Christoffel Van Dijck
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Christoffel van Dijck (c. 1600-5,
Dexheim Dexheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Dexheim lies between Mainz and Worm ...
– November 1669,
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
) was a German-born Dutch
punchcutter Punchcutting is a craft used in traditional typography to cut letter punches in steel as the first stage of making metal type. Steel punches in the shape of the letter would be used to stamp matrices into copper, which were locked into a mould sh ...
and
typefounder A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monot ...
, who cut punches and operated a foundry for casting
metal type In physical typesetting, a sort or type is a block with a typographic character etched on it, used—when lined up with others—to print text. In movable-type printing, the sort or type is cast from a matrix mold and assembled by hand wit ...
. Van Dijck's type was widely used at a time when Amsterdam had become a major centre of world printing.


Life

Van Dijck was born in Dexheim, now in Germany, to a
Dutch Protestant The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...
family. His father Gilbert Breberenus van den Dijck and half-brother Johannes were Calvinist ministers. Gilbert had come to Dexheim from Breberen (in the
United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg The United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire between 1521 and 1614, formed from the personal union of the duchies of Jülich, Cleves and Berg. The name was resurrected after the Congress of Vienna for ...
). Christoffel was trained as a
goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...
. By 1640 he moved to Amsterdam as a
journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...
. On 11 October 1642 he applied to marry Swaentje Harmens (c. 1600/1601 – 1668) from
Nordhorn Nordhorn (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'', or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn,'' and Dutch: ''Noordhoorn'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim, located in the southwest corner of the state, near th ...
, the widow of former minister Jan de Praet. Van Dijck then changed career to become a specialist in cutting steel punches, the masters used to stamp
matrices Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to: Science and mathematics * Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions * Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form * Matrix (biology), the ...
, the moulds used to cast a letterform in
metal type In physical typesetting, a sort or type is a block with a typographic character etched on it, used—when lined up with others—to print text. In movable-type printing, the sort or type is cast from a matrix mold and assembled by hand wit ...
. How he began this career change is not documented;
John A. Lane John A. Lane (b. 1955) is an American writer and historian of printing living in the Netherlands. Lane received the 2003 Fellowship of the American Printing History Association and is particularly known for his writing on Dutch printing history an ...
, a historian of printing in the Netherlands and expert on van Dijck's career, speculates that he may have begun by cutting types for other typefounders. In 1647 he rented a house on the
Bloemgracht The Bloemgracht () is a canal in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It connects the Prinsengracht with the Lijnbaansgracht and runs between and parallel to Nieuwe Leliestraat and Bloemstraat in the Amsterdam-Centrum district. Th ...
in which he set up a
type foundry A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Before digital typography, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces for hand typesetting, and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and ...
. This was close to the printing office of his client
Joan Blaeu Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673), also called Johannes Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer and the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu is most notable for his map published in 1648, which was the fir ...
. By the end of his career his foundry was based on Elandsstraat. He died in November 1669 and was buried in the nearby
Westerkerk The Westerkerk (; ) is a Calvinism, Reformed church within Protestant Church in the Netherlands, Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel (Amsterdam), Grachtengordel nei ...
. His near contemporary
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
had been buried there the previous month.


