Comments by
Ky Kessler on...
Out of curiosity, was the printer’s mark ever manipulated by publishers publishing soon-to-be censored or censored material in any unorthodox or politically/religiously taboo fashion (i.e. did publishers ever craft an ironic printer’s mark which mocked a particular group, such as Protestants or Catholics?)? As seen in the “Simplicissimus Teutsch” title page, emblems and title pages can be intentionally misleading. Were printer’s marks, too, capable of this degree of creative freedom when publishing more socially/politically objectionable material?
The pedagogical use of emblems for women and children is interesting. Were these emblems ever disseminated (or re-purposed) with vernacular mottos/poems in woodcuts catering to a more rural audience? Or did these remain more or less exclusive to the urban bourgeoisie and landed aristocrats?