Author: Lehner, Ernst

Reproducing in historical sequence 1355 signs, seals, and symbols from the simplest drawings of heavenly bodies, through the intricate heraldic devices of the Middle Ages, to modern cattle brands and hobo sign language, this book will be of immense value to the commercial artist and designer.

The development of man as an artist and the designer is here recorded pictorially by one of the world's foremost experts in the field of graphic art, Ernst Lehner.

This book is divided into thirteen sections, each with a separate brief introduction: Symbolic Gods and Deities (Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Germanic, Incan, Aztec, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, etc.), Astronomy and Astrology, Alchemy, Magic and Mystic (Nordic runes, magic circles, etc), Monsters and Imaginary Figures, Japanese Crests, Marks and Signets (engravers, goldsmiths, armorers, stonemasons, etc.), Watermarks (14th-18th centuries), Printer's Marks (15th-17th centuries), Cattle Brands, and Hobo Signs.

All the signs, symbols and signets are picture din black and white on strikingly laid out pages, with full explanatory notes for both lay reader and specialist.

Anyone interested in means of communication other than language will find this book fascinating and authoritative. The student and teacher in the graphic arts will find it a practical visual guide through the transformation of simple marks and signs into the complicated emblems of our time.