Civilité type () is a

typeface A typeface (or font family) is a design of Letter (alphabet), letters, Numerical digit, numbers and other symbols, to be used in printing or for electronic display. Most typefaces include variations in size (e.g., 24 point), weight (e.g., light, ...

introduced in 1557 by the French

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 ...

Robert Granjon. These characters imitate French cursiva letters of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, specifically a formal style of

secretary hand Secretary hand or script is a style of European handwriting developed in the early sixteenth century that remained common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries for writing English, German, Welsh and Gaelic. History Predominating before ...

History

The first book in the new type was ''Dialogue de la vie et de la mort'', a French version of Innocenzo Ringhieri's dialogue, in the dedication of which Granjon explains his purpose in cutting the new design. He calls the typeface "lettres françaises" and suggests that France like other nations should have a type based on the national hand; his model was contemporary handwriting. The popular name for the type came from the titles of two early books in which it was used: Erasmus's ''La Civilité puerile'', Jean Bellère, Antwerp, 1559, and ''La Civile honesteté pour les enfans'', R. Breton, Paris, 1560. "Civilité" meant "good manners" and it was thought an advantage that children should learn to read from a book printed in a type resembling current handwriting. Between 1557 and 1562 Granjon printed some 20 books in this type. Two other Paris printers had typefaces made that were very similar and Granjon himself supplied his version to Guillaume Silvius and to Christophe Plantin at Antwerp. Philippe Danfrie was another early creator of civilité types. They were mostly employed to print books in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In the latter, they were used until the second half of the 19th century to print children's lesson-books teaching civility and manners from which the type got its name. Civilité type did not win great popularity in France although used occasionally at all periods. Another version of civilité was used in one book printed in 1597 by Claude Micard, and two others in two books printed by Jean de Tournes in 1581 and 1598. In the mid 19th century Louis Perrin of Lyons printed J. Soulary's ''Sonnets humouristiques'' in civilité. Granjon's experiment cannot be said to have been a success: one of the grave disadvantages was that many ligatures were required and some letters had more than one variant.

References

* Rémi Jimenes, ''Les Caractères de civilité. Typographie et calligraphie sous l'Ancien Régime'', Gap, Atelier Perrousseaux, 2011. * Harry Carter &

Hendrik Vervliet Hendrik Désiré Louis 'Dis' Vervliet (Antwerp, 31 December 1923 – August 2020) was a Belgium, Belgian librarian and historian of books and printing. Life Vervliet was born into a working-class family and received a doctorate in classical ...

, ''Civilité types'', Oxford, University Press, 1966.

History

References

Further reading