[Illustration: JACOB STADELBERGER.]
Adam Steinschawer is said to be the printer of the first book issued at
Geneva, in 1479; soon after him came Guerbin, 1482, whose Mark we give
after Bouchot. From about 1537 to 1554 Jehan Girard, or Gerard, was busy
printing books here; the Mark herewith comes from one of Calvin’s books,
1545, the Latin motto being anglicized thus: “I came not to send peace,
but a sword,” a very proper motto indeed for such an author. Girard used
three other Marks of this type. The position of Geneva in literature is
French rather than German, and this also holds good with regard to its
typographical annals. The accompanying Mark of Jean Rivery, Geneva,
1556-64, is distinct of its kind, and is the smaller of the two examples
used by this printer; in the larger one, the same motto appears, but in
roman type, not italic; there are also only two trees, both nearly
leafless; the hand holding an axe occurs in both examples. Many French
printers, for various reasons, and at different times, “retired” to
Geneva, as, for example, the Estiennes; the Marks of several
Franco-Genevan printers therefore will be found dealt with in the
previous chapter. Although printing appears to have been introduced into
Zurich in 1508, books executed at this place prior to 1523 are
excessively rare. Christopherus Froschover, 1523-48, was by far the most
eminent and prolific of the early Zurich printers; to him has been
attributed the production of the first English Bible. His Mark is a
punning one, _Frosch_ being German for “frog;” it is emblematical of a
gigantic frog ridden by a child under a tree, the “larger growth” being
surrounded by several of the normal size. Of other Swiss printers whose
Marks we reproduce, but to whom we can make no further reference, are
Nicolas Brylinger, Basle, 1536-65 (the accompanying example is taken
from the title-page of “Pantalonis Henrici, Prosopographiæ Heroum atque
illustrium Virorum totius Germaniæ,” 1565, a folio of three volumes,
full of fancifully drawn portraits, the same portrait being often used
for several men), and F. Le Preux, of Lausanne, Morges, and Berne.
[Illustration: JEHAN GIRARD.