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A printer's mark, device, emblem or insignia was a symbol used as a trademark by early printers starting in the 15th century.
The first printer's mark is found in the 1457 Mainz Psalter by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. One of the most well-known old printer's marks is the dolphin and anchor, first used by the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius as his mark in 1502.
The database Printers' Devices of the Ancient Book Section of the Library of the University of Barcelona, was launched in October 1998. The University of Florida libraries also provide digital access to printers' devices and include The University of Chicago devices that have appeared on the cover of their publication The Library Quarterly.
"Printers' Devices as Decorative Elements in Library Architecture" is an article with photographs that documents the use of devices as a reflection of the British Arts and Crafts Movement in libraries such as the Library at the University of Chicago (Luca-Antonio Giunta or Venice); Widener Library, Harvard University( William Caxton, Fust & Schoeffer, Aldus Manutius, Berthold Rembolt); Morrisson-Reeves Library, Richmond, Indiana (William Caxton, Aldus Manutius, Simon Vostre and Christophe Plantin).