Seal printing is explored as a literary topic in 28 works dating from the third millennium B.C. to A.D. 1613 (from Sumerian times through Shakespeare's). This ancient printing method is mentioned in the literature of the Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, and Arabians. It occurs in the works of Herodotus, Plutarch, and Marco Polo, as well as Chaucer and the compilers of "The Thousand Nights and a Night." Shakespeare, who mentions this type of printing 37 times in 13 plays, perpetuates an old tradition. (Author/AA)