Culture
Words by Michel Wlassikoff
The Rosart foundry in Brussels, 1768
Rosart, a Belgian punchcutter and typefounder, established his own business in Brussels in 1759 after working with the Enschedé family in Haarlem. His Épreuve des caractères, published in the 1760s, showcases his influential ’réales’ typefaces, caractères de finance, musical typefaces, and initials, highlighting the diversification and persistence of Garamond styles in 18th-century typography.
Rosart, a Belgian punchcutter and typefounder, established his own business in Brussels in 1759 after working with the Enschedé family in Haarlem. His Épreuve des caractères, published in the 1760s, showcases his influential ’réales’ typefaces, caractères de finance, musical typefaces, and initials, highlighting the diversification and persistence of Garamond styles in 18th-century typography.
Jacques François Rosart (1714–1777) was a Belgian engraver and typefounder who first worked with the Enschedé family in Haarlem, now in the Netherlands. His Epreuve des caractères, which went through several editions, each time augmented, in the 1760s, testifies to his influence on European typography. Rosart stopped working with Enschedé to set up his own business in Brussels in 1759. In the preamble to his Epreuve, he makes no secret of his bitterness at not having been credited with the types he had designed earlier in Haarlem, the Enschedés giving full credit for their fonts to the Dutch engraver Joan Michael Fleischman.
Rosart’s typefaces are in the register of “réales”, or to put it better, in the “Dutch taste” as Fournier-le-jeune called them. Note the elegant “Caractère de finance”, a cursive alphabet, also developed by Fournier and then Firmin Didot, demonstrating the diversification of typography in the 18th century. Rosart also offered musical founts and initials for lettering and titling.
Last but not least, we note the permanence of garaldes, which Rosart curiously mentions under the heading “Garmond”, attesting to the “survival of Garamond in the XVIIIe century”, as identified by Jeanne Veyrin-Forrer and André Jammes (see their contribution: “Survivance du Garamond au XVIIIe siècle”, in Caractère Noël 1959).
Document: Epreuve des caractères qui se gravent et fondent dans la nouvelle fonderie de Jacques François Rosart, Brussels, 1768.
Ecole Estienne library.
See also: Rosart, Jacques-François, Épreuves des caractères… de Jacques-François Rosart, Bruxelles, 1768 [facsimile, preface by Fernand Baudin and Netty Hœflake, Amsterdam, 1973].
