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Title: Geofroy Tory
Painter and engraver; first royal printer; reformer of
orthography and typography under François I.
Author: Auguste Bernard
Translator: George B. Ives
Release Date: October 21, 2019 [EBook #60542]
Language: English
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GEOFROY TORY
PAINTER AND ENGRAVER: FIRST ROYAL PRINTER: REFORMER OF ORTHOGRAPHY AND
TYPOGRAPHY UNDER FRANÇOIS I.
AN ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE AND WORKS, BY AUGUSTE BERNARD, TRANSLATED BY GEORGE B. IVES.
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS: MDCCCCIX
PRINTERS' PREFACE.
ERNARD'S monograph on Tory was first published in 1857, when M. Bernard was
already a recognized authority on the history of typography. In 1865, after an
interval devoted largely to a search for further information concerning Tory, and for probable examples of his work
as an artist, a second edition of the book appeared, enlarged by more than one-half, arranged more systematically,
and embellished with several additional engravings of designs which are, in the author's opinion, attributable to
Tory. The Iconography, which forms the third part of this revised edition, did not appear as such in the first edition,
although a small part of the material it contains may be found scattered through that edition. It now occupies more
space than the Biography and Bibliography combined. The new arrangement necessitated more or less repetition
where, as in many instances, the same book is referred to by M. Bernard in more than one section of his work; and
this repetition sometimes reveals discrepancies between the different descriptions. Where such discrepancies have
been discovered by him the translator has endeavoured to correct them, generally, in the absence of an opportunity
to inspect the volume in question, assuming that the description in the bibliographical section is more likely to be
trustworthy; in a number of cases, however, inspection of title-pages themselves, or of reproductions thereof, has
enabled him to correct numerous minor errors in transcription.
The kindness of the late Mr. Amor L. Hollingsworth, in lending his fine copy of the first edition of 'Champ fleury,'
T
made it possible to collate therewith M. Bernard's numerous extracts from that rare and interesting book, and to
ensure entire accuracy with respect to them.
As M. Bernard writes certain printers' names in different ways, the translator has assumed that the names are
printed differently in different books, and has not attempted to make them uniform. Such names are Dubois (Du
Bois), Lecoq (Le Coq), Galliot (Galiot). The few notes supplied by the translator are inserted in square brackets.
The translations of Tory's various Latin effusions, including the complete text of the little brochure called forth by
the death of his daughter Agnes, were made by Mr. J. W. H. Walden of Cambridge. The Latin originals will be found
at the end of the book, in Appendix X.
Since such authorities as M. Bernard and M. Renouvier differ as to the ascription to Tory of many of the designs
mentioned in this work, it seemed the wiser course to choose for illustration only such subjects as are described by
the author, without questioning the soundness of his reasoning or the infallibility of his deductions. The only
exception is the beautiful design reproduced on the first page of the Index. This is taken from Robert Estienne's folio
New Testament (in Greek) of 1550, where, with two other similar decorations, it occurs in conjunction with the
friezes and floriated Greek letters reproduced elsewhere in this volume. They are unsigned, but all are indubitably
from the same hand. Although they are not mentioned by M. Bernard, it seems incredible that he should never have
seen them.
The printer of this volume has had more than ordinary good fortune in literally stumbling upon most of the designs
here reproduced. The pressure of other work has prohibited systematic research, and the originals of these
illustrations were nearly all discovered while he was engaged upon other matters. Many were found in the Harvard
Library, some in the reference library of the Riverside Press, some in auction rooms, and some in booksellers'
catalogues. The only exception is the series of borders from the Hours of 1524-25, which were expressly
photographed from the copy in the library of the British Museum.
That so much has come to hand in so haphazard a way is but an additional proof of Tory's industry and versatility.
There seems to be almost no limit to the work which may fairly be credited to him, and M. Bernard hardly
exaggerated when he said that there was scarcely an illustrated volume of any importance issued in Paris during
the first half of the XVI th century in which the artist of the Lorraine cross did not have a hand. Hours and Classics,
Bibles and Testaments, Mathematical and Medical works—all bear evidence to his prolific pen and graver, and
were time disregarded, the preparation of this volume might be almost indefinitely prolonged. Incomplete as it is,
however, it is hoped that it will measurably fulfill the desire expressed by Mr. A. W. Pollard nearly fifteen years ago,
in the first issue of 'Bibliographica.' Speaking of Bernard's monograph, he said, 'It would be pleasant if some French
publisher would bring out a new edition worthily illustrated, for in 1865 the modern processes of reproduction were
not yet invented, and the few and poor woodcuts in M. Bernard's book give no just idea of the artistic powers of
Tory, whose illustrated editions are so difficult to meet with that M. Bernard's admirable commentary loses half its
value for lack of a proper accompaniment of text.'
