Main (Thompson) Library location: South wing -- End window. Born in a region near the village of Offwiller, France, Johann Albrecht (c. 14-- – 1539) moved to Hagenau, where he pursued a career as a printer beginning in 1500. In 1516, he printed alongside the notable printer Thomas Anshelm, and between 1522 and 1524 he entered a brief partnership with Heinrich Gran. After years of printing as an apprentice, Albrecht moved to Strasbourg and issued his first independently produced book, Was ein Comet sey by Nikolaus Prueckner, in 1532. Among his forty-three known publications are the works of Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Luther, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Ulrich Tengler. His latest work is Layenspiegel, printed before his retirement in 1538. This mark is composed of a thick, diagonal line, curved in the center, with a star on each side. Scholars believe this symbol, possibly a weapon, to have been Albrecht's personal coat of arms. In fuller devices, this mark appeared on a stylized escutcheon within illustrations of the temptation of Adam and Eve. An early version shows the shield supported by the mouth of the serpent; in another the shield is fastened to the base of the tree from which Adam and Eve take the fruit.