C. SNELLAERT.
Among other possible and impossible monsters and subjects of profane history, the Griffin, the Mermaid, the Phœnix, Arion and Hermes has each had its Mark or Marks. In the case of the first named, which, according to Sir Thomas Browne, in his “Vulgar Errors,” is emblematical of watchfulness, courage, perseverance, and rapidity of execution, it is not surprising that the Gryphius family, from the evident pun on their surname, should have considered it as in their particular preserves. As may be imagined, it does not make a pretty device, although under the circumstances its employment is perhaps permissible. Sebastien Gryphius, Lyons, and his brother François, Paris, who were of German parentage, employed the Griffin in about a dozen variations during the first half of the sixteenth century. The Griffin, however, was utilized by Poncet Le Preux, Paris, some years before the Gryphius family came into notoriety, and it was employed contemporaneously with this by B. Aubri, Paris. The Mermaid makes a prettier picture than the Griffin, but its appearance on Printers’ Marks is an equally fantastic vagary of the imagination. In one of the earliest Marks on which it occurs, that of C. Fradin, Lyons, 1505, the shield is supported on one side by a Mermaid, and on the other by a fully-armed knight; half a century after, B. Macé, Caen, had a very clever little Mark in which the Mermaid is not only in her proper element, but holding an anchor in one hand, and combing her hair with the other. During the second quarter of the sixteenth century, the idea was, with variations, used by G. Le Bret, Paris, and J. De Junte, Lyons, as well as by John Rastell, London, 1528, whose shop was at the sign of the Mermaid.
| JOHN RASTELL. |
To summarize a few of the less popular designs, it will suffice to give a short list of the vignettes or marks used by the old printers of Paris (except where otherwise stated), alphabetically arranged according to subjects: Abraham, Pacard; an anchor, Christopher Rapheleng, Leyden, Chouet and Pierre Aubert, Geneva; two anchors crosswise, Thierry Martens, Antwerp, and Nicholas le Rich; one or more angels, Legnano, Milan; Henaud and Abel L’Angelier, and Dominic Farri, Venice; Arion, Oporinus or Herlist, Brylinger, Louis le Roi, and Pernet, Basle, and Chouet, Geneva; a Basilisk and the four elements, Rogny; Bellerophon, the brothers Arnoul and Charles Angeliers; Guillaume Eustace, and Perier, and Bonel, Venice; a Bull with the sign Taurus and the Zodiac, Nicholas Bevilacqua, Turin; a Cat with a mouse in her mouth, Melchior Sessa and Pietro Nicolini, de Sabio, Venice; two Doves, Jacques Quesnel; an Eagle, Balthazar Bellers, Antwerp, Bladius, Rome, G. Rouille or Roville, Lyons, and the same design—with the motto “Renovabitur ut aquilæ juventus mea”—occurs in the books published in the early years of the seventeenth century by Nicolini, Rabani, Renneri and Co., Venice; the personification of Fortune, Bertier, J. Denis (an elaborate and clever design in which a youth is represented climbing the tree of Fortune), and Adrian le Roy and Robert Ballard, Berde and Rigaud, Lyons, and Giovanni and Andrea Zennaro, Venice; a Fountain, M. Vascosan, the second Frederic Morel (with a Greek motto importing that the fountain of wisdom flows in books), and Cratander, Basle; a Heart, Sebastian Huré and his son-in-law Corbon; Hercules, with the motto, “Virtus non territa monstris,” Vitré, Le Maire, Leyden; a Lion rampant, Arry; a lion rampant crowned on a red ground, Gunther Zainer; a lion led by the hand, Jacques Creigher; a lion supporting a column, Mylius, Strassburg, and a lion with a hour glass, Henric Petri, Basle; a Magpie, Jean Benat or Bienne; this bird also occurs among Robert Estienne’s Marks, and the same subject, with a serpent twining round a branch was used (according to Horne), by Frederic Morel; Mercury, alone or with other classic deities, David Douceur, Biaggio, Lyons; Jean Rossy, Bologne; Verdust, Antwerp, and Hervagius, Basle; a Pelican, N. De Guinguant, S. Nivelle, Girault and De Marnef, C. and F. Franceschini, Venice; Mamarelli, Ferrara; F. Heger, Leyden; E. Barricat, Lyons; and Martin Nuyts and his successor who carried on business under the same name, Antwerp; a Phœnix, Michael Joli, Wyon, Douay; Leffen, Leyden; Martinelli, Rome; and Giolito, Venice; a Salamander, Zenaro, Venice; St. Crespin and Senneton, Lyons; Duversin and Rossi, Rome; a Stork, Nivelle and Cramoisy; St. George and the Dragon, Michel de Hamont, Brussels; a Swan, Blanchet; whilst a swan and a soldier formed the Mark of Peter de Cæsaris and John Stoll, two German printers who were among the earliest to practise the art in Paris.
GERARD LEEU.