[14648] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
FYI France -- the story of a type font
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jack Kessler)
Fri Jan 17 20:04:15 2003
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003 10:41:08 -0800
From: Jack Kessler <kessler@WELL.COM>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
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FYI France -- the story of a type font
A remarkable exhibit, and a remarkably well - done catalog to
accompany it, just have appeared courtesy of the Muse'e de
l'Imprimerie in Lyon:
"Le Romain du Roi :
la typographie au service de l'Etat, 1702 - 2002"
ISBN 2-85682-017-4
This should be of interest to anyone at all curious about type
fonts and their history, and printing -- and also about the use,
by The State, of the information and communications process --
The wonderfully - presented catalog makes the case clearly: from
the unusual birth of this particular technological innovation --
"...comme, pendant ce temps - la`, Sa Majeste' a voulu
qu'on remit en meilleur e'tat son Imprimerie royale, il a
fallu que l'assemble'e... avec le sieur Anisson,
directeur de ladite imprimerie, ledit sieur Simonneau,
graveur en taille - douce, & le sieur Grandjean, graveur
des poinc,ons et matrices, se soit applique'
continuellement a` trouver moyen de faire une parfaite
construction des lettres pour reformer les poinc,ons et
matrices dont on s'est servi jusqu'a` pre'sent..." p.40
-- Comptes rendus des travaux de l'<<Assemble'e
des pre'pose's par Sa Majeste' pour la
description & perfection des arts>>.
-- to its curious and contentious beginnings as a type - font -
designed - by - a - committee --
"Seulement le sieur Jaugeon & Des Billettes, puis, e'tant
tard & sur le point de retirer, apre`s avoir longtemps
attendu, survenus les sieurs Anisson & Grandjean.
Monsieur l'Abbe' [Bignon] absent, on s'est retire' sans
presque rien faire, faute de temps..." p.50
"... le I capital et le bas de casse sont de'sormais
presque identiques, surtout dans les petits corps. Ce
proble`me fut re'solu en empruntant une caracte'ristique
de la calligraphie de Jarry et Senault (et utilise'e bien
avant dans plusieurs e'critures tradtionnelles, dont la
textura gothique carre'e sur laquelle fut calque' le
caracte`re de la Bible a` 42 lignes): une barre
surnume'raire fut ajoute'e sur le co^te' gauche du l..." p.71
"... cette barre ou se'cante aide e'galement a` la
redistribution des plombs. Ce petit trait devint le signe
distinctif des caracte`res de l'e'tablissement d'Etat..." p.88
-- to American printer Ben Franklin's fascination with the font,
and his enterprising use of it to "encode" some of the earliest
official correspondence of the young United States --
"En 1790, Anisson offrit les avantages des
caracte'ristiques particulie`res du Romain du Roi aux
imprimeurs des assignats, alors en pre'paration, comme un
moyen de garantir leur authenticite'... On peut supposer
que l'exemple que donna Benjamin Franklin, en utilisant
des caracte`res spe'ciaux grave's pour lui comme moyens
d'authentifier les documents officiels qu'il produisait
avec sa propre imprimerie a` Passy..." p.73 [with a
Franklin "lettre d'order", displaying the technique]
-- to the gradual decay of enthusiasm for the font -- and for the
classical and totalitarian mindset which it represented and, to
some, even graphically depicted --
"Le Romain du Roi, tre`s beau, mais un peu froid, car
construit d'une manie`re dogmatique, traduit parfaitement
l'esprit classique, ennemi du de'sordre et de la
folie..." p.88
["une parfaite construction des lettres", like the King
said...]
