The History of Signboards: from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

Jacob Larwood

ISBN 10: 0371929253 / ISBN 13: 9780371929254

Published by HardPress, 2021

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 26405839119

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The History of Signboards: from the Earliest Times to the Present Day
• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0371929253
• ISBN 13: 9780371929254
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The History Of Signboards: From The Earliest Times To The Present Day by Jacob Larwood is a concise field guide to historic English signboards, organized around motifs such as animals, birds, flowers and trees, biblical signs, and heraldry. It explains what each sign signified, where it appeared, and how it reflected trades, urban life, and broader cultural currents from medieval times through the 18th century. The volume surveys London tavern signs, shopfront branding, and regional variants, weaving in anecdotes about famous streets, diarists like Pepys, and literary circles. It presents a taxonomy of sign images, notes cross?cultural influences from French and Dutch practices, and traces the evolution from bush and wooden signs to painted façades and wall-fixed signs. Notable material includes discussions of the Bonnell Thornton Signboard Exhibition (1762) and the role of sign-painters in art, commerce, satire, and memory. A rich resource for understanding signage as visual language, urban identity, and social history.