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

FONT RECOGNITION VIA FONT MOOSE

LUC DEVROYE

ABOUT

Jules Didot

Fourth generation Didot dynasty member in Paris, 1794-1871. Son of Pierre Didot. Jules Didot is famous for his invention of round-edged initials, to take the place of the sharp-edged ones. In 1817, he took over his father's foundry and ran it until 1825. In 1824, he published two identical books, Livre pour un petit garçon bien sage and Livre pour une petite fille bien sage (both printed by Nepveu, Paris), to help children read. In 1825 he took his printing plant to Brussels and founded the Royal Printing House there. Relevant here is the publication Specimen des caractères de la fonderie normale à Bruxelles, provenant de la fonderie de Jules Didot et de son père Pierre Didot (Haarlem: Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, 1914).

After a few years in Brussels, he returned to Paris and published many books and engraved several typefaces, which were shown in Spécimen de la nouvelle fonderie de Jules Didot l'ainé (1842, imp. Bethune et Plon, Paris).

Jules Didot had a neurological disease that forced him tto spend the latter part of his life in a psychiatric hospital.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Jules Didot
MyFonts search
Monotype search
Fontspring search
Google search

INTERNAL LINKS
Modern style [Bodoni, Didot, Walbaum, Thorowgood, Computer Modern, etc.] ⦿ Type design in France ⦿ The Belgian type scene ⦿ Books on type design ⦿