르네상스 영국 인쇄 출판업자들의 상표에 담긴 이념에 대하여 (About the Ideologies of the Printers’ and Publishers’ Devices in Renaissance England)

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초록

Printers and publishers in the English Renaissance period loved to place their imprints or logos on the title-pages of their publications. These imprint devices can be of help for us to understand the publication culture of books, showing the similarities and differences of the texts published during a specific time. Imprint device usage was one of the very popular customs among the printers and publishers in early modern England. Their devices can be said to be some sort of cultural signifiers, reflecting the concepts, ideologies, and spiritus mundi of the English Renaissance.
Concerning the origin of the printer’s imprint or mark, we can trace them back to early German printers, such as Johannes Fust and Peter Schoeffer, fellow printers of Johannes Gutenberg. On the Continent, Fust and Schoeffer were known to be the first printers who had used their device on the Bible they had printed in 1462. In England, the first printer’s device was put on the title-page of a book printed in St. Albans. We cannot find any evidence that any printer used such imprint device before the year 1485. The second example of the usage of printer’s device in England was that of William Caxton’s. He seems to have loved to put his imprints on his books during the period of 1487-1488. Until the end of the 15th century, we can find that no less than eleven kinds of printer’s devices were used by William Caxton.
We do not find, however, many studies dealing with the reasons why printers put their devices on the title-pages of the books they printed. This paper is an analysis of the ideologies of the printers’ and publishers’ imprint devices (or logos) in England and Scotland 1485-1640. About 150 printers were known to be working in England during that period. That means about average 20 printers were doing business in each year. Despite the Government’s control of the total number of printers extant, we have a lot of evidence that these devices were useful and popular advertising tools for the printers and publishers as they could not avoid a hot competition for acquiring sources for printing.
Comparing similarities and differences of printers’ and publishers’ devices in the Renaissance England, this paper found out three major ideologies reflected, i.e., Christian, Classical, and Advertising. As Renaissance England was occurring amidst and active political Christendom, it is no wonder that these devices should contain all sort of Christian concepts. According to the author’s analysis of the total 428 devices that Roland MacKerrow shows in his Printers’ and Publishers’ Devices in England and Scotland 1485-1640, I have found more than 65% of devices mentioned contain Christian concepts. Perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of devices contain mottos quoted from the Bible, for these devout Christians wanted to express their wish for salvation and immortality even though their actual lives were hard ones.
The second major concept reflected in the printers’ and publishers’ devices is the ideology of classical idealism. Dreams of the classical Greek and Roman ideal worlds are faithfully reflected in the designs and manufacture of the printers’ and publishers’ devices. As the Renaissance spiritus mundi reached into England via the European Continent, some of the classical values of Greek and Roman myths, like wise peace, fertility, courage, chastity, and honesty, were strongly reflected on many printers and publishers’ marks.
Lastly, this paper observes that printers’ and publishers’ devices in Renaissance England contain a strong business ideology as well, that is, a wish-fulfillment to be successful. For them these devices were very important tool to make themselves known to their readers. Therefore, they wanted to advertise their name through the use of their devices. Furthermore, these devices often adopt the same design of their sign of the workshop. One of the very popular customs among them was the use of “rebus,” a puzzling design which delicately reminds the reader of the name of printer or publisher. Some of these rebuses came from the Continent, which means English rebus devices often lack creativity. Nevertheless, these rebuses contributed a lot to let people remember who the printer of the book they read was. Printers and publishers in Renaissance England cannot be said to have been great artists, after all. They were rather simple businessmen, poor but sincere, who wanted to make maximum profit in the harsh economic condition of the fast-coming industrial society.

영어초록

Printers and publishers in the English Renaissance period loved to place their imprints or logos on the title-pages of their publications. These imprint devices can be of help for us to understand the publication culture of books, showing the similarities and differences of the texts published during a specific time. Imprint device usage was one of the very popular customs among the printers and publishers in early modern England. Their devices can be said to be some sort of cultural signifiers, reflecting the concepts, ideologies, and spiritus mundi of the English Renaissance.
Concerning the origin of the printer’s imprint or mark, we can trace them back to early German printers, such as Johannes Fust and Peter Schoeffer, fellow printers of Johannes Gutenberg. On the Continent, Fust and Schoeffer were known to be the first printers who had used their device on the Bible they had printed in 1462. In England, the first printer’s device was put on the title-page of a book printed in St. Albans. We cannot find any evidence that any printer used such imprint device before the year 1485. The second example of the usage of printer’s device in England was that of William Caxton’s. He seems to have loved to put his imprints on his books during the period of 1487-1488. Until the end of the 15th century, we can find that no less than eleven kinds of printer’s devices were used by William Caxton.
We do not find, however, many studies dealing with the reasons why printers put their devices on the title-pages of the books they printed. This paper is an analysis of the ideologies of the printers’ and publishers’ imprint devices (or logos) in England and Scotland 1485-1640. About 150 printers were known to be working in England during that period. That means about average 20 printers were doing business in each year. Despite the Government’s control of the total number of printers extant, we have a lot of evidence that these devices were useful and popular advertising tools for the printers and publishers as they could not avoid a hot competition for acquiring sources for printing.
Comparing similarities and differences of printers’ and publishers’ devices in the Renaissance England, this paper found out three major ideologies reflected, i.e., Christian, Classical, and Advertising. As Renaissance England was occurring amidst and active political Christendom, it is no wonder that these devices should contain all sort of Christian concepts. According to the author’s analysis of the total 428 devices that Roland MacKerrow shows in his Printers’ and Publishers’ Devices in England and Scotland 1485-1640, I have found more than 65% of devices mentioned contain Christian concepts. Perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of devices contain mottos quoted from the Bible, for these devout Christians wanted to express their wish for salvation and immortality even though their actual lives were hard ones.
The second major concept reflected in the printers’ and publishers’ devices is the ideology of classical idealism. Dreams of the classical Greek and Roman ideal worlds are faithfully reflected in the designs and manufacture of the printers’ and publishers’ devices. As the Renaissance spiritus mundi reached into England via the European Continent, some of the classical values of Greek and Roman myths, like wise peace, fertility, courage, chastity, and honesty, were strongly reflected on many printers and publishers’ marks.
Lastly, this paper observes that printers’ and publishers’ devices in Renaissance England contain a strong business ideology as well, that is, a wish-fulfillment to be successful. For them these devices were very important tool to make themselves known to their readers. Therefore, they wanted to advertise their name through the use of their devices. Furthermore, these devices often adopt the same design of their sign of the workshop. One of the very popular customs among them was the use of “rebus,” a puzzling design which delicately reminds the reader of the name of printer or publisher. Some of these rebuses came from the Continent, which means English rebus devices often lack creativity. Nevertheless, these rebuses contributed a lot to let people remember who the printer of the book they read was. Printers and publishers in Renaissance England cannot be said to have been great artists, after all. They were rather simple businessmen, poor but sincere, who wanted to make maximum profit in the harsh economic condition of the fast-coming industrial society.

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