"Le Romain de Roi est en usage jusqu'en 1816..." p.83
-- to the eventual revival of the technique, if not of the
mindset, as at least one of the outstanding aesthetic and
cultural monuments of the civilization which produced it --
"On doit le re'surrection du Romain du Roi a` Arthur
Christian, directeur de l'Imprimerie nationale de 1895 a`
1906. Ancien pre'fet, il se passionna tre`s vite pour son
nouveau travail et devint me^me un bibliophile et un
ardent de'fenseur de la typographie..." p.83
"Quand Georges Bonnin prend la direction de l'Imprimerie
nationale en 1971, il a pour mission de pre'server et de
faire vivre le patrimoine typographique de l'Imprimerie
nationale. Pour cela il lance la collection <<Les lettres
franc,aises>> ou` pour chaque ouvrage il est de'cide'
d'employer le caracte`re correspondant a` son e'poque..." p.85
"Pour chaque ouvrage il est de'cide' d'employer le caracte`re
correspondant a` son e'poque"...
Typography -- and communications generally -- as technique, as
history, and as Official Policy... of sadly increasing interest
to all of us in these "Internet - centralization" and "filtering"
and "communications secrecy" times...
The catalog is immensely readable: wonderful just to hold and to
look at -- but then also easily read, in short articles which
flow smoothly together. For anyone with any interest at all in
the role of printing, and of type fonts, in the history of
general culture -- and for anyone at all sceptical about same --
the catalog offers a congenial and fascinating introduction to
the entire general subject.
Most interesting of all, to me personally -- in addition to the
well - written short articles, and the beautiful illustrations
among which the full proofsheet of the original font --
E'PREUVE
DES CARACTE'RES
DE
L'IMPRIMERIE ROYALE,
Grave's par M.rs GRANDJEAN,
ALEXANDRE & LUCE
========
MDCCLX
========
-- are the six pages, in the catalog at pp. 42-47, which display
the matrices actually used in the design of the characters,
complete with compass lines and extensions --
"Ludovicus Simonneau fecit 1695"
-- here, pace Edward Tufte, at one stroke a student can see how
font design is done, graphically and easily and completely, and
in a way which engages students' attention and tempts them
irresistibly to try it themselves --
"Le dessin de chaque lettre, construit avec re`gles et
compas, est e'tabli sur une grille carre'e de 70 mm de
co^te'. C'est ce dessin qui, apre`s re'duction, permettra
de graver le poinc,on typographique. Chaque co^te' de
cette grille carre'e est divise' en 7 carre's, eux -
me^mes subdivise's en 6 carre's..." p.91
Anyway, if anyone is interested -- I hope people will be, as it
is a beautiful book -- the catalog may be seen at,
http://www.bm-lyon.fr/musee/Actualites/cadexp.htm
where a very good online presentation of the exhibition may be
found as well. I am told that catalog copies are available for
sale at 20 euros each, "port compris".
Catalog Contents:
* Avant - propos -- by Andre' Jammes
* Les me'dailles de Louis XIV -- by Arnaud d'Hauterives
* Du de'tail en tout -- by Sylvie de Turckheim - Pey
* Les caracte`res de l'imprimerie royale -- by James Mosley
* L'e'chelle arithme'tique des corps -- by Jacques Andre'
* Le Romain du Roi du XVIIIe sie`cle a` nos jours -- by
Paul - Marie Grinevald
* Quelques propos sur le Grandjean -- by Christian Paput
* L'edition de 1702 des Me'dailles sur les principaux
e've'nements du re`gne de Louis le Grand -- by Paul -
Marie Grinevald
* Epreuve des caracte`res de l'Imprimerie royale (1760)
And if anyone is in the Lyon area, or can get there within the
next couple of weeks, the exhibition is on now and does not close
until February 2... and Lyon has all that cuisine, and chocolate,
and the Parc de la Te^te d'Or, and other attractions as well...
Happy New Year.
--oOo--
FYI France (sm)(tm) e-journal ISSN 1071 - 5916
*
| FYI France (sm)(tm) is a monthly electronic
| journal published since 1992 as a small-scale,
| personal experiment, in the creation of large-
| scale "information overload", by Jack Kessler.
/ \ Any material written by me which appears in
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--hjlm--
