Chapter 8

Of the other Alsatian printers we have only room to refer to two examples. Thomas Anshelm (or Anshelmi Badensis) is perhaps the most eminent of the early Hagenau printers, his books dating from 1488 to 1522, the earliest of which, however, were not printed at this place. His Marks all carry the initials T A B, the Hebrew letters in the accompanying example representing the name Jehovah; in his most elegant Mark the same word is supported on a scroll by a cherub, whilst another cherub is supporting a second scroll on which is inscribed the word Jesus in Greek characters. The style and workmanship of this woodcut suggest the hand of Hans Schaufelein, and it is worth noting that in 1516 Anshelm produced “Doctrina Vita et Passio Jesu Christi,” some of the illustrations of which were by Schaufelein. Anshelm issued a large number of books, including the works of Pliny, Melancthon, Erasmus, Cicero, etc. Valentin Kobian, 1532-42, inserted an exceedingly original and striking Mark in the edition of Erasmus’ “Heroicum Carmen,” 1536, the Peacock with one foot on a Cock and the other on a crouching Lion being highly effective.

[Transcriber’s Note: The superfluous word “Hebrew” was included to keep the text display from misbehaving.]

Printing had not established itself at Cologne until four years later than at Strassburg. Ulric Zell, at the dispersal of the Mainz printers, settled himself in this city, where he was printing from about 1463 to nearly the end of the fifteenth century. He was clearly not an innovator, for he never printed a book in German, and did not adopt any of the improvements of his _confrères_ who had settled themselves in Italy; he “rigidly adhered to the severe style of Schoeffer, printing all his books from three sizes of a rude face of a round gothic type.” It is not to him therefore that we can look for anything in the way of Printers’ Marks, the earliest Cologne printer to adopt which was apparently Arnold Ther Hoernen, whose colophons, of which we give an example, were often printed in red. His Mark is a triangle of which the two upright sides are prolonged with a crosslet; in the centre a star, and on either side the gothic letters T H, the whole being on a very small shield hanging from a broken stump. Herman Bumgart, one of whose books bears the subscription “Gedruckt in Coelne up den Alden Mart tzo dem wilden manne,” and who was in Cologne at the latter end of the fifteenth century, has a special interest to us from the probability that he was in some way connected with the early Scottish printers.

Once started, the idea of the Mark was quickly taken up. Johann Koelhoff, 1470-1500, the first printer to use printed signatures (in his edition of Nyder, “Preceptorium divinæ legis,” 1472), came out with a large but roughly drawn example, the arms of Cologne, consisting of a knight’s helmet, with peacock feathers, crest, and elaborate mantles, surmounting a shield with the three crowns in chief, the rest of the escutcheon blank, and rabbits in the foreground. Koelhoff (who describes himself “de Lubeck”) was the printer of the “Cologne Chronicle,” 1499, and of an edition of “Bartholomæus de Proprietatibus Rerum,” 1481. Several interesting Cologne Marks of the first years of the sixteenth century may be noted. For instance, Eucharius Cervicornus, 1517-36, used a caduceus on an ornamented shield, and printed among other books what is believed to be the earliest edition of Maximilianus Transylvanus’ “De Moluccis Insulis,” 1523, in which the discoveries of Ferdinand Magellan and the earliest circumnavigation of the globe were announced. Like Koelhoff, Nicolas Cæsar, or Kaiser, who was established as a printer at Cologne in 1518, used the Cologne arms as a Mark, which is sufficiently distinct from the earlier example to be quoted here. Johann Soter, 1518-36, is another exceedingly interesting personality in the early history of Cologne printing. We give the more elaborate of the two marks used by him and reproduced by Berjeau: the shield contains the Rosicrucian triple triangle on the threshold of a Renaissance door. During the latter end of his career at Cologne, Soter had also an establishment at Solingen, where he printed “several works of a description which rendered too hazardous their publication in the former city.” Arnold Birckmann and his successors, 1562-92, used the accompanying Mark of a hen under a tree. After Günther Zainer, 1468-77, who introduced printing into Augsburg, the most notable typographer of this city is perhaps Erhart Ratdolt, to whom reference is made in the chapter on Italian Marks. We give the rather striking Mark--a white _fleur-de-lis_ on black ground springing from a globe--of Erhart Oglin, Augsburg, 1505-16, one of whose productions, by Conrad Reitter, 1508, is remarkable as having a series of Death-Dance pictures; Hans Holbein was eight years of age when it appeared, and was then living in his native town of Augsburg.