A word regarding the method of reproduction of these illustrations may not be out of place here. More was aimed
at than mere photographic copies, which are in many ways inadequate. It was thought desirable to make the
decorations an integral part of the typographic treatment of the volume and to preserve when practicable their
original relations to the type. To attain this end, more perfect printing plates were necessary than could be obtained
directly from the old editions. The designs, therefore, were all redrawn with the greatest care over photographs of
the originals, and from these drawings photo-engravings made, which were afterward perfected by hand when the
forms were on the press.
Notwithstanding some inevitable slight divergences of line, this method preserves with far greater faithfulness the
spirit and effect of the original prints, and the result is more truly a facsimile than a direct photographic copy would
have been. Both drawing and engraving of Tory's designs were exquisite, and as a rule they were beautifully
printed, especially by Colines and Robert Estienne. Some of them, however, suffered at the hands of inferior
printers. Imperfections and irregularities due to the carelessness or unskilfullness of the printer are readily
discernible, and in the reproductions in this volume have been eliminated. The preservation, by this treatment, of
more of the beauty and interest of the originals is sufficient justification for departing to this extent from the usual
methods of facsimile reproduction.
Following the French fashion, the Table of Contents and List of Illustrations are printed at the end of the volume.
G. B. I.
B. R.
January, 1909.
AUTHORS PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE
SECOND EDITION.
HE first half of the sixteenth century was with respect to printing (as with respect to the other arts)
a period of renovation, not in the matter of processes of execution, which remained about the same
T
as in the fifteenth century, but in the matter of the make-up of books, which was entirely revolutionized. Typographical
arrangement, appearance of the letters and ornaments, everything, even to the cover, was changed almost at the same time,
or, at all events, within a very few years. At that time printing gave over the servile copying of manuscripts, which had at first
served it as models, and adopted special rules, better adapted to its method of execution. For instance, it relegated notes to
the foot of the pages, calling attention to them by marks of reference, instead of placing them at the side of the text, as had
previously been the custom, at the cost of an enormous amount of labour, without benefit to the reader. It also abandoned
the use of red capitals,[1] which, by increasing the labour twofold, made books expensive, and replaced them by floriated
letters, which were quite as distinctive, but were set up and printed with the text. This style of ornament, so favourable to
artistic results, developed rapidly, and soon extended from the letters to the illustrations, which began to be introduced in
books in constantly increasing numbers. Under the general impulsion of the Renaissance, engraving was transformed: instead
of the coarse woodcuts, of the so-called criblé style, in which the background was black sprinkled with white dots,[2] and
the design stamped in white, as with a punch, engraving in relief came into vogue, just as we have it to-day, identical in form,
although the processes have been perfected. A similar revolution took place in the matter of letters: the gothic or semi-gothic
characters, which had hitherto been used, were replaced by roman characters of a novel shape, borrowed from the
monuments of antiquity (then studied with great ardour), which continued in use until the Revolution. Lastly, the covers of
books also underwent a transformation brought about by the force of events: the parchment rolls used by the ancients had
been succeeded, during the Middle Ages, by bound volumes, of a shape more convenient for reading; these volumes, of
which those who were fortunate enough to own any never owned more than a very small number, being intended to be
arranged on the library shelves in such wise as to present one side to the visitor's eye, were adorned with numerous
ornaments of various sorts on that side, so that they could easily be distinguished. Later, these ornaments were omitted and
the title of the book substituted, in huge black or gauffered letters. But the invention of printing soon caused that device to be
abandoned. As the increasing numbers of books made it impossible to give up so much space to them, they were arranged
side by side on the shelves, care being taken to print the title in gold letters (so that it might be more legible) on the back of
the book, which was the only part of it in sight. This innovation compelled the doing away with raised decorations, especially
those in precious stones or in metal, which would have torn the books that stood next them. Thereafter leather binding came
into general use; the gauffering on the sides was continued for some time; but in the sixteenth century this in turn was
replaced by gold tooling 'à filet,' and the transformation was complete.
HE man who contributed most largely to the threefold evolution I have described was Geofroy Tory, a man who is
hardly known to-day,[3] despite all his talents, although he received in 1530, as reward of his labours, the title of king's
printer, which François I had never before bestowed upon any one. I say that Tory is hardly known to-day; in truth, it
is, in his case, equivalent to being unknown, to be known, as he is, only as a publisher. Some few scholars, to be sure, are
aware that he was a printer; but the fact is so little known that his biographer has denied it.[4] As for his noblest title to fame,
that of engraver, nobody is aware of it; and yet we owe to Tory the resuscitation of engraving in France. As the historian of
typography,[5] I have thought that it was for me to describe with special care one of the fairest jewels in his crown. Such is
the purpose of the work here presented, wherein will also be found, in connection with the honour paid to Tory by François
I, some information concerning the first royal printers, and a list of those officers from the beginning down to the extinction of
the office in 1830, three centuries, year for year, after its creation. François I is, in truth, entitled to be considered the creator
of the office of king's printer, for prior to his reign we find but one typographer who bore that title, while, from François I
down, the series of king's printers was not again interrupted. The appointment of Pierre le Rouge, on whom the title was
bestowed in 1488,[6] may be creditable to Charles VIII, but it was without result. The honour of having made of the
eminently literary post of king's printer a permanent office reverts of right and naturally to the prince who has been called the
Father of Letters. In truth that prince, as we shall see hereafter, was not content with a single printer; he had several at once,
with distinct functions, and appointed successors without loss of time to such as retired or died during his lifetime.
