TYPOGRAPHICAL MARKS. — Typographical marks (or devices, or printers’ marks) are the symbolic signs used from the earliest incunabula (the oldest example is the Maguntina Bible of Fust and Schöffer, of 1462) as a seal of authorship and authenticity for the work of printers and later of publishers.
Originally they appeared at the end of the work, after the colophon; but they soon changed location, until they became established on the title page. In the fifteenth century they generally consisted of heraldic devices or highly schematic designs (typographical seals), of a geometric character (the cross was especially frequent), and—only in the final years—were accompanied by the initials of the printer’s name. During the sixteenth century the composition became more complex, until between the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth they were often transformed into tableaux depicting allegorical scenes, architectural backgrounds, and human figures with symbolic meaning, overloaded with various kinds of ornament. The use of a motto, almost always in Latin, was frequent.
It should be noted that many printers used more than one typographical mark: a famous example is provided by the two types of Aldine “anchor.”