be that shall travaile on the sea, for their voyage," 1575; astill more curious production of his press has the following title, "Of ghostes and spirites walkyng by night, and strange noyes, crackes and sundry fore warnynges, which commonly happen before the death of men, great slaughters, and alterations of kyngdomes," 1572. Bynneman had served with Reynold Wolfe, and when he started in business on his own account met with much encouragement from Archbishop Parker, who allowed him to have a shop or shed at the north-west door of St. Paul's. He appears to have had two Marks, one of which was derived from the sign of his shop, "The Mermaid," with the motto, "Omnia tempus habent," and the other (here reproduced) of a doe passant, and the motto, "Cerva charissima et gratissimus hinnulus pro." Thomas Woodcock, 1576-94, who dwelt at the sign of the Black Bear, in St. Paul's Churchyard, was a bookseller rather than a printer; his Mark is an evident double pun on his surname.
During the last years of the sixteenth century, and the first three decades of the seventeenth, there were two Jaggards among the London printers; by far the better known is Isaac, who, with Edward Blount, issued the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays; he seems to have had no Mark, but William, 1595-1624, used the rather striking device (page 88), which is thus described: Serpent biting his tail, coiled twice round the wrist of a hand issuing from the clouds and holding a wand from which springs two laurel branches, and which is surmounted by a portcullis (the Westminster Arms); in the last coil of the serpent the word "Prudentia." Equally distinct is the mark of Felix Kingston, or Kyngston, who printed a very large number of books from 1597 to 1640; in this device we have the sun shining on the Parnassus, and a laurel tree between the two conical hills, with a sunflower and a pansy on either side.
The Mark of William Norton, 1570-93, whose shop was at the King's Arms, St. Paul's Churchyard, was in a double sense a pun on his name, consisting as it did of a representation of a Sweet-William growing through a tun inscribed with the letters "NOR"; and something of the same kind may be said of that employed by Richard Harrison, 1552-62, whose Mark is described by Camden as "an Hare by a sheafe of Rye in the Sun, for Harrison." In this connection we may also here refer to the Mark employed by Gerard (or Gerald) Dewes, 1562-87, whose shop was at the sign of the Swan in St. Paul's Churchyard; this is described by Camden thus: "and if you require more [i.e. in reference to the prevailing taste for picture-writing such as the designs of Norton and Dewes] Irefer you to the witty inventions of some Londoners; but that for Garret Dewes is most remarkable, two in a garret casting Dewes at dice." In the same category also may be included the Mark of Christopher and Robert Barker, the Queen's Printers, who used a design of a man barking timber, with the couplet
"A Barker if you will, In name but not in skill."
From these and many other instances which might be cited, it will be seen that by the end of the sixteenth century the Printer's Mark in England had declined into a very childish and feeble play upon the names of the printers, and the subject therefore need not be further pursued.
The natural result, moreover, of this decline was, in the following century, followed by what practically amounts to extinction; and the few exceptions to which we shall refer, and which are to some extent selected at random, prove the truth of that theory. Thomas Creede, 1588-1618, whose shop was at the sign of the Catherine Wheel, near the Old Swan in Thames Street, was one of the prolific printers of the period, and his most common Mark is a personification of Truth, with a hand issuing from the clouds striking on her back with a rod, and encircled with the motto, "Veritas virescit vulnere." Among the numerous books which he printed was Henry Butte's "Digets Dry Dinner," 1599, for William Wood, abookseller whose shop was at the sign of Time, St. Paul's Churchyard, and whose Mark was an almost exact copy of one employed by Conrad Bade, asixteenth century printer of Paris and Geneva (who had apparently adopted his from that of Knoblouch of Strassburg, which we give on another page): it represents a winged figure of Time helping a naked woman out of what appears to be a cave, with the motto, "Tempore patet occulata veritas"; this Mark follows the introductory matter in the above-named work. Making a leap of over half a century, we come across another ambitious Mark, which in the present instance served the additional purpose of a frontispiece; it was employed by John Allen of the Rising Sun, St. Paul's Churchyard, and is dated 1656; it is rather a fine device of the sun rising behind the hills, with a cathedral on the left-hand side, and the inscription "Ipswiche" and a coat-of-arms, apparently of that city. Although not exactly a printer's or publisher's Mark, the charming little plate, engraved by Clark, which John Walthoe, Jr., inserted on the title-page of "The Hive: acollection of the most celebrated Songs," 1724, is sufficiently near it to be worth reproducing here. T.Cox, abookseller of "The Lamb," under the Royal Exchange, Cornhill, was fortunate enough to have a Mark (see page 46), in which John Pine is seen at his best: Cox was not only an eminent bookseller, but was also an exchange-broker. Of much less delicate workmanship, but appropriate nevertheless, is the Mark which we find on the title-pages of the books printed for R.Ware, at the Bible and Sun in Warwick Lane, one of whose books, Dr. Warren's "Impartial Churchman," 1728, contains at the end of the first chapter another Mark, an exceedingly rough sketch of a printing-office, with the motto, "vitam mortuis reddo." On books intended more or less for particular schools, the Printer's Mark usually takes the shape of the arms of the schools themselves, as in the case of Westminster and Eton; and the same may be said of books printed at Oxford and Cambridge, in the former case a very fine view of the Sheldonian Theatre usually appearing on the title-page of books printed there. John Scolar is an interesting figure among the very early printers of Oxford, and from 1518 he was the official printer of the University; in one of the books he issued there is cited an edict of the Chancellor, under his official seal, enjoining that for a period of seven years to come, no person should venture to print that work, or even to sell copies of it elsewhere printed within Oxford and its precincts, under pain of forfeiting the copies, and paying a fine of five pounds sterling, and other penalties. Scolar's Mark is one of the very few in which a book appears. John Siberch, the first Cambridge printer, apparently had two Marks, one of which—the Royal Arms, which was the sign of the house he occupied—appears on four of the eight books printed by him at Cambridge in or about 1521; of the second we give a facsimile from his first book, Galen, "De Temperamentis." The Mark of the majority of eighteenth century booksellers and printers consisted of a monogram formed either with their initials or names. During a portion of his career Jacob Tonson used a bust of what purported to be Shakespeare, partly from the fact that for many years the copyright of the great dramatist's works belonged to him and partly because one of his shops had for its sign, "The Shakespeare's Head." |
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