For typographical purposes Switzerland may be regarded as an integral portion of Germany, and it was to Basle that Berthold Rodt of Hanau, one of Fust’s workmen, is assumed to have brought the art about the year 1467. One of the first Basle printers to adopt a Mark was Jacobus De Pfortzheim, 1488-1518, who used two very distinct examples, of which we give the more spirited, the left shield carrying the arms of the city in which he was working. It appears for the first time in “Grammatica P. Francisci nigri A. Veneti sacerdoti oratoris,” etc., 1500. The second Mark is emblematical of the Swiss warrior. The most eminent of the Basle printers was however Johann Froben, 1490-1527, who numbered among his “readers” such men as Wolfgang Lachner, Heiland, Musculus, Oecolampadius, and Erasmus. Very few, if any, German works were printed by him; the first edition of the New Testament in Greek was printed by him in 1516, Erasmus being the editor. Froben’s device (to which lengthy reference has already been made, and into a discussion of the extremely numerous variants of which we need not enter here) led Erasmus to think that his learned friend did indeed unite the wisdom of the serpent to the simplicity of the dove (see p. 43). Two other early Basle printers, Michael Furter, 1490-1517, and Nicholas Lamparter, 1505-19, used Marks one shield of each of which carried the arms of Basle. Henricpetri was a celebrated printer of Basle, 1523-78, and had a Mark of quite a unique character, representing Thor’s hammer, held by a hand issuing from the clouds, striking fire on the rock, while a head, symbolizing wind, blows upon it. To yet another distinguished Basle printer, Cratander, reference is made, and his Mark given, in the second chapter.

The most famous, as he was one of the earliest, if not actually the first, printers of Nuremberg, or Nürnberg, Anthony Koberger, does not appear to have used a Mark. Indeed, the Printers’ Marks of Nürnberg generally do not make anything like so good a show as those of Cologne and other large German cities. The earliest Mark of all is probably that of Wilhelm Moritz Endter’s daughter, which represents a rocky landscape, with a town in the background lighted by the sun. Endter’s books, it may be mentioned, are excessively rare. A much better known printer of this place is Johann Weissenburger, who started here in 1503, and continued until 1513, when he removed to Landshut, and remained there until 1531. He used the accompanying Mark at both places,--the precise signification of the letters H H on one side of the globe is not known. Mr. Quaritch describes a book of Jacobus Locher, published by this printer in 1506, which is remarkable as containing a number of woodcuts “which, in their style and spirit, draw the book into close connexion with the ‘Ship of Fools.’”

Several of the Marks of the early printers of Leipzig, into which printing was introduced in 1480, are of great interest and possess quite a character of their own. One of the earliest, for example, is that of Melchior Lotter, who issued a large number of books from 1491 to 1536. The word “Lotter” is equivalent to “vagabond” in English, and the Mark herewith consists of an emblem of a mendicant in a half-suppliant posture. Melchior Lotter junior was printing at Wittenberg from 1520 to 1524, where he printed anonymously the first edition of Luther’s Bible, with illustrations by Lucas Cranach, 1522, which an enthusiastic bibliopole has described as “one of the great works of the world.” Valentin Schumann, 1502-34 (and probably much later), is another eminent Leipzig printer, being the first to attempt printing in Hebrew characters in a Hebrew grammar, 1520. The initials L D on his Mark are taken to signify “Lipsiensis Demander” or Damander, a rude Latinization of Schumann which he sometimes used. Sufficiently quaint also is the Mark of Jacobus Thanner, 1501-21, which forms the initial to the present chapter. By 1500 printing had reached to Olmütz, where Conrad Baumgarten was issuing until 1502 works chiefly levelled against the Church of Rome; from 1503 to 1505 the same printer had established himself in Breslau, which he again changed for Frankfort-am-Oder, 1507-14, removing again in the latter year to Leipzig. The W on one of the shields of his Mark is the initial of Wratislau, the Polish name of Breslau, and the female saint on the other shows the arms of the town. It appears to be uncertain whether printing was introduced into Frankfort-am-Main in 1511 or 1530; but the only Mark which we need quote is that of Johann Feyrabendt, whose chief interest to posterity lies in the fact that he printed Jost Ammon’s “Künstliche wohlgerissene neu Figuren von allerley Jagtkunst,” 1592: his Mark is emblematical of Fame, winged, blowing a German horn, and enclosed in a cartouche. Andreas Wechel was printing at Frankfort from 1573 to 1581, his Mark being the well-known one of the Pegasus. Although Jacob Stadelberger, Heidelberg, was not by any means an eminent printer, his Mark is well worthy of note: it consists of three shields, the right of which bears the arms of Bavaria, the left a lion rampant, the arms of Heidelberg, and that of the middle is supposed to represent the arms of Zurich.

