Printer´s and publisher´s devices from the 16th and the 17th centuries in the prints from the ASL holdings

Beránková, Hana - Růžičková, Marie - Baďurová, Anežka
Printer´s and publisher´s devices from the 16th and the 17th centuries in the prints from the ASL holdings .
Praha, Academy of Sciences Library 2002. CD-ROM
310,- CZK + postage

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This CD-ROM contains 631 reproductions, representing printers and publishers marks from 59 cities in 9 European countries. All signets that exhibited even the slightest difference when compared to each other (inclusive of dimensional differences) are reproduced. Only in those cases where an identical signet appeared repeatedly and without any deviation in one or more volumes, it is represented by a single reproduction -- but always with a note where, and how many times, the signet occurs in the print. Every signet carries an abbreviated note on its source, containing the following data: author, title, year, place and date of printing, book format, and the ASL location number. Additional information may include country of origin, language of the text, classification of the content, and connections between the individual signets in one book or a series of books. The signet itself is characterized by the dimensions, its motto, the technique of execution, its author (if signed or identified in reference literature). The theme of the main illustration and the attendant decorative elements are expressed by key words. The bibliographic references comment on the interpretation of the described signet or its reproduction in the relevant literature.

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The idea of a detailed analysis of signets from all the 16th and 17th century prints in the holdings of the Academy of Sciences Library was first proposed in the mid-1980s, at the time when a part of the holdings was being newly catalogued for the List of 16th Century Prints in the Holdings of the Main Library - Scientific Information Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Anežka Baďurová - Bohuslava Brtová, Praha, ZK-ÚVI ČSAV 1987-1988, vol. 3). Because the number of signets found in the prints then catalogued was relatively very large, it was not possible to include their detailed description into that List. Moreover, because recataloguing of the 16th century prints was to be immediately followed by the recataloguing of the 17th century prints, it seemed very logical to leave signet analysis only after the 17th century prints were catalogued. That decision is being implemented today - albeit after a long delay - but in a form that would have been completely out of the question at the beginning: reproductions of the entire set of signets complete with appropriate descriptions were put on the CD ROM.

Included are reproductions of all signets whose mutual comparison showed even the minutest differences (including dimensional differences). Only if the same signet was used repeatedly without any modifications in one and the same print or in a multi-volume publication, it is represented by one reproduction only, but always with a note saying how many times and where in the print the signet is located. If no location data are given, it is located on the title page.

The CD ROM contains 631 reproductions of signets that are related to printing houses and publishers from a total of 59 cities of 9 European countries. Each signet is referenced with an abbreviated notation of the copy in which the signet was found, including the author, name, year, place and date of printing, book format and location number of the Academy of Sciences Library. Other entries added may include the country of publication, language, topical section assignment of the publication according to its content and mutual relationships of individual signets used in the same book or multi-volume publication.

Individual signet descriptions give the signet dimensions, device, technique, designer's name (if he signed his name or if his name was found in specialist literature), and keywords are use to define the theme of the basic pattern as well as the accompanying decorative elements.

Bibliographic references provide information on the interpretation of the signet described or on its reproductions in the specialist literature consulted.