The Washington times., 1901-09-08
ORIGIN OF THE WATERMARK
The Idea of Placing Designs in
Writing Paper Not Modern One.
Centuries Ago 1t Was Fad OF the
Nobility of Mnny Countries-Speci-
mems on Exhibition Mt the
Louyre-History of the FOOLS Cap.


Watermarks on paper are now oeins
carefully studied as a means of arriving
at the facts in regard to the early man
ufacture of paper in Europe, and stli
further as offering a key 10 the prob
lematic questions of the block book:
and earliest specimens of printing IRON
wooden and metal types.
Watermarks are indentions made OF
paper. in various shapes. during the
process of manufacture, the pulp of the
paper being compressed by an engraved
instrument called a dandy. Paper mills
worked by water were established III
Tuscany about the beginning of the
fourteenth century. but it has not beer
determined that Watermarks were in
troduced by them. The earliest known
watermark is a globe surmounted by a
cross found in an account book at The
Hague, bearing the date of 1901. This
mark is very similar to the devices
used by John of Cologne. Jensen, and
Scot. all celebrated typographers of the
| olden time. Some of the paper used by
! these printers was made in Venice, SC
that the fact is regarded by many as
proving that Italy was furthest ad-
vanced at that period in the manufac-
/ ture of paper.
A bulls head three inches in length
appears in the watermark of an ac-
count dated 1910, which might also be of
! Italian origin, as a similar design was
! used as the arms of Pope CaliXtus III
! in 1856 this mark never being found in
! the Flemish block books, but appear
1 ing in the MaZarin Bible, in Fust and
! Schoeifer's Rible of 1862, and in the
publications of Uric Zeli at Cologne.
/ Many early undated Italian manu-
scripts contain a cross as watermark.
Antwerp must have been largely en-
gagged in the manufacture at an early
date, for records of purchases of paper
made in that city are entered at The
Hague and Haarlem under the date of
1852, and the watermark of a tower
found in a manuscript dated at The
Hague in 1854 is supposed to be rep
resentation of the tower of Antwerp,
used subsequently as an emblem by
Gerard Leen in J4I0.
This tower also appears frequently in
German and italian manuscripts of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 4
hand is also displayed upon Leen's en-
blenn. and, it Is thought, may have been
the origin of the Watermark of a hand
common in the Dutch block books.
The fieur- ellis, the Peters cock, and
the paschal lamb are all found in the
bearing respectively the dates of 1866,
1880, and 1856, the feur-d ellis referring
probably to Philip of Burgundy, who
bore it on his arms, and the lamb being
the insignia of Rouen. and also of other
bishoprics. Upon a letter dated 1421 is
watermark resembling the postman's
horn of the period, and this mark aft
erward very common, is supposed to
have given the name TO post paper;
just as the FOOLS cap, with its feather
and bells, on Cations Golden Legend
gave the name to foolscap paper.
The unicorn, the shield, and also the
marks of p and Y, either separately or
together. are all presumed to be proofs
of Flemish manufacture. the 2 crowned
with fieur- de-lis having been used by
Philip. Duke of Burgundy and Count of
Compiegne. who rcigned from 1349 to
1851, and and Y being afterward
adopted by his descendent, Philip and
his wife Ysabel, who We're married in
1929, the Y appearing first in an ac-
count dated 1431.
The marks of the dolphin and anchor
seem to point to some maritime coun-
try. both being used by Aldus Manutins
at Venice, but they are equally appli-
cable. in this connection, to the chief
cities of the low countries.
The dolphin appears first at HARLEM
in a manuscript dated 14lS, subsequent
ly at The Hague in 1923, and in a letter
to the Bishop of Durham dated at Me-
lun in 1920 The anchor, afterward in
common use, appears first at The
Hague in a writing dated 1896. a pot
or jug was favorite early mark, first
known with the date of 1852. and giving
its name to pot paper.
The account books preserved in the
archives of the Netherlands show that
the small folio paper employed in them
was the same used in the block books
and for account books in Italy and Ger
many about the middle of the four
teenth century. and the same paper is
found in the printed works of Fust and
Schoeffer, Zell. Veldener, and in the
publications of John of Westphalia at
Louvain. although no printed Italian or
German books are known to contain it. |
Soon after the introduction of print F.
ing larger size of paper of better quail
ity was used, as is seen in the early
Bibles, the Catholicon of Balbi of 14G0 /
and the Pliny of 1869. The difficulty |
then experienced in obtaining large |
quantities of paper is shown by the va
riety of watermarkS often included in |
a single volume of the block books, and |
also of the early printed works, the |
first Bible printed in Delft. HI7, being |
as exhibiting nearly all OF |
the watermarks previously used il the |
Netherlands.
One of the recent arguments advocat- !
ing the theory that printing was in
vented in the city Of HARLEM is found
ed upcn proofs deduced from water |
marks. but 1t is conteEded that the evi- J
ience only settles cOnclusively that pa
per was used at an early period in the .
Netherlands. and its use cannot prove /
the place of the publication of any |
work
Watermarks began to be used as the
private sign of the manufacturer at the
close of the fifteenth century. in which
significance they are, at present, en-
Dloyed
A TRANSPLANTED CAVE.