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An emblem identifying the printer of a book, placed on its title page or colophon.
Also known as: Printer's mark, Colophon device
A printer's device is an emblem identifying who printed a book, placed on the title page or in the colophon at the end. They appeared with printing itself in the fifteenth century and functioned as trade marks: Aldus Manutius's anchor and dolphin, Christophe Plantin's compasses, the Elzevir hermit. They are the direct ancestors of the modern publisher's logo, and they are the reason an early book can be attributed at a glance by somebody who knows the devices.
Identifies the printer of a book and functioned as a trade mark from the fifteenth century onward, which is why devices were registered, imitated and litigated over much as modern marks are.
From the fifteenth century · Contexts: History
Allows an early book to be attributed at a glance, which is why bibliographers catalogue devices as carefully as they catalogue typefaces — a device is often the clearest evidence of where and when a sheet was printed.
Contexts: History
A small emblematic picture enclosed in a decorative border or oval frame, often combining an object, an animal and a motto in a ribbon or a scroll.
Both are personal marks a craftsman left to claim a piece of work.