The Anchor of Hope
The Printer's Mark in The Renaissance
The printer’s mark was a tool originally used to identify printers of books. The mark is an image, usually seen on the title page, that represents the printer company the book has come from. The mark grew beyond just an image and instead grew to symbolize the brand of the printer. The marks no longer acted as a printer identification but rather the identification of the books' content. As showcased on the title pages of the books below, the printer's mark grew in popularity during the early 16th century in Italy. Both humanism and print culture married and the printer's mark was born to represent what these printers valued; the spread of knowledge and religion. As print culture spread through Europe, along with humanism and religious reform, the printer's mark was used to brand other printers in their companies' representation of reformist movements during the Renaissance.
"Anchora Spei"
The same printer's mark used by two different printers can be seen on the left. The mark known as “Anchora Spei” was originally used by Thomas Vautrollier. The London printer focused on English translations of reformist books. This encouraged the spread of emerging reformist ideals that were mobilized by humanist thinking. The two movements of reform and humanism related as these religiously reformist books that were originally published in Latin and Greek were being published in English.
For example, Vautrollier printed Calvins Institutes Of Christian Religions in English. The book was significant to the Reformation because it encouraged the emergence of Protestantism through the new approaches to Christianity, forming the crucial sector of the Protestant faith called "Calvinism". By printing a Protestant book in English, Vautrollier was encouraging the spread of this emerging religious discourse to the English. However, what makes him significant is the mark within these books. After Vautrollier’s death, the anchor visible on the title pages of his books was inherited by his apprentice Richard Field.[1] Field applied the anchor to his printing as his books revolved around the same content: English translations of books that represent the Reformation.
The anchor is seen on the title page of Field’s 1619 print The Ancient Ecclesiastical Histories, an originally Greek book that works at uncovering the history of Christianity. By incorporating the anchor in this print, along with his other books, he developed a brand for the anchor. The inheritance of the anchor to another generation of English-translated books, all of which focus on the religious discourse and themes of the Reformation, makes the anchor symbolize a brand of humanist thinking and the push for Reformation in England.
Protestants, Humanists, and Printers
The rise of Protestantism, humanism, and the role of the printing press all connect to the brand of the anchor. For historical context, the Renaissance experienced a humanist movement that celebrated classical studies and the spread of information.[2] More people studying Latin and reading ancient books allowed critique of those in power and their interpretation of the bible. As more thinkers read these texts, they began to view religion in new ways, thus alternative theologies such as Protestantism emerged. The most famous protestant thinker is Martin Luther, who created the 95 Theses pamphlet in 1517.[3] It critiqued the Catholic church and encouraged a new approach to Christianity. Focusing on faith between a person and God, rejecting the role of the papacy. At the same time, the printing press technology was advancing, integrating beyond its origins in Germany and Italy to cities like Antwerp, Wittenburg, and most importantly London.[4] The increase in printing was an opportunity for these emerging ideas to reach a larger audience, creating a humanist culture that encouraged religious discourse on corrupt Catholic systems. Meaning, that the relationship between humanism and print culture, encouraged the Religious Reformation.
Protestantism in England erupted in 1534 when King Henry VIII separated the state from the Roman Catholic church. However, Catholic and Protestant discourse was a large issue. After King Henry VIII’s death, his daughter ruled enforcing Catholicism. Then returning to the Protestant religion under Elizabeth I.[5] Reflecting on the religious discourse, it is likely that Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion was printed in English in 1578 because England was under the Protestant rule of Queen Elizabeth I, despite the book's 1536 origins.
In producing these English-translated texts, Vautrollier was reiterating the Protestant theology in England by printing versions that more English people could understand. Upon Vautrollier’s death his apprentice, Richard Field, inherited the mark of the anchor and applied it to his English-translated books. As mentioned above, he printed The Ancient Histories, which outlined Christian history. Field’s English print was in 1619 when King James I was ruling England under Protestantism. However, there was much conflict due to a push for King James I to follow his mother, Queen Mary I, in the Catholic faith. Field printing the book featuring humanist content, encouraged reform in a religiously conflicted England.
Origins of the Anchor in the Printer’s Mark
Although the mark represents significance in England, it originated in Venice due to Venetian print culture. The most famous printer's mark comes from the iconic Aldine Press, one of the first publishing companies, founded in Venice by Aldus Manutius. Starting in 1490 the theologian and humanist began printing ancient Greek texts.[6] His work was extremely popular among scholars as they encouraged classical studies, an integral part of the humanist movement. In 1508, Aldine debuted his printer’s mark of the anchor and matching emblem on the title page in Erasmus’ Adagia. The mark of the anchor and dolphin represented the classical adage “Festina Lente”, which means to "make haste slowly". The oxymoron became a representation of the humanist movement as it encouraged the urgent but efficient spread of knowledge. Combining the humanist pedagogy of both Erasmus’ scholarly work and Manutius’ printing in the presentation of the adage with the printer's mark.[7] This representation promoted other printers to be associated with the humanist and scholarly anchor, employing it in their marks. Hence Vautrollier’s integration of the anchor in his mark.
The Humanist Brand in the Anchor
The anchor began as a mark and evolved into a brand because of its adaptation from one author to the next. The anchor was first used with the Aldine Anchor in books that emerged at the time of the humanist movement. The association of the anchor to the humanist authors encourages authors like Vautrollier to use the anchor in his mark “Anchora Spei”. Using the mark, he printed English translations of reformist texts to encourage the spread of alternate theologies during the Reformation. Field inherited Vautrollier’s brand of the “Anchora Spei” because it symbolized the same reformist content of his prints. As well as his apprentices after him, George Miller.[8] The anchor was displayed on the title page, making the reader immediately associate the book with this message of reform. Further creating a brand because the anchor no longer represented Vautrollier. Instead, it represented the content of these books: humanism. Without the inheritance of the mark to Field’s prints, the anchor would only represent Vautrollier as a printer. However, by branding the book with the anchor it became associated with the Reformation and humanist thinking.
By: Maria Giannoukakis
1 Kathman, David. "Field [Feild], Richard (bap. 1561, d. 1624), printer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
2 Davies, Martin. “Humanism in Script and Print in the Fifteenth Century.” In The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Humanism, edited by Jill Kraye, 47–62. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, doi:10.1017/CCOL0521430380.003.
3 Rubin, Jared. “Printing and Protestants: An Empirical Test Of The Role Of Printing In The Reformation.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 96, no. 2 (2014): 270–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43554930.
4 Petegree, Andrew. “Renaissance Encounters: The Crisis of Print.” In The Book in the Renaissance, 43–62. Yale University Press, 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1npc72.7.
5 Marshall, Peter. “(Re)Defining the English Reformation.” Journal of British Studies 48, no. 3 (2009): 564–86, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27752571.
6 Gibbs, Mary. “Aldus Manutius as Printer of Illustrated Books.” The Princeton University Library Chronicle 37, no. 2 (1976): 109–16, https://doi.org/10.2307/26404001.
7 Barker, William. “Implied Ethics in the ‘Adagia’ of Erasmus: An Index of ‘Felicitas.’” Renaissance and Reformation 30, no. 1 (2006): 87–102, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43445923.
8 Kathman, David. "Field [Feild], Richard (bap. 1561, d. 1624), printer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.