Henri Estienne and the Quincuplex Psalterium, first book of French Protestantism? 1513

Henri Estienne (1482–1520) was disinherited by his father “for taking up printing”. In 1502, he set up as a printer and bookseller in Paris. He practiced the trade for seventeen years, publishing over one hundred and twenty works. Very close to the circle of reforming intellectuals around the theologian Lefèvre d’Étaples, or “cénacle“ of Meaux, he published several works of biblical commentary that were implicit critiques of the Sorbonne theologians. Lefèvre’s intention was to draw on the ancient sources of the Scriptures and propose expurgated versions translated into French. Henri Estienne supported him in this endeavor, putting all the resources of his printing house at his disposal. The Quincuplex Psalterium; gallicum, romanum, hebraicum, vêtus, conciliatum, published in 1509 and amended in 1513, is a typographical masterpiece that sheds light on the complex presentation of the different versions of the Psalms that Lefèvre decided to compare and discuss, highlighting the versions that seemed most relevant to him. To transcribe the texts, Estienne employs a solid humanistic Roman typeface in various sizes, perhaps due to Simon de Colines; he also uses legible Hebrew and Greek. At the La France Protestante exhibition at the Bibliothèque nationale in 1936, the Quincuplex was designated “Premier livre du protestantisme français” (First book of French Protestantism). It laid the foundations for a scholarly analysis and criticism of canonical texts, but Lefèvre d’Étaples remained faithful to Catholicism, while Henri is not known to have embraced the Reformation. His son Robert Estienne, who took over the printing business and occupied an unrivaled position in 16th-century French typography, had to leave France to take refuge in Geneva because he had rallied to Calvinism.