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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SHA-SIV |
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SIGNATURE (through Fr. from Lat. signature, signare, to sign, signum, mark, token, sign) , a distinguishing sign or mark, especially the name, or something representing the name, of a person used by him as affixed to a document or other writing to show that it has been written by him or made in accordance with his wishes or directions (see AUTOGRAPH, MONOGRAM, &c.). In the early sense of something which "signifies," i.e. marks a condition, quality or meaning, the word was formerly also used widely, but now chiefly in technical applications. In old medical theory, plants and minerals were supposed to be marked by some natural sign or symbol which indicated the particular medicinal use to which they could be put; thus yellow flowers
bloodstone
binding the " signature " is a letter or figure placed at the bottom of the first page of a section of a book, as an assistance to the binder in folding and arranging the sections consecutively; hence it is used of a sheet ready folded. In music it is the term applied to the signs affixed at the beginning of the stave showing the key or tonality and the time or rhythm (see MUSICAL NOTATION).SIGN-BOARD, strictly a board placed or hung before any building to designate its character. The French enseigne indicates its essential connexion with what is known in English as a flag (q.v.), and in France banners
bush
bush
Dragon , &c., have become familiar. Another class of sign was that which exhibited merely persons employed in the various trades, or objects typical of them, but in large towns where many practised the same trade, and especially, as was often the case, where these congregated mainly in the same street, such signs did not provide sufficient distinction. Thus a variety of devices came into existencesometimes the trader used a rebus on his own name (e.g. two cocks for the name of Cox) ; sometimes he adopted any figure of an animal or other object, or portrait of a well-known person, which he considered likely to attract attention. Finally we have the common association of two heterogeneous objects, which (apart from those representing a rebus) were in some cases merely a whimsical combination, but in others arose from a popular misconception of the sign itself (e.g. the combination of the " leg and star
1393 the prosecution of a publican for not doing so is recorded. In France edicts were directed to the same end in 1567 and 1577. Since the object of sign-boards was to attract the public, they were often of an elaborate character. Not only were the signs themselves large and sometimes of great artistic merit (especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, when they reached their greatest vogue) but the posts or metal supports protruding from the houses over the street, from which the signs were swung, were often elaborately worked, and many beautiful examples of wrought-iron supports survive both in England and on the Continent. The signs were a prominent feature of the streets of London at this period. But here and in other large towns they became a danger and a nuisance in the narrow ways. Already in 1669 a royal order had been directed in France against the excessive size of sign-boards and their projection too far over the streets. In Paris in 1761 and in London about 1762-1773 laws were introduced which gradually compelled sign-boards to be removed or fixed flat against the wall
representing the name of the inn. With the gradual abolition of sign-boards the numbering of houses began to be introduced in the 18th century in London. It had been attempted in Paris as early as 1512, and had become almost universal by the close of the 18th century, though not enforced until 18o5. It appears to have been first introduced into London early in the 18th century. Pending this development, houses which carried on trade at night (e.g. coffee houses, &c.) had various specific arrangements of lights, and these still survive to some extent, as in the case of doctors' dispensaries and chemists' shops. See Jacob Larwood and John Camden Hotten, History of Sign-boards (London, 1866). End of Article: SIGNATURE (through Fr. from Lat. signature, signare, to sign, signum, mark, token, sign) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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