Читать книгу Geofroy Tory. Painter and engraver; first royal printer; reformer of orthography and typography under François I онлайн

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Tory does not give the precise date of this artistic journey; but it is established by a passage in his book, where he informs us that he saw the 'Epitaphs of Ancient Rome' printed in that city.[42] Now this book of Epitaphs can be no other than the collection published by the celebrated printer Mazochi, under the title: 'Epigrammata sive inscriptiones antiquæ urbis,' folio, dated 1516, but preceded by a license from the Pope, of 1517.[43] This hint of Tory's is doubly valuable to us, for it not only tells us the date of our artist's second journey to Italy, but reveals his predilection for typography. As we see, he was already studying the printing art with interest.

On his return to Paris, about 1518, Tory, who was not a wealthy man, was obliged to think about turning his talents to account, in order to earn his living. His principal resource seems to have been the painting of manuscripts, otherwise called miniature; but, whether because he did not find sufficient work of that sort, or because he considered another branch of art more useful, he soon gave his entire attention to engraving on wood, in which he speedily acquired considerable celebrity. About the same time, Tory also joined the fraternity of booksellers, following a custom then quite general among engravers,—a custom which their predecessors, the miniaturists, had handed down to them, and which was continued down to the eighteenth century.[44] In truth, it was not unnatural that those who decorated books should sell them, or, if you prefer, that those who sold them should decorate them. It was one way of earning more money. Desiring to signalize his début in the career of a bibliopole in a noteworthy way, Tory undertook to engrave for himself a series of borders 'à l'antique,' which he intended for a book of Hours,—a sort of book that was very profitable at that time, because of the great amount of work which it required; but the task was a long one, and he was obliged to work for different printers in the mean time. One of the first who employed him was Simon de Colines. Colines, who became a printer in 1520, as a result of his marriage to Henri Estienne's widow, commissioned Tory to design marks, floriated letters, and borders for the books that he published in his own name; he also entrusted him, I think, with the engraving of his italic type, which he soon began to use in conjunction with the roman type that he had from his predecessor.