Printer's marks

Printers' marks were identifying symbols used by early modern printers to sign their work. Often found on title pages, they combined imagery with initials or mottos. These marks served as a guarantee of quality and helped establish a printer's identity in a growing book market. Today, they offer valuable insights for book historical research.
coat of arms of Antwerp7

Geraert Leeu

1445 - 1492

AB-Postel WK 236.b (f. l6 recto): Printer's device

  • 1487
  • coat of arms of Antwerp
  • bio

    Gerard or Gheraert Leeu, Leew, Lyon, or Leonis, (between 1445 and 1450, Gouda - 1492, Antwerp) was a Dutch printer of incunabula. Leeu printed his first (liturgical) book in May 1477 in his shop in Gouda, where between 1477 and 1484 he produced a total of about 69 books. In 1484 he moved to Antwerp, where he died in 1492 from a stab wound during a quarrel with one of his typesetters. Besides printing works in Latin and Dutch, he reprinted some of William Caxton's editions for the English market. These were The History of Jason, The History of Paris and Vienne and The Chronicles of England. He published the Dialogus creaturarum in a number of editions, the first being in 1480. He also printed a Latin version of the Solomon and Marcolf legend, entitled Collationes quod dicuntur fecisse mutuo rex Solomon ... et Marcolphus in 1488, which he followed in 1492 with an English translation, This is the dyalogus or communyng betw[i]xt the wyse King Solomon and Marcolphus. It is not clear whether the English translation was done out of Dutch or Latin, but it is likely that Leeu had the translation made in his own shop from the earlier Latin edition. wikipedia

Claes Leeu

UGENT-CB BHSL.RES.0053 (f. 2p5 recto): Printer's device

Roelant van den Dorpe

- 1500

Die alder excelle[n]ste cronyke va[n] braba[n]t (1497), KUL-BC Inc.243 (f. 2d4 verso).

Goovaert Back

http://www.wikidata.org/.well - 1517

KBR INC A 1.468 (RP) (f. f4 verso): Printer's device

Adriaen van Berghen

- 1542

KBR INC A 2.115 (RP) (f. z8 verso): Printer's device

Henrick Eckert van Homberch

- 1521

UGENT-CB BHSL.RES.0175/1 (f. B4 verso): Printer's device

Willem Vorsterman

1500 - 1543

Hier beghinne[n] alle die epistolen en[de] euangelien mette[n] sermonen va[n]den gheheele[n] iare [Lectionarium missae] (c.1514), Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience, F 29623 (f. K6 verso)

  • 1514
  • double-headed eaglecoat of arms of Antwerp
  • bio

    Willem Vorsterman (died 1543) was an early printer of books, active in Antwerp between 1504 and 1543. He published about 400 books in Dutch, Spanish, English, Latin, French and Danish, making him the second most productive printer in the Netherlands in the first half of the 16th century, behind Hillenius. His earliest production, between 1500 and 1520, consisted mainly of works of fiction in Dutch often in chapbook format, while he later expanded into other languages and genres, with more luxurious, illustrated editions. He entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1512 and was its dean in 1527 and 1542. His shop was in the "Golden Unicorn", near the Kammerpoort in Antwerp. wikipedia

The printers listed on this page come from the Short Title Catalogus Vlaanderen (STCV), a retrospective bibliography of books printed before 1801 in what is now Flanders, including Brussels. All other data comes from Wikidata and Wikipedia. This website is a project by the Flemish Heritage Libraries. There are 249 printers on this page. This page was last updated on 2026-08-04.