But, I repeat, the principal purpose of my work is to make Tory known as one of the most skilful engravers we have ever
had. Of course I cannot forget that he was the learned editor of the 'Cosmographie du Pape Pie II,' the 'Itinéraire Antonin,'
etc.; the publisher, of rare taste, who put forth the Hours of 1525, 1527, etc.; the accomplished printer of the 'Sacre de la
Reine Eléonore,' and the distinguished philologist of 'Champ fleury,' to whom, as we shall see, we owe the invention of the
orthographic forms peculiar to the French language.[7] But what has especially attracted me in Tory is his work as an
engraver. In that rôle he was without predecessor or rival, for those persons who may be represented as such may have
been his pupils, nothing more. Jean Duvet alone might quarrel with this limitation; but, although he was Tory's contemporary,
he was not his teacher; for Tory had gone for his schooling in the art to the very fountain-head, to Italy, before Duvet
produced anything. As for Jean Cousin, de Laulne, du Cerceau, Léonard Gauthier, and the rest, they did not come until
after Tory. The honour of revivifying the art of engraving in France belongs to Tory alone, bestriding two centuries, the
fifteenth and sixteenth; indeed, some of his productions are pure gothic. This I propose to demonstrate in the third part of my
book, after I have, in the first part, narrated the general facts of our artist's life, in which we may observe also the
development of a revolution in the matter of philology; for Tory was a devoted partisan of the classic tongues before he
became one of the sturdiest champions of the French language.
In order to emphasize the importance of the orthographic reform achieved by Tory, I have usually followed the orthography
of the time in my quotations from ancient works. It is an anachronism, to be sure, but it is of no consequence when the
reader is forewarned. I have also felt at liberty to correct now and then, without calling attention to them, the typographical
errors found in the texts quoted.
I will not conclude without thanking publicly those persons who have kindly assisted me in my researches concerning Tory. I
have had occasion to mention their names in the course of my work, but that is not enough: I beg them to accept in this place
the assurance of my gratitude. There are two to whom I am especially grateful, for they have considerably augmented my
store of documents: they are MM. Achille Devéria[8] and Olivier Barbier, of the Bibliothèque Impériale: it is owing to their
L
kind communications to me that the list of Tory's artistic works will be found not far from complete.
PART I BIOGRAPHY
GEOFROY TORY
PAINTER AND ENGRAVER: FIRST ROYAL PRINTER: REFORMER OF ORTHOGRAPHY AND
TYPOGRAPHY UNDER FRANÇOIS I.
PART I. BIOGRAPHY.
ESS than twenty years after the introduction of printing at Paris, there was born at
Bourges a child of the people, destined to impart to French typography a vigorous artistic
impulsion, or, to speak more accurately, to work therein a genuine revolution. Geofroy Tory[9] was born in the capital of
Berry, about 1480, of obscure, middle-class parents, as he himself tells us.[10] Everything seems to indicate that he first saw
the light of day in the faubourg of Saint-Privé, to this day the abode of humble vine-dressers. How, in that most lowly
condition of life, he succeeded in acquiring the degree of education which he afterward exhibited, it is hard to say. However,
it is proper to remember that Bourges was at that time a metropolitan and university city, where there were several schools,
both ecclesiastic and lay. We may well believe that, having, at an early age, aroused the interest of some patron by virtue of
his fortunate natural endowments and his intelligence, he was admitted to the schools attached to the chapter, where he
learned the first elements of grammar. We shall soon find him dedicating the first fruits of his labours to a canon of the
metropolitan church of Bourges, who seems to have been, at that time, his Mæcenas.
Once master of the first rudiments of grammar, Tory perfected himself by following the curriculum of the university, where,
as we learn from himself, he had for his teacher a Fleming named Guillaume de Ricke, otherwise called 'le Riche' in French
and 'Dives' in Latin; and for a fellow disciple under this Ghent-born master, a certain Herverus de Berna, from Saint-
Amand, who afterward wrote a panegyric of the Comtes de Nevers.[11]
Tory then went, to finish his literary education, to Italy, whither he betook himself early in the sixteenth century. He
sojourned principally in Rome, where he attended most frequently the famous college called La Sapienza,[12] and in
Bologna, where he attended the lectures of the celebrated Filippo Beroaldo, who died in 1505.[13] Tory returned to France
a little before that event, and established his domicile in Paris, which he always loved henceforward as one loves one's native
city,[14] and where he began his literary career.