Adam Steinschawer is said to be the printer of the first book issued at Geneva, in 1479; soon after him came Guerbin, 1482, whose Mark we give after Bouchot. From about 1537 to 1554 Jehan Girard, or Gerard, was busy printing books here; the Mark herewith comes from one of Calvin’s books, 1545, the Latin motto being anglicized thus: “I came not to send peace, but a sword,” a very proper motto indeed for such an author. Girard used three other Marks of this type. The position of Geneva in literature is French rather than German, and this also holds good with regard to its typographical annals. The accompanying Mark of Jean Rivery, Geneva, 1556-64, is distinct of its kind, and is the smaller of the two examples used by this printer; in the larger one, the same motto appears, but in roman type, not italic; there are also only two trees, both nearly leafless; the hand holding an axe occurs in both examples. Many French printers, for various reasons, and at different times, “retired” to Geneva, as, for example, the Estiennes; the Marks of several Franco-Genevan printers therefore will be found dealt with in the previous chapter. Although printing appears to have been introduced into Zurich in 1508, books executed at this place prior to 1523 are excessively rare. Christopherus Froschover, 1523-48, was by far the most eminent and prolific of the early Zurich printers; to him has been attributed the production of the first English Bible. His Mark is a punning one, _Frosch_ being German for “frog;” it is emblematical of a gigantic frog ridden by a child under a tree, the “larger growth” being surrounded by several of the normal size. Of other Swiss printers whose Marks we reproduce, but to whom we can make no further reference, are Nicolas Brylinger, Basle, 1536-65 (the accompanying example is taken from the title-page of “Pantalonis Henrici, Prosopographiæ Heroum atque illustrium Virorum totius Germaniæ,” 1565, a folio of three volumes, full of fancifully drawn portraits, the same portrait being often used for several men), and F. Le Preux, of Lausanne, Morges, and Berne.

[Decoration]

SOME DUTCH AND FLEMISH PRINTERS’ MARKS.

The introduction of the art of printing into the Low Countries, and the rival claim of Coster and Gutenberg, have proved a highly fruitful source of literary quarrels and disputations. It is not worth our while to enter, even briefly, into the merits of the arguments either for or against; and it will suffice for our present purpose to regard Johann Veldener, 1473-7, as the first printer. He was probably a pupil of Ulric Zell, and, like many others of the early Netherland printers, he does not appear to have remained long at one place. For example, he was at Louvain from 1473-7, at Utrecht 1478-81, and at Culemberg, 1482-4. His only Mark appears to be that given herewith, in which his name in an abbreviated form occurs between the two shields, on the right one of which appears the arms of Louvain. His most notable publications were two quarto editions of the “Speculum” in the Dutch language, one of which contained 116 and the other 128 illustrations, “printed from the woodcuts that had been previously used in the four notable editions; to make these broad woodcuts, which had been designed for pages in folio, Veldener cut away the architectural framework surrounding each illustration and then sawed each block in two pieces.” He received from the University the honorary title of Master of Printing, an honour which was also conferred on his more distinguished contemporary, Johann of Westphalia, 1474-96, for whom in fact is claimed the priority of the introduction of printing into Louvain. The first of the large number of books produced by the latter is by Petrus de Crescentiis, “Incipit liber ruraliũ cõmodorũ,” 1474, its colophon being printed in red. The accompanying exceedingly curious “souscription,” with portrait of the printer, is given from Lambinet’s “Recherches.” Thierry Martens, or Mertens, or Martin d’Alost (Theodoricus Martinus), may be regarded either as an early printer of Louvain, Antwerp, or Alost, for it is stated that he had presses working simultaneously at the three places; but Alost has the first claims, and it is said that he was printing here in 1473, although as a matter of fact he was only twenty years of age at this period. He was a distinguished scholar, and the friend of Barland and Erasmus, the latter making the following reference to the accompanying Mark, “l’ancre sacrée,” in the epitaph he wrote as a memorial of his friend:

