Claude Garamond
Encyclopedia
Claude Garamond was a French publisher from Paris
. He was one of the leading type designers of his time, and is credited with the introduction of the apostrophe
, the accent
and the cedilla
to the French language. Several contemporary typeface
s, including those currently known as Garamond
, Granjon
, and Sabon
, reflect his influence. Garamond was an apprentice of Simon de Colines
; later, he was an assistant to Geoffroy Tory
, whose interests in humanist typography and the ancient Greek capital letterforms, or majuscules, may have informed Garamond's later work.
Garamond came to prominence in 1541, when three of his Greek typefaces (e.g. the Grecs du roi
(1541)) were requested for a royally-ordered book series by Robert Estienne
. Garamond based these types on the handwriting of Angelo Vergecio, the King's Librarian at Fontainebleau
, as well as that of his ten-year-old pupil, Henri Estienne. According to Arthur Tilley, the resulting books are "among the most finished specimens of typography that exist." Shortly thereafter, Garamond created the Roman
types for which he would most be remembered, and his influence spread rapidly throughout and beyond France during the 1540s.
Garamond's name was originally rendered as "Garamont", but following the standardization of French spelling, the terminal 'd' became customary and stuck.
In 1621, sixty years after Garamond's death, the French printer Jean Jannon (1580–1635) created a type specimen with very similar attributes, though his letterforms were more asymmetrical, and had a slightly different slope and axis. Jannon's typefaces were lost for more than a century before their rediscovery at the National Printing Office of France in 1825, when they were wrongly attributed to Garamond. It was not until 1927, more than 100 years later, that Jannon's "Garamond" typefaces were correctly credited to him on the basis of scholarly research by Beatrice Warde
. In the early 20th century, Jannon's types were used to produce a history of French printing, which brought new attention to French typography and to the "Garamond" type style. The modern revival of Claude Garamond's typography which ensued was thus inadvertently modeled on Jannon's outstanding work.
s which were combined with Garamond roman type
s, and a brief summary of subsequent revivals through Garamond Premier Pro.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He was one of the leading type designers of his time, and is credited with the introduction of the apostrophe
Apostrophe
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
, the accent
Diacritic
A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the acute and grave are often called accents...
and the cedilla
Cedilla
A cedilla , also known as cedilha or cédille, is a hook added under certain letters as a diacritical mark to modify their pronunciation.-Origin:...
to the French language. Several contemporary typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
s, including those currently known as Garamond
Garamond
Garamond is the name given to a group of old-style serif typefaces named after the punch-cutter Claude Garamond . Most of the Garamond faces are more closely related to the work of a later punch-cutter, Jean Jannon...
, Granjon
Granjon
Granjon is an old style serif typeface designed by George William Jones in the period 1928–1929, and based on the Garamond typeface that was used in a book printed by the Parisian Jean Poupy in 1592. The roman design was from Claude Garamond and the italic version was from Robert Granjon...
, and Sabon
Sabon
Sabon is the name of an old style serif typeface designed by the German-born typographer and designer Jan Tschichold in the period 1964–1967...
, reflect his influence. Garamond was an apprentice of Simon de Colines
Simon de Colines
Simon de Colines , a Parisian printer, one of the first printer type of the French Renaissance. He was active in Paris between 1520 and 1546. Colines used elegant roman and italic types and a Greek type, with accents, that was superior to its predecessors...
; later, he was an assistant to Geoffroy Tory
Geoffroy Tory
Geoffroy Tory, born in Bourges around 1480 and died in Paris before 14 October 1533, was a French humanist and an engraver, best known for adding written letters in French. His life's work has heavily influenced French publishing to this day.-Biography:...
, whose interests in humanist typography and the ancient Greek capital letterforms, or majuscules, may have informed Garamond's later work.
Garamond came to prominence in 1541, when three of his Greek typefaces (e.g. the Grecs du roi
Grecs du roi
Les grecs du roi are a celebrated Greek typeface designed by Claude Garamond in 1541 and containing a very large number of ligatures.The grecs du roi were ordered by Robert Estienne on behalf of King Francis I of France. The design was based on the handwriting of the Cretan copyist Angelo Vergecio...
(1541)) were requested for a royally-ordered book series by Robert Estienne
Robert Estienne
Robert I Estienne , known as Robertus Stephanus in Latin and also referred to as Robert Stephens by 18th and 19th-century English writers, was a 16th century printer and classical scholar in Paris...
. Garamond based these types on the handwriting of Angelo Vergecio, the King's Librarian at Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
, as well as that of his ten-year-old pupil, Henri Estienne. According to Arthur Tilley, the resulting books are "among the most finished specimens of typography that exist." Shortly thereafter, Garamond created the Roman
Roman type
In typography, roman is one of the three main kinds of historical type, alongside blackletter and italic. Roman type was modelled from a European scribal manuscript style of the 1400s, based on the pairing of inscriptional capitals used in ancient Rome with Carolingian minuscules developed in the...
types for which he would most be remembered, and his influence spread rapidly throughout and beyond France during the 1540s.
Garamond's name was originally rendered as "Garamont", but following the standardization of French spelling, the terminal 'd' became customary and stuck.
In 1621, sixty years after Garamond's death, the French printer Jean Jannon (1580–1635) created a type specimen with very similar attributes, though his letterforms were more asymmetrical, and had a slightly different slope and axis. Jannon's typefaces were lost for more than a century before their rediscovery at the National Printing Office of France in 1825, when they were wrongly attributed to Garamond. It was not until 1927, more than 100 years later, that Jannon's "Garamond" typefaces were correctly credited to him on the basis of scholarly research by Beatrice Warde
Beatrice Warde
Beatrice Warde , was a communicator on typography. She was the only daughter of May Lamberton Becker, a journalist on the staff of the New York Herald Tribune, and Gustave Becker, composer and teacher.Beatrice was educated at Barnard College at Columbia University...
. In the early 20th century, Jannon's types were used to produce a history of French printing, which brought new attention to French typography and to the "Garamond" type style. The modern revival of Claude Garamond's typography which ensued was thus inadvertently modeled on Jannon's outstanding work.
See also
- History of Western typography
- Movable typeMovable typeMovable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document ....
- PrintingPrintingPrinting is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
- Printing PressPrinting pressA printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
- PunchcuttingPunchcuttingIn traditional typography, punchcutting is the craft of cutting letter punches in steel from which matrices were made in copper for type founding in the letterpress era. Cutting punches and casting type was the first step of traditional typesetting. The cutting of letter punches was a highly...
- TypesettingTypesettingTypesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
- TypographyTypographyTypography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
Sources
A survey of Claude Garamond's careerasd and typefaces, of Robert Granjon's italic typeItalic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
s which were combined with Garamond roman type
Roman type
In typography, roman is one of the three main kinds of historical type, alongside blackletter and italic. Roman type was modelled from a European scribal manuscript style of the 1400s, based on the pairing of inscriptional capitals used in ancient Rome with Carolingian minuscules developed in the...
s, and a brief summary of subsequent revivals through Garamond Premier Pro.