| THE SAGE. |
The second Mark, which Isaac (1617–25) adopted in 1620, it occurring for the first time in the “Acta Synodi Nationalis,” is known as the Solitaire and sometimes as the Hermit or Sage. It represents an elm around the trunk of which a vine, carrying bunches of grapes, is twined; the Solitaire and the motto “Non solus.” The explanation of this Mark is obvious, and may be summed up in the one word “Concord;” the solitary individual is symbolical of the preference of the wise for solitude—“Je suis seul en ce lieu être solitaire.” This Mark was the principal one of the Leyden office, and was in constant use from 1620 to 1712, long after the Elzevirs had ceased to print.
The third Elzevir Mark consists of a Palm with the motto “Assurgo pressa.” It was the Mark of Erpenius, professor of oriental languages at the University of Leyden, who had established a printing-press which he superintended himself in his own house. At his death the Elzevirs acquired his material, with the Mark, which occurs on the Elmacinus, “Historia Saracenica,” and on the Syriac Psalter of 1625, on the “Meursii arboretum sacrum,” 1642, and on about seven other volumes.
The fourth important Elzevir Mark is the Minerva with her attributes, the breastplate, the olive tree, and the owl, and the motto “Ne extra solus,” which is from a passage in the “Frogs” of Aristophanes. It was one of the principal Marks of the Amsterdam office, and was used for the first time by Louis Elzevir in 1642. After Daniel’s death this Mark became the property of Henry Wetstein, who used it on some of his books. It was also used by Thiboust at Paris and Theodoric van Ackersdyck at Utrecht.
In addition to the foregoing, a number of other Marks were employed by this firm of printers, the most important of the minor examples being the Sphere, which occurs for the first time on “Sphæra Johannis de Sacro-Bosco,” 1626, printed by Bonaventure and Abraham; and from this time to the end of the period of the operations of the Elzevirs, the Sphere and the Minerva appear to have equally shared the honour of appearing on their title-pages. Among the other Marks which we must be content to enumerate are the following: a hand with the device of “Æqvabilitate,” an angel with a book, and a book of music opened, each of which was used occasionally by the first Elzevir; and one in which two hands are holding a cornucopia, of Isaac; the arms of the Leyden University formed also occasionally the Mark of the Elzevirs established in that city.
The Mark of Guislain Janssens, a bookseller and printer of Antwerp, at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century, is both distinct and pretty, and is worth notice if only from the fact that artistic examples are by no means common with the printers of this city.
GUISLAIN JANSSENS.