Charles Estienne (1504-1564); Paris 1551-1561

Charles was the third son of Henri I (1460-1520), and a brother of Robert I (1503-59) and François I (1502-50). Well educated like his brothers, he became the Latin teacher of Jean Antoine de Baïf (1532-89) who later became one of the principal poets of the Pleïade movement. Charles travelled across Europe with De Baïf, making important contacts, especially in Germany and Italy. One of the most important of these was Paolo Manuzio (1512-74), son of the famous Aldo Manuzio (1449/50-1515), founder of the Aldine printing dynasty.

De Latinis et Græcis nominibus arborum, fructicum, herbarum, piscium, & auium liber : ex Aristotele, Theophrasto, Dioscoride, Galeno, Aëtio, Paulo Aegineta, Actuario, Nicandro, Athenaeo, Oppiano, Aeliano, Plinio, Hermolao Barbaro, & Iohanne Ruellio : cum Gallica eoru[m] nominum appellatione (Paris, 1554), title page detail showing device 8.

Unlike his brothers, Charles’ principal focus was on scientific works. His work on wine, published by his brother François I, is discussed in the latter’s webpage, but this was not the only work by Charles which Worth collected. The above book, on the naming of trees, fruits, herbs, fish and birds would have fitted in very well into Worth’s extensive collection of books on botany and, more generally, natural history. It is significant in its incorporation of vernacular terms as well as ancient Greek and Latin names.

Lazari Bayfii annotationes in L. II. De captivis, et postliminio reversis. In quibus tractatur de re navali. Eiusdem annotationes in tractatum De auro & arge[n]to leg. quibus, Vestimentoru[m], & Vasculorum genera explicantur. Antonii Thylesii de coloribus libellus, à coloribus vestium non alienus (Paris, 1536), p. 37.

Most books published by the various Estienne printing houses were not heavily illustrated but one of the exceptions to the rule was Charles’ edition of the Annotationes in L. II. De captivis, et postliminio reversis (Paris, 1536) of Lazare de Baïf (1496?-1547), the father of his former pupil. This work, printed by his brother Robert, focused on ships and naval warfare. It was not the only book written or translated by Charles and his adapted content of some of the texts in it for children covers a number of subjects. What is truly impressive in this book is the diversity of content: from naval construction to clothing history, encompassing silverware, the variety may well have appealed to a young market. To this diverse content, written by one of the leading French humanists, Charles added the Italian humanist Antonio Telesio’s 1528 essay on colour.

One of the outstanding features of the book are the many woodcut illustrations which have been described by the Italian artist and bibliophile Leopoldo Cicognara (1767-1834) as follows: ‘Le molte tavole in legno di bella esecuzione. rendono chiara l’intelligenza di queste ottime opere’ which may be translated as ‘The numerous woodcuts, magnificently executed, clearly display the intelligence of these works’. The woodcuts have been attributed to Geoffroy Tory’s atelier (d. 1533).[1]

Following his brother Robert’s flight to Geneva in 1550, Charles took over his brother’s Parisian printing house. In doing so he was able to ensure his family’s legacy in Paris even though the French government had turned against Robert I. On being named King’s Printer in 1551, Charles received the right to use the famous royal types and he continued his brother’s work, in some cases bringing Robert’s classical projects to fruition – for example, in 1551 he printed Robert I’s edition of the works of St Justin Martyr which Robert I had flagged in the preface to his 1550 New Testament. Charles’ Dictionnaire historique et poétiques de toutes les nations […]. (Paris, 1553) may perhaps also be seen as part of this continuity of philological research.[2] However, seeing Charles’ printing production solely as a continuation of his family’s classical project would be a big mistake, for he extended greatly the scope of Estienne publications. We see this in such publications as the La Guide des chemins de France (Paris, 1552), which is one of the most important works about the roads and rivers used by booksellers and other merchants at this time.[3]

Charles’ take-over of the family printing house at Paris was a unique opportunity for him to print scientific and agricultural works as well as classical books, enhancing the strong bond between the Estienne family and science. We see this in Worth’s copy of Charles’ dictionary of natural history: De Latinis et Græcis nominibus arborum, fructicum, herbarum, piscium, & auium liber : ex Aristotele, Theophrasto, Dioscoride, Galeno, Aëtio, Paulo Aegineta, Actuario, Nicandro, Athenaeo, Oppiano, Aeliano, Plinio, Hermolao Barbaro, & Iohanne Ruellio : cum Gallica eoru[m] nominum appellatione (Paris, 1554).

Classical titles were not neglected. Thanks to King Henri II (1519-59) and his protector, Cardinal Charles of Lorraine (1524-74), Charles received the King’s Privilege on every single work of Cicero for ten years. This was a great opportunity for him to complete his family’s project of printing classical sources (and also to make money because editions of Cicero usually sold well).

Opera M. Tvllii Ciceronis (Paris, 1555), title page of volume 1 bearing device 14.

Many books printed by Charles were printed to a really high standard and his Cicero was no exception: Charles produced a unique and fine publication which Worth collected in his 1555 edition. Unfortunately for Charles his beautifully printed editions did not proof as lucrative as he hoped. They looked well but sold badly. This lack of success and subsequent debts eventually drove him to prison, where he died in 1564.

Sources

Amert, Kay, The Scythe and the Rabbit. Simon de Colines and the Culture of the Book in Renaissance Paris, edited by Robert Bringhurst (New York, 2012).

Armstrong, Elizabeth, Robert Estienne, Royal Printer (Cambridge, 1954).

Bernard, Auguste, Les Estienne et les types grecs de François Ier, complément des annales stéphaniens (Paris, 1856).

Beza, Theodore, Les vrais portraits des hommes illustres (Geneva, 1581), pp 158-159.

Didot, Ambroise Firmin, ‘Les Estienne. Henri I, François I et II, Robert I, II et III, Henri II, Paul et Antoine…’, Nouvelle bibliographie générale, (Paris, 1856; Copenhagen, 1965 reprint), vol. 15-16, pp 482-5.

Renouard, Antoine, Annales de l’imprimerie des Estienne (Geneva, 1971 reprint).

Rott, Jean & Peter, Rodolphe, ‘Exposition Jean Calvin’, Revue d’histoire et de philosophie religieuse, 45 (1965), 128-155.

Schreiber, Fred, The Estiennes. An annotated catalogue of 300 highlights of their various presses (New York, 1982).

Schreiber, Fred, Simon de Colines (Utah, 1995).

[1] Schreiber, Fred, The Estiennes. An annotated catalogue of 300 highlights of their various presses (New York, 1982), p. 62.

[2] This work is not in the Worth Library.

[3] This work is not in the Worth Library.