Presented By: University Library
Brothers and Uncles, Kings and Typecutters
Five generations of Estienne printing in Michigan Collections (1512-1625)
Explore the evolution of the printed page through the prism of one remarkable family of scholar-printers.
Printing changed the speed and scale at which information circulated. Over a century, scholarly printers competed to produce carefully edited editions. As they produced more and more, they developed methods, such as page-layout and indices, to make their books easy to read, and they created dictionaries and reference books so a reader could get more from their books.
The Estienne family of printers are among the most renowned and long-lasting printing houses of the era. Family links and investment in scholarly training helped them to sustain a business in the print trade for six generations in France and Switzerland.
The Special Collections Research Center holds nearly 80 imprints dating from the first years of the sixteenth century into the reign of Louis XIV. View nineteen examples chosen to show the breadth of the Michigan Estienne collection in an era of amazing change.
Image: Detail from "Polemōnos, Himeriou, kai allōn tinōn meletai," by Henri Estienne, Paris 1567. The Olive tree device is the best-known emblem of the Estienne house, surviving in over a dozen forms. First used by Robert I in 1526, it refers to a passage in Romans 11 that praises humility in the face of divine will.
Printing changed the speed and scale at which information circulated. Over a century, scholarly printers competed to produce carefully edited editions. As they produced more and more, they developed methods, such as page-layout and indices, to make their books easy to read, and they created dictionaries and reference books so a reader could get more from their books.
The Estienne family of printers are among the most renowned and long-lasting printing houses of the era. Family links and investment in scholarly training helped them to sustain a business in the print trade for six generations in France and Switzerland.
The Special Collections Research Center holds nearly 80 imprints dating from the first years of the sixteenth century into the reign of Louis XIV. View nineteen examples chosen to show the breadth of the Michigan Estienne collection in an era of amazing change.
Image: Detail from "Polemōnos, Himeriou, kai allōn tinōn meletai," by Henri Estienne, Paris 1567. The Olive tree device is the best-known emblem of the Estienne house, surviving in over a dozen forms. First used by Robert I in 1526, it refers to a passage in Romans 11 that praises humility in the face of divine will.
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