“Hic Theodoricus jaceo, prognatus Alosto: Ars erat impressis scripta referre typis. Fratribus, uxori, soboli, notisque superstes, Octavam vegetus præterii decadem. Anchora sacra manet, gratæ notissima pubi: Christe! precor nunc sis anchora sacra mihi.”

Colard Mansion, 1474-84, the first printer who worked at Bruges, for an exhaustive account of whose connection with William Caxton the reader is referred to Mr. Blades’s monograph, used several Marks, printed in red and black, and similar to the example here given.

In many respects the “Clercs ou Frères de la vie Commune” (Fratres vitæ communis), who were printing at Brussels from 1476 to 1487, form one of the most interesting features in the early history of printing in the Low Countries. The types which they used resemble very much those of Arnold Ther Hoernen, Cologne; and the only book, “diligentia impresse in famosa civitate Bruxellen,” to which they put their name, is entitled “Legendæ Sanctorum Henrici Imperatoris et Kunegundis Imperatricis,” etc., 1484, and this is their only illustrated book. “Their productions illustrate the stage of transition between the ancient scribe and printer by showing how naturally one succeeded to the other.” A full bibliographical account of the Brothers will be found in M. Madden’s “Lettres d’un Bibliophile.” The Mark here given is reproduced from the above-named work: it consists of an Eagle crowned and displayed, supporting a shield with the arms of Brabant quarterly, with river in bend, and star. The first Deventer printer was Richard Paffroed (the surname has about thirty variations) in 1477, who was either a pupil of Ulric Zell or Ther Hoernen, and who continued there until the first year of the sixteenth century, and was apparently succeeded by his youngest son Albertus, who was printing there up to about 1530, and whose Mark we give.

So far as Gouda is concerned, Gheraert or Gerard Leeu and early printing are synonymous. He was a native of this place, and established himself here as a printer in 1477 and continued up to 1484, when he removed his presses to Antwerp, where he was printing until the year of his death, 1493. His “Dialogus Creaturarum,” the first edition of which appeared in 1480, had run into over a dozen editions, in Latin or Dutch, by the first year of the sixteenth century. Whilst at Gouda Leeu used several marks, of which the smaller, given on p. 39, was printed in red and black; at Antwerp he used a much more ambitious example, consisting of the arms of the Castle of Antwerp: a battlement and a turreted gate, with two smaller ones on either side; the two large flags bear the arms of the German Empire and of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. Nicolas Leeu, who was printing at Antwerp in 1487-8, was possibly the brother of the more famous typographer, and his Mark consists of the lion (a pun on his surname, which is equivalent to lion) in a Gothic window holding two shields, with the arms of Antwerp on the left and the monogram of Gheraert Leeu on the right. Like Leeu and so many of the other early Dutch printers, the first Delft typographer, Jacob Jacobzoon Van der Meer, 1477-87, employed the arms of the town in which he printed on his Mark, the right shield in the present instance carrying three water-lily leaves. In 1477 he issued an edition of the Dutch Bible, and three years later the first edition of the Psalter, “Die Duytsche Souter,” which had been omitted from the Bible. The only other Delft printer to whom we need refer is Christian Snellaert, 1495-7, the only book to which he has placed both his name and his Mark being “Theobaldus Physiologus de naturis duodecim animalium,” 1495. His most remarkable production, however, is a “Missale secundum Ordinarium Trajactense,” issued about 1497; this Mark, given on p. 35, was also used by Henri Eckert van Hombergh, who was printing at Antwerp from 1500 to 1519: the shield carries the arms of Antwerp; in the arms of Snellaert this shield is blank, and this constitutes the only difference between the two Marks.