The printer's mark is a design, a coat of arms, or another graphic representation, first used in the second half of the 15th century as a trademark, to distinguish the original editions produced by a printer.
At first, the printer's mark appears at the end of the volume, after the colophon. Later, with the rise of the title page, it appears more and more often in this new position, sometimes also repeated in the colophon. In the Renaissance, the need to harmonize the printer's mark with the other elements of the title page led publishers to vary its size or position from one work to another.
It is generally an engraving representing a personal emblem, a symbol, or a heraldic coat of arms. Initially, it would be a simple shield with the printer's initials and basic symbols such as a cross, a circle, or a triangle. But soon the image became more complex and was increasingly accompanied by a motto. It might refer to the shop sign, or it could be created as a play on the printer's name (“talking mark”), or as a reference to his place of activity, by echoing figures and symbols from the classical and Christian tradition. The importance of the sign was a guarantee against the numerous counterfeit editions; Manuzio, the Giunti, and other printers always had to contend with the many imitations of their most successful editions.
The golden age of printer’s marks lasted barely fifty years (about 1530–1580) and during this period, constituted a primary element for the decoration of books. Toward the end of the 16th century and throughout the 17th, the mark became overloaded with ornament and complicated symbols; more showy, more monumental, but heavy in structure and concepts, it followed the decline of the art of the book; only toward the end of the 18th century did it become clearer and simpler, until it was reduced to brief initials and monograms. In the 19th century, its use declined.
This section features the most representative printer’s marks from the antique book collection of the Gallenga Stuart Fund. Each volume is presented with its cover, the page indicating its shelf mark, and the title page where the printer’s mark appears, followed by a description of the mark and biographical information about the printer to whom the mark belongs.