The Romain du Roi, or king Louis XIV’s letter (1695–1715)

In 1693, under the aegis of Colbert’s newly-created Académie des Sciences, the Jaugeon commission began a nomenclature of arts and crafts, starting with printing and type design, “the art that contains all the others” in its own words. This vast study was intended to satisfy Louis XIV’s desire for a style specific to his reign, and for royal typefaces, like Francis I (according to historians of the time). The members of the commission consulted the finest works, the most authoritative theoretical manuals, as well as numerous collections and proofs of type, listing the best that had been done since the origins of printing. The aim was to determine how the most famous typefaces were “built”. In this respect, Garamond is obviously the focus of much attention. However, the aim is not to reproduce it or even interpret it, but to “scientifically” perfect it and propose another style of lettering, just as harmonious, but more rigorous. The commission drew up numerous lettering models, reproduced on copperplates, from which the punchcutters at the Imprimerie Royale, first and foremost Philippe Grandjean, created a typeface that has since been known as the “Romain du Roi”. Its vertical axis and distinctly geometrical construction, with its never-before-accentuated contrasts between solids and strokes, set this typeface apart from all its predecessors. Maximilien Vox referred to it as the ancestor of a new family: the “réales”. First used in the Mémoires des principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand, it was reserved for use by the Imprimerie Royale, but its designers proposed it as an example of a new typeface designed to restore French hegemony in the face of Dutch production in particular.

The commission began by measuring the most famous old typefaces and determining the existing proportions between the different letter sizes. A table was drawn up: “État et proportions des différents corps pour les nouveaux caractères de l’Imprimerie royale” (State and proportions of the various typefaces for the new typefaces of the Royal Printing House). Grandjean’s first specimens are numbered according to a system very close to the typographic point.

These are the earliest and only plates Grandjean used for his first series of “Romains du roi”, engraved between 1694 and 1699.

Plates published by the Imprimerie nationale in 1899, reprinted by André Jammes in La réforme de la typographie royale sous Louis XIV. Le Grandjean, Paris, Librairie Paul Jammes, 1965, reprinted by Promodis, 1985.

Note the “leaning running letter”, which breaks with Garaldes italic types.

Plates featuring grids subdivided into “2,304 small squares for the Roman capitals (…) Do we need so many squares to form an O that is round, and so many rounds to form other letters that are square?” according to Fournier-le-jeune. The latter had a critical view of the King’s Roman. These models were intended to teach the printing world about royal typography, and perhaps also to serve as patterns for large-scale compositions in public spaces, such as during the “royal entries” to the cities Louis XIV visited.

Medals on the main events of the reign of Louis the Great. (Médailles sur les principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand.

First work printed with the Romain du Roi by the Imprimerie Royale, in 1702.

“Several medals were specially engraved and struck by Varin and the Mint’s finest artists. Coypel, Sébastien Le Clerc, Edelinck and Rigaud collaborated on the design of the medals, the frontispiece and the culs-de-lampe. Bérain designed the frames and several vignettes. The texts were written by Boileau, Racine, Charpentier and Tallemant.” André Jammes, La réforme de la typographie royale sous Louis XIV. Le Grandjean, Paris, 1965.

Grandjean engraved most of the series of twenty-one typefaces, including most of the reading types. The engraving of some complementary typefaces and a few very large typefaces was continued by his pupil Jean Alexandre. From 1729, Alexandre’s son-in-law Louis Luce created the smallest typeface, the perle. The work was not completed until 1745, and the Epreuve was printed in 1760.

The Imprimerie Royale published an important specimen in 1819, designed to erase the Napoleonic period and the Didot influence. Reminiscent of the “old typography”, Grandjean’s typefaces featured prominently, symbols of the Restoration of Royalty.

Documents: Imprimerie Nationale and Bibliothèque de l’école Estienne.