Firmin Didot | |
|---|---|
.png) Portrait of Firmin Didot byCharles Alexandre Debacq, 1823. | |
| Born | 14 April 1764  |
| Died | 24 April 1836 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Translator,politician, printer |
| Children | Ambroise Firmin Didot |
| Relatives | Pierre Didot |
| Awards | |
| Position held | deputy (1827–1830),deputy (1830–1831),deputy (1831–1834),deputy (1834–1836) |
Firmin Didot (French:[fiʁmɛ̃dido]; 14 April 1764 – 24 April 1836) was a French printer,engraver, and type founder.
Firmin Didot was born inParis into a family of printers founded byFrançois Didot, the father of 11 children. Firmin was one of his grandchildren. The family's paper manufactory was located atEssonnes, a town c. 30 km southeast ofParis nearCorbeil, which had notable paper factories.
Didot invented the word "stereotype", which inprinting refers to the metal printing plate created for the actual printing of pages (as opposed to printing pages directly withmovable type), and used the process extensively, revolutionizing the book trade by his cheap editions. His manufactory was a place of pilgrimage for the printers of the world.
He first used the process in his edition ofCallet’sTables of Logarithms (1795), in which he secured an accuracy till then unattainable. He published stereotyped editions of French, English and Italian classics at a very low price.[1] At the 1798Exposition des produits de l'industrie française Pierre and Firmin Didot and Louis Etienne Herhan won an honorable distinction, the highest award, for their "Superb edition of Virgil with characters and ink of their manufacture; a stereotype plate, and an in-12 edition of the works of Virgil and Lafontaine with these characters."[2]
Didot was appointed byNapoleon as the director of theImprimerie Impériale typefoundry.[3]
He was also the author of two tragedies —La Reine de Portugal andLa Mort d’Annibal — and he wrote metrical translations fromVirgil,Tyrtaeus andTheocritus.[1]
France is indebted to the Didot family for the publication of theBiographie Nationale, andBelgium is also indebted for the establishment of her Royal Press. Relatives of Firmin Didot includeFrançois Ambroise Didot (1730–1804);Pierre François Didot (1732–95);Henri Didot (1765–1862); andPierre Didot (1760–1853).
Essai sur la Typographie by a member of the Didot family was published atParis in 1852.
Along withGiambattista Bodoni of Italy, Firmin Didot is credited with establishing the use of theDidone or "Modern" style ofserif typefaces. The types that Didot used are characterized by extreme contrast in thick strokes and thin strokes, by the use of hairline serifs and by the vertical stress of the letters. Many fonts today are available based on Firmin Didot's typefaces, and are often calledDidot as a result.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Didot".New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Didot".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 207.
Media related toFirmin Didot at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |