A printer's mark,
device,
emblem
An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint.
Emblems vs. symbols
Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...
or insignia is a
symbol
A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...
that was used as a
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
by early
printers starting in the 15th century.
The first printer's mark is found in the 1457
Mainz Psalter
The ''Mainz Psalter'' was the second major book printed with movable type in the West; the first was the Gutenberg Bible. It is a psalter commissioned by the Mainz archbishop in 1457. The Psalter introduced several innovations: it was the ...
by
Johann Fust and
Peter Schöffer. One of the most well-known old printer's marks is the
dolphin and anchor, first used by the
Venetian printer
Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius (; ; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and Renaissance humanism, humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...
as his mark in 1502.
The Library of the
University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...
launched a database of Printers' Devices in the ancient book section in October 1998. The
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
libraries also provide digital access to printers' devices and include The
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
devices that have appeared on the cover of their publication ''
The Library Quarterly
''The Library Quarterly'' is a quarterly double-anonymous peer-reviewed academic journal covering library science, including historical, sociological, statistical, bibliographical, managerial, psychological, and educational aspects of the field ...
''.

Printers' devices have been incorporated in American library buildings, reflecting the British
Arts and Crafts Movement
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America.
Initiat ...
.
From 1931 to 2012,
Library Quarterly featured 328 printers' marks with an article on the history of each mark.
See also
*
Bookplate
An , also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. Simple typographical bookplates are ...
*
Colophon
*
Factory mark
*
Merchant's mark
A merchant's mark is an emblem or device adopted by a merchant, and placed on goods or products sold by him in order to keep track of them, or as a sign of authentication. It may also be used as a mark of identity in other contexts.
History
...
*
Union label
References
Publications
* Havens, E., Tabb, W., & Sheridan Libraries. (2015). ''Renaissance printers' devices : essays on the early art of printing & the King Memorial Windows of Johns Hopkins University''. Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University.
External links
*
Roberts, W. (1893). Printer's marks: a chapter in the history of typography. London; New York: George Bell & Sons. Project Gutenberg Ebook #25663 Released Jun 1, 2008.Printers' marksfrom digitized rare books at the
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...
Base de Typographie de la Renaissance a database of circa 1100 marks and thousands of other printed ornaments
* Signa vides. Researching and recording printers' devices. Papers presented on 17–18 March 2015 at the CERL Workshop, hosted by the National Library of Austria, Vienna, ed. by M. Scheibe / A. Wolkenhauer, London 2015 (CERL Studies
* Typographorum emblemata. The Printer's Mark in the Context of Early Modern Culture, ed by
:de:Anja Wolkenhauer, Anja Wolkenhauer and Bernhard F. Scholz, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/ NY 2018 (Schriftmedien 4) , an international handbook and bibliography.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Printer's Mark
Book design
Mark
Mark may refer to:
In the Bible
* Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark
* Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels
Currencies
* Mark (currency), a currenc ...
Trademarks