The first work of his of which we have any knowledge is an edition of Pomponius Mela, which he prepared for the
bookseller Jean Petit; it was printed by Gilles de Gourmont because it required the use of some Greek type.[15] This book
was dedicated by Tory to his compatriot Philibert Babou, at that time valet de chambre to the king. The dedicatory epistle is
dated Paris, the VI[16] of the Nones of December, 1507; but the printing of the book was not completed until January 10,
1508 (new style).[17] Several articles in this volume, which were written by Tory, are signed by the word CIVIS, which he
had adopted for his device. That patriotic designation was well suited to a descendant of those Bituriges who strove vainly at
Avaricum[18] to defend the autonomy of Gaul against Cæsar. In any event it is interesting to find, three hundred years before
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a man, justly proud of his learning, which he owed entirely to himself, clothing himself in that title of
citizen, which was formerly held in such honour in the provincial cities, and especially in Bourges, whose name Tory never
fails to append to his own: 'Geofroy Tory de Bourges.'
This erudite production and the patronage of Philibert Babou were perhaps responsible for Tory's appointment to the office
of regent, otherwise called professor, of the College of Plessis, where we find him installed in 1509. It was there that he
edited for the first Henri Estienne the 'Cosmographie du pape Pie II.'[19]
The dedication of this book, addressed by Tory to Germain de Gannay, canon of the metropolitan church of Bourges, and
recently appointed Bishop of Cahors by King Louis XII,[20] was dated at the College of Plessis, on the VI of the Nones of
October,[21] 1509. Tory's edition (the third according to him) contains forty-one quarto sheets of text, and is accompanied
by a map of the old world. The 'avis au lecteur,' also written by Tory, is signed, according to his custom, with the word
[1]
[2]
[3]
CIVIS. In the following year, in collaboration with a compatriot and fellow pupil, Herverus de Berna, Tory published a short
Latin poem on the Passion, written by his former teacher, Guillaume de Ricke. In this wise he acquitted his debt of
gratitude.[22] Shortly after, Tory published for the Marnef brothers an edition of Berosus, who was then much in vogue,
thanks to the fabrications of Annius of Viterbo. This book, the preface of which is dated May 9, 1510, went to no less than
three editions, to say nothing of those issued by other publishers.[23]
In the same year Tory published for the same booksellers a small volume of miscellanies, under this title: 'Valerii Probi
grammatici de interpretandis Romanorum literis opusculum, cum aliis quibusdam scitu dignissimis.' It was probably printed
by Gilles de Gourmont, for we find in it his unaccented Greek type.[24] This volume, which contains twelve octavo sheets,
has two engravings on wood—the mark of the booksellers on the title-page, and a Roman portico a little farther on. There
are also a few small cuts engraved on metal in one of the articles. The dedicatory epistle, dated at the College of Plessis the
VI of the Ides of May (May 10), 1510, and addressed by Tory to two compatriots, who had probably been his fellow
pupils, is signed by his device, the word CIVIS. The dedication begins thus: 'Godofredus Torinus Bituricus ornatissimos
Philibertum Baboum et Ioannem Alemanum Iuniorem, cives Bituricos, pari inter se amicitia conjunctissimos, salutat.' Babou
and Lallemant were at this time two important personages in Bourges: the former was secretary and silversmith to the king,
the other, mayor of the city. We see that Tory had acquired valuable connections in his native place, despite his modest
origin. Among the extracts from ancient authors in this book he interspersed several pieces of verse of his own
composition.[25]
Finally, in the same year, Tory issued an edition of Quintilian's 'Institutiones,' carefully collated by him with several
manuscripts. This work was undertaken at the request of Jean Rousselet, Seigneur de La Part-Dieu, near Lyon, and an
ancestor of Château-Regnaud, Maréchal de France. This Rousselet, who died in 1520, belonged to one of the wealthy
Lombard families which had settled at Lyon long before; they made, as we see, a noble use of their wealth. His real name
was Ruccelli. He had married a young gentlewoman of Bourges, Jeanne Lallemant, daughter of Jean Lallemant, Seigneur de
Marmagne, a school friend of Tory, whom I have already had occasion to mention. Doubtless it was this connection which
brought Tory into relations with Rousselet. The text is preceded by the following dedicatory letter:
Geofroy Tory of Bourges to Jean Rousselet, devoted lover of letters, long life and happiness.
Never, I think, most illustrious Jean, will you omit or cease to have the aspiration of nobly justifying, both by
your character and by your good deeds, the great hopes which your relatives and your country have of you.
