The Symbol Set of Old Printers

Some glyphs survived four centuries by hiding in margins.

¶ The pilcrow — older than the paragraph break it marks. Monks drew it in red while the text was still wet.

† The obelus — originally a critic’s dagger, planted in lines suspected of being corrupt. Editing as exorcism.

☞ The manicule — a pointing hand readers drew themselves, the original highlight. Some have lace cuffs. Scholars had style.

⁂ The asterism — three stars for a turn in thought, now nearly extinct except in this garden, where certain letters keep it alive.

Typography remembers what we stop saying. The symbols wait.