Career

Van Dijck became the most prominent type-founder of his time in the Netherlands, cutting type in
roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
, italic,
blackletter Blackletter (sometimes black letter or black-letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule or Gothic type, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for ...
,
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 around the ...
, music type, and probably printers' flowers. In or shortly before 1655 he drew out lettering for rooms in the
Royal Palace of Amsterdam The Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam (Dutch: ''Koninklijk Paleis van Amsterdam'' or ) is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. It is situated on the west side of Dam Square ...
, then the city hall. From a surviving 1681 specimen, Stan Knight comments that in his type "the capitals are generally quite wide, and many of them...have a strong thick/thin contrast. The lowercase has comparatively short ascenders, resulting in a large
x-height upright 2.0, alt=A diagram showing the line terms used in typography In typography, the x-height, or corpus size, is the distance between the baseline and the mean line of lowercase letters in a typeface. Typically, this is the height of the le ...
." Max Caflisch felt that a distinguishing feature of van Dijck's types were that "the contrast between the hair lines and the main strokes is more pronounced...the capital letters are more powerful...the typeface in general appears to have been cut more sharply". The polymath
Joseph Moxon Joseph Moxon (8 August 1627 – February 1691), hydrographer to Charles II of England, Charles II, was an England, English printer specialising in mathematical books and maps, a maker of globes and mathematical instruments, and mathematical l ...
, who knew him, praised the Dutch types of the period for "commodious fatness they have beyond other letters which easing the eyes in reading, renders them more legible" and van Dijck's in particular for the "harmony and decorum of their symmetry" and the "good reason for his order and method." His types included swash capitals and terminal forms, although smaller numbers than were common in
Robert Granjon Robert Granjon (Paris, c. 1513 - Rome, 1590) was a French punchcutter, a designer and creator of metal type, and printer. He worked in Paris, Lyon, Antwerp, and Rome. He is best known for having introduced the typeface style Civilité, for his ...
's italics. Van Dijck worked in a style later described by
Pierre Simon Fournier Pierre-Simon Fournier (; 15 September 1712 – 8 October 1768) was a French mid-18th century punch-cutter, typefounder and typographic theoretician. He was both a collector and originator of types. Fournier's contributions to printing were his c ...
as the ''goût Hollandois'' or
Dutch taste In typography, a serif () is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface ( ...
, which favoured darker type on the page and stronger contrast than earlier types in the
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 to this day and often used for book printing and bod ...
style from the French renaissance. He was likely influenced in this by the earlier Amsterdam punchcutter Nicolaes Briot. His blackletter types are ornate, with many teardrop terminals, especially on the capitals, apparently again following the lead of types cut by Briot. Van Dijck worked extensively on making type in the
Armenian alphabet The Armenian alphabet (, or , ) or, more broadly, the Armenian script, is an alphabetic writing system developed for Armenian and occasionally used to write other languages. It is one of the three historical alphabets of the South Caucasu ...
for
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 around the ...
printers in Amsterdam. On 27 November 1658 he contracted with the Armenian Matteos Tsaretsi (Matheos van Tsar in Dutch) to make punches and matrices to print an Armenian bible, and continued to work on Armenian types for the rest of his life. Understanding of van Dijck's career has been limited by a lack of knowledge of what types he cut: as was common for pre-nineteenth century printing materials a large proportion of his punches and matrices were lost due to changing artistic tastes in favour of "modern face" typefaces, being destroyed from around 1808 by Enschedé at a time when it was also in financial difficulties, although some survive at Enschedé, and others in the collection of
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. An impressive but jumbled specimen was issued by the widow of Daniel Elzevir in 1681 offering what had been his foundry for sale, of which a single copy survives in the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp. Fragments of an earlier specimen are also extant at
Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...
. A specimen issued by van Dijck in 1668/1669 was found to exist in the National Archives in London by historian
Justin Howes Justin Howes (1963–2005) was a British historian of printing and lettering. Howes was a curator of the Type Museum of London and wrote on the work of Edward Johnston and William Caslon; his book ''Johnston's Underground Type'' on the Johnston ...
; according to Lane as of 2013 it had yet to be published. Besides van Dijck's own types, his foundry sold many older types. For example, by the year after his death Abraham van Dijck owned matrices for a Greek type cut by
Robert Granjon Robert Granjon (Paris, c. 1513 - Rome, 1590) was a French punchcutter, a designer and creator of metal type, and printer. He worked in Paris, Lyon, Antwerp, and Rome. He is best known for having introduced the typeface style Civilité, for his ...
. Marshall bought matrices for this type which survive at Oxford University Press, probably from Abraham van Dijck, or possibly another source in the Netherlands; if they did come from van Dijck his foundry was apparently able to source a second set of matrices since the type is advertised on the 1681 specimen. Besides this, on the 1681 specimen a number of other types are also known to be by Granjon,
Claude Garamond Claude Garamont (–1561), known commonly as Claude Garamond, was a French type designer, publisher and punch-cutter based in Paris. Garamond worked as an engraver of punches, the masters used to stamp matrices, the moulds used to cast metal ty ...
,
Hendrik van den Keere Hendrik van den Keere (c. 1540/2 – 1580) was a punchcutting, punchcutter, or cutter of punches to make metal type, who lived in Ghent in modern Belgium. Career Van den Keere was the son of Ghent printer and schoolmaster Hendrik van den Keer ...
and possibly
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 ...
. According to Marshall Amsterdam typefounders were able to buy earlier types from
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
. Van Dijck apparently had a strong reputation in his lifetime and beyond, aided by the connection between Protestant Britain and the Dutch Republic. Marshall considered him a "famous artist". Moxon, who spent time in the Netherlands as a child and later met van Dijck on returning as an adult, wrote soon after his death that "Holland letters in general are in most esteem, and particularly those that have been cut by the hand of that curious artist Christofel van Dijck, and some very few others...when the Stadthouse at Amsterdam was finishing, such was the curiosity of the Lords that were the Overseers of the building, that they offered C. van Dijck aforesaid 80 Pounds Sterling (as himself told me) only for drawing in paper the names of the several offices that were to be painted over the doors, for the painter to paint by" and also praised them extensively in his ''Mechanick Exercises'' of 1683. Many, although not all, of his types are also identified in the Enschedé type foundry specimen dated 1768, specifically his smaller types and blackletters from the middle of the book. Several digital fonts based on van Dijck's work have been published, including DTL Elzevir (1992) from
Dutch Type Library Dutch Type Library is a digital font foundry based in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, established in 1990 by Frank E. Blokland. DTL designs digital fonts and develops font software. Alongside original designs such as the Documenta and Caspari fami ...
, based on his Augustijn (12pt size) type, and Custodia (2002–06) by
Fred Smeijers Fred Smeijers (Eindhoven, 1961) is a Dutch type designer, researcher and writer. He was educated at the ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Arnhem in the early 1980s. Smeijers is the creative director and co-founder of the typeface design and ...
.


