Editions firmin didot typeface

French printer, engraver, and type founder

Firmin Didot (French:[fiʁmɛ̃dido]; 14 April 1764 – 24 April 1836) was a French printer, engraver, and type founder.

Early life

Firmin Didot was born in Paris into a family of printers founded by François Didot, the father of 11 children.

Firmin was one of his grandchildren.

editions firmin didot typeface4

The family's paper manufactory was located at Essonnes, a town c. 30 km southeast of Paris near Corbeil, which had notable paper factories.

Work

Didot invented the word "stereotype", which in printing refers to the metal printing plate created for the actual printing of pages (as opposed to printing pages directly with movable type), and used the process extensively, revolutionizing the book trade by his cheap editions.

His manufactory was a place of pilgrimage for the printers of the world.

He first used the process in his edition of Callet’s Tables of Logarithms (1795), in which he secured an accuracy till The Didot family, typefounders; the work in typographical ... RYG