François I Estienne (1502-1550); Paris 1537-1548

François I Estienne was the eldest son of Henri I (1460-1520), and a brother of Robert I (1503-559), and Charles (1504-64). He is less famous than other members of his family, principally because he published far fewer works. The Worth Library contains one work printed by him: his brother Charles’ Vinetum. In quo varia vitivm, uvarum, vinorum, antiqua, Latina vulgariáq[ue] nomina (Paris, 1537).

Vinetum. In quo varia vitivm, uvarum, vinorum, antiqua, Latina vulgariáq[ue] nomina : Item ea quæ ad vitium consitionem ac culturam ab antiquis rei rusticæ scriptoribus expressa sunt, ac benè recepta vocabula, nostræ consuetudini præsertim commoda, breui ratione continentur. In adolescentulorum gratiam ac fauorem (Paris, 1537), title page with device 13.

As this image demonstrates, the device chosen by François I differed markedly from that used by the rest of the family. The subject matter of the book may well have suggested the use of a vine but there were echoes of the family in the motto underneath for ‘Plus olei quam vini’: ‘more oil than wine’ had been used by Henri I Estienne also.

The dearth of publications by François I means that, for most historians of the Estienne family, proving that François actually led his own printing house is a challenge. Most describe him not as a printer but as a book seller (though the demarcation is weak at this period). However, he had clearly been given an imprimatur to print this book. The few works bearing his printers’ device may have been printed in his brother Robert’s or in the printing house of his step-father, Simon de Colines (d. 1546). We know that Simon worked with him on several occasions – for example in 1539, 1541 and 1542 they produced quarto editions of the plays of Terence together.[1] Since Simon also printed books by Charles Estienne, it is likely that he was involved in this production.[2] In any case, François I was very much keeping things in the family.

What we can be sure of is that in 1542, after refusing a libraires jurés’s visit (an official visit by an officer of the Parisian book trade), he was arrested for disobedience and rebellion. He died young and without issue.

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, p. 482.

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] 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), p. 223, note 29.

[2] Ibid., p. 14.