The Elzevirian revival: reclaiming Renaissance excellence in nineteenth-century French typography

19th-century French printers and publishers turned to Renaissance-inspired types, sparking a revival led by Louis Perrin’s "Augustaux" and Pierre Jannet's “Bibliothèque Elzévirienne”.

In reaction to the systematic use of Didot types and the invasion of cheap typography in popular publishing and advertising, printers, founders and publishers are seeking to reconnect with types of excellence, for which the French and Dutch Renaissance had in their eyes established the model. In Lyon, around 1845, the printer Louis Perrin, inspired by Roman inscriptions discovered in archaeological excavations, had the Francisque Rey fils foundry cut an alphabet of capitals in several sizes under the name of “Augustaux”. Then, he began research in the archives and stocks of founders and printers to complete it with lower case, which led to the publication of the first “Elzévirian types” around 1854. This initiative formed the beginning of a “revival” which marked French typography in the second half of the 19th century. As Perrin himself indicates:

“…while waiting until the 19th century can boast of having a taste of its own, I think that we must return to the taste of the 16th century, whose masterpieces do not seem to me to have been surpassed.”

In Paris, publishers are interested in small format books (in-12) published by the Elzevier family in the 17th century, and the characters that compose them. For the needs of the “ Bibliothèque Elzévirienne” which he founded for this purpose in 1853, the bookseller Pierre Jannet himself drew ancient Roman types in 1856. Théophile Beaudoire, in charge of the Fonderie Générale, also offered a Roman called “Elzévir”, in 1858. These creations, all quite similar, constitute the models for numerous interpretations until the beginning of the 20th century. A return to the sources which nevertheless fades the name of Garamont for decades from the typographic scene, the Elzévirian types having much more kinship with their Dutch predecessors than with those of Robert Estienne .

Documents : Lyon Printing Museum, École Estienne Library