Printers' Devices

The banners hanging in the main gallery of Davis Library are emblems of printers' devices used by early book publishers to trademark their wares. They were designed to mark the transition of UNC’s main library from Wilson to Davis (completed in 1984), echoing and expanding upon the four printers' devices engraved in the chandelier in what is now the Rare Books Reading Room in Wilson Library. The Rare Books Collection holds original volumes printed by each of the ten publishers represented on the banners. The staffs of Davis and Wilson Libraries collaborated to select the designs; the banners were then created by Kraus & Sons in New York City. The publishers represented are Fust & Schoeffer, Nicolaus Jenson, William Caxton, Aldus Manutius, the Estienne family, Kelmscott Press, Doves Press, Riverside Press, Mountain House Press, and Ashantilly Press.