TYPE DESIGN INFORMATION PAGE last updated on Mon Apr 15 05:57:47 EDT 2024

FONT RECOGNITION VIA FONT MOOSE

LUC DEVROYE

ABOUT

François-Ambroise Didot

Older son of the Didot printing business founder, François Didot, 1730-1804, Paris. François-Ambroise Didot inherited the work of his father François. Appointed printer to the clergy in 1788. He published "Artois" (Recueil de romans français, 64 volumes), "Dauphin" (a collection of French classics in 32 volumes, edited by order of Louis XVI), and a bible. More importantly, he invented a new printing-press, improved typefounding, and was the first to print on vellum paper. About 1780 François-Ambroise Didot adapted the point syste for sizing typefaces by width, using units of 1/72 of the pre-metric French inch. His "point", later named the didot after him, became the prevailing unit of type measurement throughout continental Europe and its former colonies, including Latin America. In 1973 it was metrically standardized at 0.375 mm for the European Union. Meanwhile, the English-speaking world adopted a "point" based on 1/72 of the smaller English inch.

EXTERNAL LINKS
François-Ambroise Didot
 [Designer info]
MyFonts search
Monotype search
Fontspring search
Google search

INTERNAL LINKS
Modern style [Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum, Thorowgood, Computer Modern, etc.] ⦿ Type design in France ⦿ Type measurements ⦿