Quill and open book plaque on a gabled building – Historic Photograph Print
(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Quill and open book plaque on a gabled building comes to life in this historic image, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. It comes from the Snapshots of the Past collection, curated over 25 years for its historical value.
Order it framed and ready to hang, or unframed to match a frame you already love. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
Quill and open book plaque on a gabled building
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A carved quill and open book sit on a plaque mounted on the gable of this building, a motif that signaled the trade of a printer, bookseller or stationer to passersby who could not necessarily read the shop signs. Before street numbers and wide literacy were common, such symbols did much of the work of directing customers. Gabled facades like this one were typical of older commercial streets, where the upper floors often housed workshops or living quarters. The pairing of a pen with an open volume is a long-standing emblem of the book trade, and it is worth noticing how the carver turned a working tool and a written page into a lasting piece of street-level identity.
| Original scan | 3,263 × 2,279 px · prints to 11 × 8 in at 300 dpi |
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| Reference | 3069298087_4ed8c88570_o Quill & Book Sign at Library Square (Falmouth, MA) takomabibelot |
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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
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