Before looking for her on a piece of jewellery, try the pages of an old book. There she is: a crowned siren with two tails, the sea beneath her and the words “Non sempre nuoce”. Antonio Bulifon used this image on his editions.
At the sign of the siren
The University of Barcelona’s database of printers’ devices holds three examples associated with Bulifon. It also records his trading sign, “All’insegna della sirena” — “At the sign of the siren”. [1]
A printer’s device was a recognisable mark on a book. In Bulifon’s case, a creature from myth became part of the business of printing and selling books.
“Non sempre nuoce”
“She does not always harm” is one way to read the motto. The words make sense beside a siren: we remember the danger of her song, but “not always” leaves open another possibility.
Poitiers University Library explains a similar use of sirens by the printers Ravani and Varisco. Here, the siren invites readers into a sea of knowledge. They can follow her without the wax and restraints of the Odyssey. The library also links this reading to Bulifon’s motto. [2]
The call now reaches a reader. Following it means opening a book, and the sea becomes an image of what there is to discover.
Even so, the motto keeps a little of the siren’s danger. It doesn’t say she can never harm. Those two words, “not always”, give the invitation its edge.
Among the pages of a book
In the three devices in Barcelona’s database, the crown, the two tails and the motto return. The details change, but the siren is still recognisable.
Bulifon put her on his books and in the name of his business: “All’insegna della sirena”. In seventeenth-century Naples, you could find her simply by walking into a bookshop.