That you might benefit the State by your counsel also, you made it your interest that I should emend Quintilian
and have him printed as handsomely as might be. After carefully collating a large number of manuscripts, I
industriously set to work and, by eliminating almost countless errors, I made a single manuscript of
considerable accuracy. This, in accordance with your orders, I sent from Paris to Lyon. I only hope that the
printers will not introduce other, new, errors. Farewell, and love me.
Paris, at the College of Plessis, the third of the Calends of March.[26]
This book, which forms a large octavo volume, unpaged, printed in italic type, and in which we find some most attractive
Greek type, with accents, was finished on the VII of the Calends of July (that is to say, June 25), 1510. The printer's name
does not anywhere appear, and the place of printing (Lyon) is mentioned only in Tory's letter.[27]
I know of nothing of Tory's dated in 1511[28]; but that does not prove that he produced nothing in that year, for it is certain
that about that time he published several works which have not come down to us. In fact, he tells us in his 'Champ fleury'[29]
that he has 'caused to be printed and put before the eyes of worthy scholars divers little works in Latin, both in verse and in
prose.' Now we know of nothing of his in verse prior to 1524, except what we find at the end of the 'Valerius Probus' of
1510, and of Guillaume de Ricke's 'Passion.' Moreover, the absence of any publication by Tory in 1511 may be explained
by the confusion incident to his retirement from the College of Plessis and his installation at the College Coqueret, which
seems to have taken place in that year, but concerning which I have no other information than the imprint on two books
published by him in the following year.
The first work edited by Tory in 1512 was an architectural treatise entitled: 'Leonis Baptistæ Alberti Florentini.—Libri de re
ædificatoria decem,' etc.; a quarto volume of 14 preliminary leaves and 174 leaves of text. This book was printed by
Berthold Rembolt (whose mark it bears on the first page), at the joint expense of that printer and the bookseller Louis
Hornken, whose mark is at the end of the book. The dedication, which is addressed to Philibert Babou, and dated at the
College Coqueret on the XV of the Calends of September (August 18), 1512, informs us that Tory received the manuscript
of the book from his friend Robert Dure,[30] principal of the College of Plessis, who gave it to him four years earlier, when
Tory himself was professor at the same college. As always, this dedication is signed CIVIS. A note on the last page but one
informs us that the printing was finished on August 23, 1512.[31]
The second work put forth by Tory in 1512 was the 'Itinerarium Antonini.' It was the second book that he prepared for
Henri Estienne, in whose establishment it has been said[32] (erroneously, I think) that he filled the post of corrector of the
press. However that may be, the dedication, addressed by Tory to Philibert Babou, is dated at the College Coqueret the
XIV of the Calends of September (August 19), 1512. Tory says to Babou that he had dispatched a copy of the manuscript
of this book to him at Tours four years before (that is to say, in 1508), but that the person to whom it was entrusted for
delivery to him had given it, in his own name, to somebody else. This time, in order not to be defrauded of the fruits of his
labours, he had caused the work to be printed from his own copy, having carefully collated it with a manuscript lent him by
Christophe de Longueil.[33] The volume is a sexto-decimo, remarkable for the beauty of its execution. The copy in vellum
which I have seen at the Bibliothèque Nationale is still redolent of the fifteenth century. We find in it certain verses of the
[4]
[5]
[6]
Burgundian Gérard de Vercel in honour of Tory, which prove that the latter was even then in some repute as a scholar, and
as a printer, too; for the author contrasts him with the wretched printers of the day. The preliminary matter, by Geofroy
Tory, is signed by the word CIVIS, printed in red. At the end of the volume the same word reappears in a very curious
monogram composed of the letters CIVS so arranged that we can read the word CIVIS in all directions. Therein we may
detect thus early Tory's taste for ciphers and devices, a taste to which he afterward gave free rein, in his 'Champ fleury.'
At this epoch occurs a momentous event in Geofroy Tory's life. On August 26, 1512,
he became the father of a daughter, who was christened Agnes. I do not know the date
of his marriage, but it was at least as early as 1511. A document of much later date, to
which we shall have occasion to refer hereafter, informs us that his child's mother was named Perrette le Hullin. There is
reason to believe that she, like her husband, was of Bourges, as the name of Hullin was common there at that time. Soon
after the birth of Agnes, perhaps just at the opening of the term of 1512, Tory entered the College of Bourgogne as regent,
or professor of philosophy. His lectures, which were continued for several years, were attended by a large number of
hearers, if we may believe a poetical epitaph composed in laudation of him and published by La Caille.[34] Tory himself
seems to refer to this professorship in his 'Champ fleury,'[35] but I have been unable to find any record of it, because,
presumably, the new direction in which he was then turning his faculties required a certain time of preparation.
