Asterism (typography)

In typography, an asterism, ⁂, is a typographic symbol consisting of three asterisks placed in a triangle, which is used for a variety of purposes.

[1] The asterism was originally used as a type of dinkus in typography, though increasingly rarely.

[2] It can also be used to mean "untitled" or author or title withheld – as seen, for example, in some editions of Album for the Young by composer Robert Schumann (№ 21, 26, and 30).

Its purpose is to "indicate minor breaks in text",[7] to call attention to a passage, or to separate sub-chapters in a book.

An asterism used this way is thus a type of dinkus: nowadays this usage of the symbol is nearly obsolete.

Asterisms in use
Asterisms used as dinkuses in the James Joyce novel Ulysses , the "Wandering Rocks" chapter, from the 1922 edition. [ 6 ] The 1961 edition used a hollow white star (☆), and the 1984 edition used a row of three asterisks.