Elzevier and Dutch typography in the 17th century

The ascendancy of Dutch typography in the 17th century was linked to an unprecedented economic boom and a singular openness to the world, as the Dutch made their mark on the seas, while their printed products spread throughout Europe. One family of printers in particular, the Elzevirs, based in Leyden, dominated the century through the quality and diversity of their output.

At the end of the 16th century, Leiden in the Netherlands became a Protestant center with a powerful university, enriched by French emigration during the Wars of Religion. Great humanists such as Juste Lipse and Joseph Scaliger taught there, followed by Claude Saumaise and Daniel Heinsius. Typographical offices and booksellers’ stores flourished. Louis Elzevier, who had lived in the town since 1580, founded one of the most famous dynasties in the printing world. His grandson, Isaac, became University printer in 1621. Isaac’s sons, Abraham and Bonaventure Elzevier, developed the company from 1626 to 1652, benefiting from the technical advances that had been made in printing in the Netherlands: higher-quality inks, mastery of platen pressure on the form, engraving in very small type sizes.They produced small-format editions, in-12 or even in-24, that were nonetheless highly legible. This is the case for the works of Sulpice Severus, Roman historian and ecclesiastic, for which they published a collection, considered to be the finest edition ever produced of this author. The roman used for the running text is a Garamond, probably acquired in Frankfurt from Egenolff, whose smaller bodies are perhaps due to Christoffel van Dijck.

Christoffel Van Dijck (1605-1670 c.) was Elzevir’s main supplier of typefaces. Van Dyck’s designs, along with those of his colleagues Bartholomeaeus and Dirk Voskens, became known as “Dutch types”. This was not because they were breaking with the now secular garalde form, but because the improvements these punchcutters made to the Garamond style, and the variety they offered, were a model of excellence. In 1675, the Oxford University Printing House purchased a set of Dutch typefaces from various foundrymen, first and foremost Van Dijck. Compared to Garamond, Van Dijck’s types tend to be more refined, with softer strokes, sharper contrasts and lighter, clearly triangular serifs. The axis of the letter is straightened, making it appear almost straight. The typeface, more geometric, benefits from generous counter-forms and moves away from calligraphic sources. To facilitate reading in small typefaces - a specialty of the Elzevir family, who achieved great feats in small-format books - the lower case is relatively narrow and compact, enabling a greater volume of text to be composed on the page, without loss of legibility. The “Dutch types” still drew heavily on Garamond, but heralded the change that would take place in the following century with the appearance of a new family of typefaces, the “réales”, which would distinguish themselves from their Aldine ancestry.

Document: Sulpitii Severi, Opera omnia quæ extant, Ex optimis editionibus accuratè recognita, Lugduni Batavorum (Leiden), Ex officina Elzeviriana (Elzevier, Bonaventura & Elzevier, Abraham), 1635, 342 p., in 12. Bibliothèque de l’école Estienne.