Firmin Didot

The Romanticist typographer Fermin Didot was part of the third generation of a respected typographical family; his father had invented the 'point' system still used to measure type, and his brother and cousin were also important typographers and printers. The modern 'Didot' font that he designed is only part of the massive influence that he exercised over modern typography, exploring extreme variations in stroke-width and in vertical/horizontal orientation of the form. Fermin pioneered the use of moveable type to mimic the human hand in calligraphic writing; this was often extended beyond letter-forms to create abstract ornaments of loops and arabesques.

  

Firmin Didot's anagram, showing his characteristic calligraphic stroke.

 

These ornaments, in addition to the combination of multiple typefaces in title material, including exaggerated and visually insistent fonts, became staples of Romanticist book design and were particularly important elements of the Romanticist keepsake anthologies published by Janet, who often worked closely with Didot, most notably the Annales Romantiques anthologies.

 

 

Didot also invented stereotypography, a process that revolutionised the printing industry by exponentially cutting the labour and expense necessary to reprint additional runs of a single edition.