This is what happened: Tory, whose activity was very great, did not confine himself to his professorship,[36] but set about
learning drawing (probably under the instruction of Jean Perreal, of whom I shall have occasion to speak again), and also
engraving, for which he had a special bent. This apprenticeship, with the duties of his professor's chair,—for Tory drove art
and philosophy side by side, as the epitaph just quoted has it ('philosophiam simulque artem exercuit typographicam'),[37]—
engrossed him completely for three or four years; but at the end of that time, being far from content with his attempts at
printing and engraving, or too enthusiastic to be satisfied with a partial result, he determined to study classic forms and
outlines in Italy itself, of which country he had retained such agreeable memories that he speaks of it constantly.
Consequently he abandoned his professorship and started south again. It was on this journey that he visited the Coliseum
'more than a thousand times,'[38] that he saw the theatre of Orange,[39] and the ancient monuments of Languedoc[40] and of
other places in France and Italy,[41] which he cites as his authorities on every page of his 'Champ fleury.'
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.
But Tory's active mind could not be content with a single occupation. He was a patriot first of all, as his device proves. And
so, far from allowing himself to be engrossed by his memories of the literary and artistic treasures of Italy, he began to study
with ardour the monuments of his mother tongue, not only in those books printed in French—very few as yet—which he had
at hand in his shop, but also, and especially, in divers fine manuscripts on parchment confided to him by 'his good friend and
brother, René Massé, of Vendôme, chronicler to the king,' whose merits, entirely forgotten in our day,[45] he warmly
extols.[46]
Now, while studying that same French tongue, so decried by the scholars of his time, Tory discovered therein beauties
which required only a little cultivation to make of it the finest language in the world. From that moment our Berrichon,
hitherto a partisan of the classics, shook off entirely the yoke of Greek and Latin, and thought only of the means of making
French take precedence everywhere.
'I see,' he says, 'some who choose to write in Greek and in Latin, and yet cannot speak French well.... To me it seems, with
submission, that it would better beseem a Frenchman to write in French than in another tongue, as well for the profit of his
said French tongue, as to adorn his nation and enrich his native language, which is as fair and fine [belle et bonne] as another
when it is well set down in writing.... When I see a Frenchman write in Greek or in Latin, I seem to see a mason clad in
philosopher's or king's garb, who would fain recite a mask on the stage of La Baroche[47] or in the confraternity of La
Trinité, and cannot pronounce well enough, as having too thick a tongue; cannot bear himself well, nor walk fittingly,
insomuch as his legs and feet are unwonted to the gait of philosopher or king. Who should see a Frenchman clad in the
[7]
[8]
[9]
native dress of a Lombard, which is most often long and scant, of blue linen or of buckram, methinks that Frenchman would
scarce jest at his ease without soon slashing it and taking from it its true form as a Lombard dress, which is but very rarely
slashed, for Lombards do not often work havoc with their belongings. However, I leave all this to the wise guidance of
learned men, and will not burden myself with Greek or Latin save to cite them in due time and place, or to talk with such as
cannot speak French.'[48]
Tory had found his vocation at last. He resolved to establish the superiority of his mother tongue in a special book, illustrated
by engravings by his own hand, and intended particularly for printers and booksellers, who were in a position to distribute it
so rapidly with the aid of their connections.
But while he was engaged in his studies, a terrible catastrophe fell upon him without warning, and caused him to forget his
new projects for some time. His daughter Agnes, of whom he had conceived the most brilliant hopes, was taken from him
on August 25, 1522, at the age of nine years eleven months and thirty days, that is to say, ten years less one day. Entirely
absorbed by his grief, Tory wrote a short Latin poem upon the sad event. This poem, dedicated, like most of his other
books, to Philibert Babou, was not published until February 15, 1523 (1524, new style). In this little work, consisting of two
quarto sheets, are contained some most interesting details of Tory's life. We learn here, for example, that he had grounded
his daughter Agnes, young as she was, in Latin and the fine arts.
'Desiring to instruct me in the Ausonian tongue, and also to render me accomplished in the polite arts, he, like a most
affectionate father, teaching me night and day, himself laid the foundations, sweet and ample, for my life.'[49]
Farther on, he makes his daughter speak thus, from the depths of the urn in which she is supposed to repose:—
MONITOR
Who made for you this urn set with brilliant gems?
AGNES
Who? My father, famed in this art.
MONITOR
Your father is certainly an excellent potter.
AGNES
He practises industriously every day the liberal arts.
MONITOR
Does he also write melodies and poems?
AGNES
He does. He also blesses with sweet words this lot of mine.
MONITOR
Yes, the skill of the man is wonderful.
AGNES
Hardly has any land produced so famous a man.[50]
We learn from this that Tory was not only a scholar, which we already knew, but an artist of great merit. Who knows? it
may be that we had in him the making of a Benvenuto Cellini. What more was necessary that he should reveal himself as
such? Very little—perhaps the falling in with a wealthy Mæcenas. In fact, we find these lines in another piece of verse in the
same collection:—
WAYFARER
He is certainly well deserving of some Mæcenas.
