Fig. 55.—English “hand” watermark, 1512.
The Holbein family of Ravensburg bore a bull’s head as their armorial badge, and they were paper makers, so the bull’s head shows on their paper as a watermark. It was afterwards much copied, and during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it became a favourite mark on German papers. There does not seem to have been any strict copyright in any of the devices used as watermarks. They were freely used by any one who cared to do so, but the copies were never very carefully made, they were always variants of the original. They were moreover generally accompanied by another mark, that of the maker, on another part of the paper. The same privilege of using a “maker’s” mark was also allowed to the silversmiths in addition to the official hall mark.
To some slight extent watermarks on paper made for particular books have followed the subjects of those books, and in accordance with a loyal feeling there are instances of a crown watermark being used on paper prepared for special copies of books intended for presentation to reigning sovereigns.
Fig. 56.—English “crown” watermark, 1745.
On papers used for early English printed books we find the favourite German bull’s head, bunches of grapes, unicorns, dogs, hands with stars, and shears. These appear in several sizes, and show many varieties and modifications of their original designs.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a greater variety occur; on English paper there is found the post horn and the fool’s cap, sometimes showing as a cap only and sometimes as a fool’s head with cap and bells. A similar design was largely used abroad. In the time of Charles I. a crown was a usual watermark on official folio paper, but the Rump Parliament ordered that the foolscap should be in future substituted for it, which was done. “Double foolscap” is still used as a designation for a certain size of printing paper, so also is “double-crown.”
Fig. 57.—English “foolscap” watermark, 1661.