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Firmin Didot

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Name
  
Firmin Didot

Parents
  
Francois-Ambroise Didot

Grandparents
  
Francois Didot


Firmin Didot Firmin Didot

Children
  
Ambroise Firmin Didot, Hyacinthe Firmin Didot

Died
  
24 April 1836 (aged 72) Mesnil-sur-l'Estrée

Born
  
14 April 1764 Paris

Occupation
  
Translator, politician, printer

Children
  
Ambroise Firmin Didot

Family
  
Pierre Didot

Awards
  
Knight of the Legion of Honour

Position held
  
deputy (1827–1830), deputy (1830–1831), deputy (1831–1834), deputy (1834–1836)

Similar
  
Giambattista Bodoni, John Baskerville, Didot family

Firmin didot bio


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

Contents

Firmín Didot


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. 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

Firmin Didot lucdevroyeorgFirminDidotSmalljpg

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.

Firmin Didot The Romantic Printer Notes For Bibliophiles

He first used the process in his edition of Callet’s Tables of Logarithms (1795), in which he secured an accuracy till then unattainable. He published stereotyped editions of French, English and Italian classics at a very low price. Didot was appointed by Napoleon as the director of the Imprimerie Impériale typefoundry.

He was also the author of two tragedies — La Reine de Portugal and La Mort d’Annibal — and he wrote metrical translations from Virgil, Tyrtaeus and Theocritus.

Legacy

France is indebted to the Didot family for the publication of the Biographie Nationale, and Belgium is also indebted for the establishment of her Royal Press. Relatives of Firmin Didot include François Ambroise Didot (1730–1804); Pierre François Didot (1732–95); Henri Didot (1765–1862); and Pierre Didot (1760–1853).

Essai sur la Typographie by a member of the Didot family was published at Paris in 1852.

Along with Giambattista Bodoni of Italy, Firmin Didot is credited with establishing the use of the Didone or "Modern" style of serif typefaces. The types that Didot used are characterized by extreme contrast in thick strokes and thin strokes, by the use of hairline serifs and by the vertical stress of the letters. Many fonts today are available based on Firmin Didot's typefaces, and are often called Didot as a result.

References

Firmin Didot Wikipedia