Legacy

On van Dijck's death, his foundry was taken over by his son Abraham (1645–1672), who was also a punchcutter. Abraham van Dijck sold matrices to Thomas Marshall, who was acting on behalf of Bishop John Fell in
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
to create a collection of printing materials for
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. Many of these survive, as does their correspondence. Marshall wrote to Fell in April 1670 that "this last winter had sent van Dijck and artholomeusVoskens, the two best artists in this country, to their graves." Abraham van Dijck suffered from poor health, and his steadily declining condition forms a large part of Marshall's correspondence. He finally died in February 1672. The following April the foundry was auctioned, and bought by Daniel Elsevier of the Elzevir family of printers. In 1680 Daniel Elsevier died. His widow felt unable to run the foundry and placed it up for sale, leading to the printing of the well-known 1681 specimen; she herself died shortly afterwards and before the auction could take place. Following her death it was bought by
Joseph Athias Joseph Athias (c. 1635 – 12 May 1700) was a merchant, bookprinter and the publisher of a famous Hebrew Bible which was approved by States General of the Netherlands, States-General of the Dutch Republic and both Jewish and Christian theologian ...
, the printer of books in Hebrew who cooperated with the widow of
Jan Jacobsz. Schipper Jan Jacobsz. Schipper (1616-1669) was a bookseller, printer, and theatre poet in Amsterdam. Personal life Schipper was born to Jacob Claesz. and Neeltje Leyen in Amsterdam. The surname Schipper is in fact a pseudonym derived from his father’s ...
printing English bibles. Around 1707 his son Manuel Athias sold his part in the foundry to the heir Cornelia Schipper.Familiearchief Cambier. In: Nationaal Archief
/ref> In 1755 the family closed the business at
Nieuwe Herengracht The Nieuwe Herengracht () is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the P ...
; the foundry was bought by Jan Roman the younger (1709–1770), bookseller in the
Kalverstraat The Kalverstraat (, ) is a busy shopping street of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. The street runs roughly North-South for about 750 meters, from Dam Square to Muntplein square. The Kalverstraat is the most expensive shopping stree ...
. In 1767 the foundry was auctioned again, and materials bought by both the Enschedé foundry in
Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...
and the Ploos van Amstel brothers in Amsterdam, the latter bought by Enschedé in 1799. The
standing type In typesetting, a forme (or form) is imposed by a ''stoneman'' working on a flat ''imposition stone'' when they assemble the loose components of a page (or number of simultaneously printed pages) into a locked arrangement, inside a chase, ready fo ...
used to print the 1681 specimen continued to be used by the successors to van Dijck's foundry to print specimens, including the 1768 Enschedé specimen.


Notes


References


Cited literature

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dijck, Christoffel van Dutch typographers and type designers German emigrants to the Dutch Republic 1600s births 1669 deaths People from Mainz-Bingen People from Amsterdam