Champ Fleury.

Geoffrey Tory

Champ Fleury.

Paris

Printed for the author and G. de Gourmont

1529

Folio

Tory was instrumental in solidifying the use of roman types to replace the more commonly used blackletter in France. He also initiated reforms to French orthography (as Caxton would do for English), pioneered the modern form of the title page, and designed beautiful initial letters and decorations for other printers, including Estienne. He pushed for the use of roman types, in place of the batârde and textura fonts then prevalent in French typography.

Ruth Mortimer, in her comprehensive catalogue of French sixteenth century books in the Hofer Collection at Harvard, asserts that Champ Fleury is “the most famous single work in the early history of French typography.”