MONOGRAM (from

See also:

• LATE

Late

See also:

• LAT

Lat. monogramma, in Late Gr. µovoypaµµov, from µovos, single, ypaµµa,

See also:

• LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter)  , originally a cipher consisting of a single letter, now a design or mark consisting of two or more letters intertwined together . The letters thus interlaced may be either all the letters of a name, or the initial letters of the Christian and surnames of a person for use upon note-paper, seals, &c . Many of the early Greek and Roman coins bear the monograms of rulers for whom or the towns in which they were struck . The Late Latin and Greek words were first applied to the signatures, which took this form, of the emperors of the Eastern Empire . The signatures of the Frankish kings also took the form of a monogram . The accompanying monogram, from a coin of Charles the Bald, is a good example of a " perfect " monogram, in which all the letters of the name Karolus can be traced (see DIPLOMATIC and AUTOGRAPH) . The most famous of monograms is that known as the " Sacred Monogram," formed by the conjunction of the two initial letters of XpuoTOs, Christ . The most usual form of this is the symbol and sometimes the a (alpha) and w (omega) of the Apocalypse were placed on either side of it . The symbol was incorporated in the Labarum (q.v.) when the imperial standard was Christianized . The interlaced I.H.S . (also called " The Sacred Monogram ") apparently possesses no great antiquity; it is said to have been thecreation of St Bernard of Siena in the middle of the 15th century . Monograms or ciphers were often used by the early printers as devices, and are of importance in fixing the identity of early printed books .

Similar devices have been used by painters and engravers . The middle ages were, indeed, extremely prolific in the invention of ciphers alike for ecclesiastical,

artistic and commercial use . Every great personage, every possessor of fine taste, every artist, had his monogram . The mason's mark also wars, in effect, a cipher . As the merchant had as a rule neither right nor authority to employ heraldic emblems, he therefore fell back upon plain simple letters arranged very much in monogram form . These " merchants' marks " generally took the form of a monogram of the owner's initials together with a private device . They nearly always contain a cross, either as a protection against storms or other catastrophes, or as a Christian mark to distinguish their goods from Mahommedan traders in the East . There is a fine example of a 16th century gold ring with a merchant's mark in the British Museum . One of the most famous of secular monograms is the interlaced " H.D." of Henri II. and Diane de Poitiers . Upon every building which that king erected it was sown profusely; it was stamped upon the buildings in the royal library, together with the bow, the quiver and the interlocked crescents of Diana . It has been argued that " H.D." is a misreading of " H.C.," which would naturally point to husband and wife; but the question is set at rest by the fact that Henri II. sometimes signed his letters to Diane with this very monogram . Henri IV. invented a punning cipher for his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrees, the surname being represented by a capital S. with a trait, or stroke through it .

See F . Builliot, Dictionnaire

des monogrammes (1832-1834, 3 parts) ; G . K . Nagler, Die Monogrammisten (1857-1876, 5 parts) ; Ris-Paquot, Dictionnaire encyclopedique des marques et monogrammes, chiffres, &c . (1893); also Du Cange, Glossarium (s.v . Monogramma), with plates giving examples of the monograms of early popes, the emperors of the Western Empire, and of other kings .