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Didot is the name of a family of French printers, punch-cutters, and publishers. It is also the name of the Didot typeface based upon the typefounding work of Firmin Didot (1764–1836).

Contents 1 François Didot 2 François-Ambroise Didot 3 Pierre-François Didot 4 Henri Didot 5 Saint-Léger Didot 6 Edouard Didot 7 Pierre Didot 8 Jules Didot 9 Firmin Didot 10 Ambroise-Firmin Didot 11 Bibliography 12 External Links

Son of Denis Didot, a merchant, was born in Paris, 1689, and died 1757. In 1713 he opened a bookstore called "À la Bible d'or" (which could be translated "The Golden Bible") on the Quai des Grands-Augustins. The celebrated Abbé de Bernis served for a time there as a clerk after leaving the seminary. François Didot was a learned man, and held by his colleagues in such great esteem that he was elected to the dignity of Syndic of the Booksellers' Corporation in 1735. He received his printer's charter from the king in 1754. Among the books he published should be mentioned the "Histoire des voyages" ("History of Voyages/Travels") (20 vols., quarto), the first seventeen volumes of which are attributed to the Abbé Prévost.

Born 1730, died 1804, succeeded his father François, and was appointed printer to the clergy in 1788. Many bibliophiles value the editions known as "D'Artois" (Recueil de romans français, 64 vols.) and "du Dauphin", a collection of French classics in 32 vols., edited by order of Louis XVI. He also published a Bible. He invented a new printing-press, improved type-founding, and was the first to print on vellum paper.

About 1780 he adapted the "point" system for sizing typefaces by width. This he established as 1/72nd of a French inch (i.e. this was before the metric system), which was larger than any of the former Imperial inch of the UK or that of the US, let alone the international inch of 25.4 mm. His unit of the point was later named after him as the didot. It became the prevailing system of type measurement throughout continental Europe, its former colonies, and Latin America. In 1973 it was metrically standardized at 0.375 mm for the European Union. The English-speaking world, on the other hand, established the unit called simply the "point," originally to the same proportion of the smaller inches of the various countries.

Born 1732; died 1795, brother of the preceding, founded the paper factory of Essonne and made improvements in type-founding. The most important of his publications are: "L'Imitation de Jésus-Christ" (folio), "Télémaque" (quarto), "Tableau de L'Empire Ottoman" (folio). One of his daughters married Bernardin de Saint-Pierre.

Born 1765, died 1862, son of Pierre-François, made a name for himself as an engraver, founder, and engine-maker. When he was sixty-six years old, he engraved the microscopic type which was used for the editions of the "Maximes" of La Rochefoucauld and Horace's works. This type was so small that, to cast it, he had to invent a new mould which he called polyamatype (1819), because it founded one hundred letters at a time. He engraved the assignats, the paper money used during the French Revolution.

Born 1767; died 1829, second son of Pierre-François, devoted his attention to papermaking in the famous factory of Essonne, and, after ten years of experiment, invented a machine to make "endless" paper.

Born 1797; died 1825, son of Saint-Léger, made a translation of Johnson's "Lives of the Poets", which was printed by Jules Didot.

Born 1760; died 1853, eldest son of François-Ambroise, obtained a gold medal at the exhibition of 1798, for his edition of Virgil. By order of the Government, his presses were established in the Louvre, where they remained during the Consulate. The celebrated Louvre editions are Virgil, Racine, Horace, and La Fontaine. The board of examiners of the 1806 exhibition pronounced the Racine edition "the most perfect typographical production of all ages". Pierre Didot was also a poet and translated in verse the fourth book of Georgies, the first books of Horace's Odes, and wrote a number of original poems.

Born 1794; died 1871, son of Pierre, is famous for his invention of round-edged initials, to take the place of the sharp-edged ones. In 1825 he took his printing plant to Brussels and founded the Royal Printing House.

Main article: Firmin Didot

Born 1764; died 1836, second son of François-Ambroise was the inventor of stereotypography, which entirely changed the book trade. Firmin was the first to engrave slips of so-called "English" and round hand-writing. Among the works which issued from his press were "Les Ruines de Pompéi", "Le Panthéon égyptien" of Champollion-Figeac, and "Historial du Jongleur", printed in Gothic type, with tail-pieces and vignettes, like the editions of the fifteenth century. In 1827, Firmin Didot gave up business to devote himself to politics and literature. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies and wrote tragedies ("La Reine de Portugal", "La Mort d'Annibal") and essays on literary topics.

Eldest son of Firmin, born 1790, died 1876; followed first a diplomatic career and was for a time attache of the French Embassy at Constantinople. He took advantage of his position to visit the East and Greece, being the first to discover the location of Pergamacum. When his father retired in 1827, he, together with his brother Hyacinthe, took the management of the publishing business. They published "Bibliothèque des auteurs Grecs", "Bibliothèque des auteurs Latins", and "Bibliothèque des auteurs français", an immense collection of two hundred and fifty volumes. Their greatest work was a new edition of the "Thesaurus Graecae Linguae", of Henry Stephens, edited by Jean François Boissonade de Fontarabie, Dindorf, and Hase (9 vols., 1855-59).

• Famille Firmin-Didot (Paris, 1856)
• Edmond Werdet, Étude biographique sur la famille des Didot (Paris, 1864)
• Brunet, Firmin Didot et sa famille (Paris, 1870).

• View digitized titles published by the Didot family in Botanicus.org

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.