GENIUS
Few are the Mæcenases who live in the French world. No one to-day either encourages the liberal arts by
appropriate gifts or undertakes to encourage them in any way. Uprightness and fair virtue are in no esteem. So
powerful is the sway of unhappy Avarice. Treachery, deceit, and vice are in the ascendant. Virtues are put in
the background, and every form of wretched evil creeps abroad.
WAYFARER
What, therefore, does he who is trained by the charming Muses?
GENIUS
He takes pleasure in being able to live in his own house.
WAYFARER
He ought to go with hurried step to the courts of kings.
GENIUS
He does not care to, because he has a free heart. Your potentates sometimes take pleasure in looking at
[10]
[11]
songs, but what then? They requite them with nods. Golden songs, drawn from the high heavens, they should
reward with jewels and with pure gold. But, frivolous as they are, they instead foolishly give their grand gifts to
fools, spendthrifts, and rogues.[51]
Alas! this depiction of the vices of society is not peculiar to the sixteenth century. The world is very old, and it changes little.
If Tory were living in our day, it may be that he would use even darker colours; for, after all, he was appreciated in his own
time, and perhaps he would die of hunger to-day. As we see, he was not fond of cooling his heels in the antechambers of the
great, and lived peacefully in his own house; but honour came there to seek him. Unluckily it was a little late, as will appear
hereafter.
At the end of the poem is the design reproduced on the next page, wherein we see for the first time the famous 'Pot Cassé'
[broken jar] which Tory adopted thenceforth as the mark of his bookshop; together with the device 'non plus,' which he
used thereafter instead of the word 'civis.'
Tory subsequently offered, in his 'Champ fleury,' a very confused explanation of his Pot Cassé, doing his utmost to connect
it with the ordinary events of life; but everything tends to prove that it owes its origin to the death of Agnes. This shattered
antique vessel represents Tory's daughter, whose career was shattered by destiny at the age of ten. The book secured by
padlocks suggests Agnes's literary studies; the little winged figure among the clouds is her soul flying up to heaven. The
device 'non plus' suggests the desperate grief of Tory, who seems to say: 'I no longer [non plus] care for anything'; or, more
laconically: 'There is nothing more for me'; after the example of Valentine of Milan when he found himself in a similar
situation.[52]
Luckily, time, which deadens all sorrows, even those which seem likely to
endure for ever, assuaged Tory's grief. Before his funeral poem saw the light, he
had returned to his beloved studies, and they had restored tranquillity to his
mind. This is proved by the following passage from his 'Champ fleury,' in which he tells us how, on January 6, 1523 (or
1524, according to our method of computing time), that is to say, eighteen months after he lost his daughter, the idea of that
curious book came to his mind. We are glad to recognize once more therein the patriotic Berrichon who had taken for his
device the word 'civis.'
'In the morning of the day of the feast of Kings,'[53] he says, '... which was reckoned M. D. XXIII, the fancy came to me to
muse in my bed, and to move the wheel of my memory, thinking on a thousand petty conceits, both serious and merry,
whereamong I bethought me of a letter of ancient form, which I not long since made for the house of my lord the treasurer of
the wars, Maistre Jehan Groslier, counsellor and secretary to the king our sire, lover of goodly letters and of all learned
persons, of whom also he is greatly beloved and esteemed, as well on this side as the other of the mountains. And while
thinking of that said antique letter there came of a sudden to my memory a pithy sentence of the first book and eighth
chapter of Cicero's "Offices," where it is written: "Non nobis solum nati sumus, ortusque nostri partem patria vendicat,
partem amici."[54] Which is to say, in substance, that we are not born into this world for ourselves alone, but to do service
and pleasure to our friends and our country.'[55]
Such was the origin of 'Champ fleury.' Here follows the composition of that work, as the author himself gives it to us, in the
form of a table of contents, at the beginning:[56]—
'This whole work is divided into three books.
'In the first book is contained the exhortation to establish and ordain the French language by fixed rule, and to speak
elegantly, in good and soundest French.
'In the second is treated the invention of antique letters, and the proportionate coincidence thereof with the natural body and
face of the perfect man. With several happy inventions and reflections upon the said antique letters.
'In the third and last book all the said antique letters, in their alphabetical order, are drawn and proportioned in height and
width according to their proper formation and required articulation, both Latin and French, as well in the ancient as in the
modern fashion.
'In two sheets at the end are added thirteen different sorts of letters, to-wit: Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French,—and these
latter in four sorts, which are: "cadeaulx," "forme," "bastarde," and "torneure." Then follow the Persian, Arabic, African,
Turkish, and Tartar letters, which have, all five, one and the same type of alphabet. After these are the Chaldaic, the
"goffes," which are otherwise called "impériales et bullatiques," the "phantastiques" letters, the utopian letters, which one may
call "voluntaires," and, lastly, the floriated letters.[57] With instructions for making ciphers of letters for golden rings, for
tapestries, stained-glass windows, paintings, and other things, as may seem best.'
