Printers' Devices Search Help
  Devices search help name bibliography

There are some idiosyncracies in the database but they are simple to incorporate into your search strategy. First and foremost: The simpler, the better as the database will only retrieve results that exactly match the order of characters, including punctuation, and words in the database. Upper and lower case do not matter. You may truncate or search for a sequence of letters within a whole word. Do not use Boolean search methods.

Look at the Explanation of the Printers' Devices Form for a description of how the entries are formulated.

The Search Results page will display a small image with brief information. To look at the full record, click on the URL. The small image in the full and brief records are linked to the larger image.

Printer or Publisher Name: Rob will find Robert and Froben. Froben will get results, Johann will get results. Froben, Johann will get results. Johann Froben will not, nor will Froben Johann. Search only one printer at a time: Denham, Henry Lownes, Humphrey will not get results.
Date Range: From: You must enter 4 numerals. If you put a date only in this box, it will result in everything from this date and later. To: You must enter 4 numerals. If you put a date only in this box, it will result in everything from this date and earlier.
Country: For printers in the United States, the form will be "State (U.S.)" as in Iowa (U.S.) It is best to search just the state.
City:  
Device Designer: Same as Printer or Publisher Name.
Keyword Enter only one image keyword per entry area. Although the keywords are almost always plural, the singular form will do as well: snake will locate snakes.
Mottoes, Text: It is best to use only one word from a motto or text. More may be used only if they are adjacent and in proper order. The words are transcribed as is without i-j u-v substitutions.
Name, Initials: Initials are given without spaces: OSM, not O S M.