Evangelium Sanctum Domini Nostri Jesu Christi in Arabic 1590 with Arabic types of Robert Grandjon Rome Typographia Medicea

Robert Granjon (1513-November 16, 1589/March 1590) was a French type designer and printer. He worked in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Antwerp, and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for various printers. He is best known for having introduced the typeface Civilité and for his

italic type In typography, italic type is a cursive font based on a stylised form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, italics normally slant slightly to the right. Italics are a way to emphasise key points in a printed ...

form, the design of which in modern days is used in

Garamond Garamond is a group of many serif typefaces, named for sixteenth-century Parisian engraver Claude Garamond, generally spelled as Garamont in his lifetime. Garamond-style typefaces are popular and particularly often used for book printing and bo ...

Italic. He worked in

as a librarian, printer, and engraver of typefaces. He married the daughter of

Bernard Salomon Bernard Salomon, (1506–1561) was a French painter, draftsman and engraver. Little is known of the life of Bernard Salomon (also known as the Little Bernard B. Gallus or Gallo). His family may have been belt-makers in Lyon. He was commissioned ...

. The first book in his typeface, Civilité, was ''Dialogue de la vie et de la mort'' by Ringhieri (1557). The invention made such an impact that King Henry II, on December 26, 1557, gave him an exclusive privilege to use the type for ten years. Granjon's italic had a greater slant angle, slanted roman capitals, and reduced weight and rigor. These qualities and its contrasting thick and thin strokes gave it a dazzling appearance that made it difficult to read. It was nevertheless the main influence for italic type design until the Arrighi model was revived in 1920. In 1578, he moved to Rome, where he worked on types for Oriental characters needed by the Catholic missionaries:

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

(1579),

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

(1580), Cyrillic (1582), and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

(1580-86). He collaborated with Giambattista Raimondi, the scientific director of the ''Stamperia Medicea Orientale'', and Domenico Basa, the technical director of the ''Stamperia Vaticana'', and contributed the earliest printed editions in certain Oriental languages. He also developed several important music founts, including one that became the most widely used music typeface until the middle of the eighteenth century. In Paris and Lyons printed several books of music. Some of the materials used by Granjon are preserved in the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp.

Printed books

* ''Alphabet, ou instruction Chrestienne pour les petis Enfans. Aveq plusieurs prieres, & sentences extraictes de la sainte Escriture, pour l'instructions des enfans'', Lyon, Robert Granjon, 1560. Lyon, Robert Granjon, 1558. The text is entirely printed in a typeface conceived by Granjon and used for the first time in 1558. * ''Alexandreidos Libri decem. Nunc primum in Gallia Gallicisque characteribus editi'', Lyon, Robert Granjon, 1558 by Gautier de Châtillon. This is the first Latin text entirely printed in Civilité. The use of this font for a Latin text was probably planned to make the font more popular.

Typefaces Inspired by Granjon’s Work

Many modern typerfaces are influenced by the designs of Robert Granjon. One of the most commonly known examples is Plantin by

Frank Hinman Pierpont Frank Hinman Pierpont (born 1860, New Haven, Connecticut – died 11 February 1937, England) was an American engineer and typeface designer. He worked primarily in England for the Monotype Corporation of Britain. After training as a mechani ...

. Despite being named after Renaissance printer

Christophe Plantin Christophe Plantin ( nl, Christoffel Plantijn; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp. Life Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city of ...

, it is based on Gros Cicero which is designed by Robert Granjon. ITC Galliard by

Matthew Carter Matthew Carter (born 1 October 1937) is a British type designer.Christophe_Plantin.html" ;"title="y Christophe Plantin">y Christophe Plantin' in typography's golden age was in perfect condition (some muddle aside) long withPlantin's accoun ...

, Allrounder Antiqua by Moritz Kleinsorge, and Romaine by Aad van Dommelen are based on Granjon’s Ascendonica Romaine. Lyon Text by Kai Bernau and Graveur by Juanjo López are also influenced by Granjon’s works. Graveur is not based on one single specimen, but instead a combination of multiple types by Granjon, including Parangonne Romaine and Ascendonica Romaine for its roman characters. The roman characters of MVB Verdigris by Mark van Bronkhorst are based on Granjon’s designs, while its italics are inspired by the works of

Pierre Haultin Pierre Haultin (c. 1510 – 1587) was a French printer, publisher, punchcutter and typefounder. He was the nephew of the famous Parisian women printer Charlotte Guillard. As a punchcutter, he may have been trained by Claude Garamont, who w ...

Garamond Revivals

As mentioned above, the italics of many Garamond revivals are based on Granjon’s designs. Specific examples include Adobe Garamond, Garamond Premier, Sabon, Sabon Next, Granjon, and

EB Garamond EB Garamond is a free and open source implementation of Claude Garamond’s typeface, Garamond, and the matching Italic, Greek and Cyrillic characters designed by Robert Granjon. Its name is shortening of ''Egenolff–Berner Garamond'' which ref ...

Notes

References

* Maurits Sabbe, Marius Audin. ''Die Civilité-Schriften des Robert Granjon in Lyon: und die flämischen Drucker des 16. Jahrhunderts''. Vol. 3 of ''Bibliotheca typographica'', Bibliotheca Typographica, 1929. * Hendrik D. L. Vervliet. ''The Palaeotypography of the French Renaissance''. Leiden: Brill, 2008, p. 321 ff.

External links

Granjon® script family
at www.linotype.com
Romaine typeface
digitization of Granjon’s Ascendonica, designed by Aad van Dommelen in 2020 {{DEFAULTSORT:Granjon, Robert French typographers and type designers 1513 births 1589 deaths French printers