#printer's device

Printer’s device for Sébastien Gryphe or Sebastian Gryphius (1492-1556), showing a griffin. Gryphe was a German-born printer and bookseller in Lyon. The motto Virtute duce, comite fortuna means 'Under the guidance of valour, accompanied by good fortune.'

This device belongs to the University Press at Cambridge. This particular work was printed while the press was under the stewardship of John Hayes, whose tenure lasted from about 1669-1705. His time at the press was not without controversy. From its inception, the University Press had drawn ire from the Stationer’s Company of London, which had hitherto exercised a monopoly on all printing in England. Hayes’ appointment was secretly backed by a member the Stationer’s Company, which bound Hayes (and the University Press) to a number of disadvantageous edicts. These included production limits, mandatory warehousing of university books in London, and price controls. The terms of this agreement came to light in 1679, the end result being that the offending member of the Company recused himself from his post and a new agreement for the University Press and Hayes was drafted.

Images from:

Lactantius. Lucii Coelii Lactantii Firmiani Opera, quae extant omnia. Cambridge : John Hayes, 1685.

Call Number: BR65 .L2 1685   

Typography Tuesday: Printer’s Marks!

Is that the mythological lyre player, Arion of Lesbos, riding a dolphin in the sea?  Why yes, yes it is! 

The illustration above is the printer’s mark of Johannes Oporinus (1507 - 1568), who worked in Basel and was for a time employed and mentored by Johann Froben. We found this mark on the title page of Stephanos Peri poleōn = Stephanvs De vrbibvs, a geographical dictionary by the 6th-century writer Stephanus of Byzantium, published in Basil by Oporinus in 1568. Printer’s marks (also sometime’s called a printer’s device, insignia, or emblem) often saw variations and transformations through the printer’s career. Johannes Oporinus’ mark had a few variations, but always illustrated Arion and his rescuer-dolphin! In this instance, Arion appears to be holding a violin rather than his famous lyre. If you don’t know this legend, you can read a version of it here. 

Notably, this was not the first printer's mark to include the image of a dolphin. Aldus Manutius, a generation older than Oporinus had become one of the most respected and popular printers of humanist works in Venice, and used the anchor and dolphin as his famous printer’s mark, although this symbol goes back to ancient times. Perhaps Oporinus was signalling to the reading elite that he would be the next great printer of the humanist renaissance?  Today, Arion’s lyre is used as the printer’s device for the prestigious American fine-press publisher Arion Press in San Francisco. 

The illustration is circled by a border containing two phrases: “Invia virtuti nulla est via” and “Fata viam inveniunt.” The first phrase is from Ovid and roughly translates “virtue knows no obstacle” and the latter phrase has been attributed to Virgil and translates as, “the Fates will find a way.” My goodness, we’re not sure if it’s possible to fit anymore meaning into such a tiny little emblem! Regardless of hidden and not-so hidden meanings, we just can’t get enough of this bizarrely portrayed dolphin emerging from the waves of the sea!

The Aldine anchor – a printer's device for Aldus Manutius (based in Venice, 1564)

Printer’s device for Guillaume de La Nouaille (Limoges, c. 1500 - c. 1560)

The motto Sic virtus oppressa resurgit means 'Thus oppressed valour rises'

Printer’s device for Kraft Müller or Crato Mylius, showing a lion carrying a column on its shoulder and holding a shield featuring a man (possibly Samson) waving a jaw bone. Kraft Müller (1503-1547) was a printer in Wittenberg and Strasbourg.

Printer’s device and two initial letters from a 1685 printing of Lactanius’ collected works by John Hayes of Cambridge.

Call Number: BR65 .L2 1685

Printer’s device of Henry Estienne, 1581. Estienne entered the printing trade at a young age, working in his family’s firm in Paris. After a brief period working with the Aldine Press in Venice, he started his own firm in 1557, and took over the family business in 1559. A scholar in his own right, Estienne was a polyglot and published numerous works, both classical and modern.

Images from:

Herodian’s Historiarum libri VIII. Genoa : Henri Estienne, 1581.

Call Number: PA4001 .H4 1581