I will say nothing here of the first book, the excellence of which has recently been pointed out by M. Génin,[58] who is much
better versed in the subject than I, and who has at the same stroke exculpated the French from the charge that has been
brought against them of having allowed themselves to be anticipated by foreigners in the careful study of their language. I will
simply call attention to the fact that Tory wrote shortly before Rabelais, who did not hesitate to borrow from him his criticism
of the 'skimmers of Latin,'[59] who were then changing the French language on the pretext of perfecting it. The harangue of
the Limousin orator, which is found in the sixth chapter of the second book of 'Pantagruel,' is copied verbatim from Tory's
epistle to the reader.[60] Rabelais has simply added to it some obscene reflections which did not enter our author's mind.
Tory ends with a pathetic appeal to those who are interested in the mother tongue, whose excellence he is never tired of
extolling. 'O ye devoted lovers of goodly letters!' he cries, 'God grant that some noble heart may give itself to the task of
establishing and ordering our French tongue according to rule! By that means would many thousands of men set themselves
[12]
[13]
[14]
to using often goodly words. If it is not established and ordered, we shall find that the French tongue will be in great part
changed and ruined every fifty years.'[61] This patriotic prayer was soon granted. As we know, the sixteenth century did not
lack great geniuses, who set the French language in order and brought it to a great degree of perfection. Indeed, some most
expressive words, the disuse of which Tory deplored,[63] reappeared. For instance, 'affaissé' and 'tourbillonner,' which in his
time had been replaced by periphrases, returned into use; many others deserve the same honour and perhaps will receive it
some day.
The second book of 'Champ fleury' is, I apprehend, only a paradox; but that paradox is maintained by arguments so
ingenious, that one lacks courage to condemn it. Tory holds that the shapes of all the roman capital letters are derived from
the different parts of the human body, which he looks upon as the type of the beautiful; and he makes a most admirable use
of wood engraving to explain his idea. Moreover, if Tory was mistaken, we must acknowledge that he did not fall into the
error inconsiderately. Indeed, I believe that he had for confederate his friend Perreal, to whom we may attribute the greater
number of the designs on wood in the second book, judging from those in the third, which are directly attributed to him by
Tory, as we shall see hereafter. However that may be, Tory seems to have studied his subject for a long time, not only on
ancient monuments, but on modern ones as well, and in the works of contemporary authors who had turned their attention
to the shapes of letters. His judgement of these latter is as follows:—
'Frère Lucas Paciol, of Bourg Saint Sepulchre, of the order of Frères Mineurs, and a theologian, who has written in popular
Italian a book called "Divina proportione,"[64] and who has essayed to represent the said antique letters, does not give a true
account of them nor explain them; and I am not surprised thereat, for I have heard from certain Italians that he stole his said
letters and took them from the late Messere Leonard Vince [Leonardo da Vinci], who has of late died at Amboise, and was
a most excellent philosopher and admirable painter, and as it were another Archimedes. This said Frère Lucas has caused
his antique letters to be printed as his own. In sooth they may well be his, for he has not drawn them in their due
proportions, as I shall show when I speak of said letters. Nor does Sigismunde Fante, a noble of Ferrara, who teaches how
to write many kinds of letters, speak truly thereof.[65] Nor does Messere Ludovico Vincentino.[66] I know not whether
Albert Dürer writes justly thereof,[67] but none the less he goes astray in the due proportion of the figures of many letters, in
his book on "Perspective."[68]... I see no man who makes them or understands them better than Maistre Simon Hayeneufve,
otherwise called Maistre Simon du Mans. He makes them so well and in proper proportions, that he satisfies the eye as well
and better than any Italian master on this side or the other of the mountains. He is most excellent in the restoration of ancient
architecture, as one may see in a thousand excellent designs and portraits that he has made in the noble city of Mans and in
many a foreign city. He is worthy to be held in honoured memory, as well for his upright life as for his noble learning. And to
this end, let us not fail to consecrate and dedicate his name to immortality, naming him a second Vitruvius, a holy man and
good Christian. I write this with good will because of the virtues and great praise "which I have heard said of him" by many
great and humble good men and true lovers of all goodly and honest things.'[69]
The eulogistic tone in which Tory speaks here and elsewhere[70] of Simon Haieneuve leads M. Renouvier to think[71] that
our artist may have learned the art of drawing letters from the Mans architect; but it is a mistaken supposition; the phrase in
quotation marks proves that they had never met. Moreover Tory, a little further on, claims most reasonably the honour of
having been his own master in this matter: 'I know no Greek, Latin nor French author who gives the explanation of such
letters as I have described, wherefore I may hold it for my own, saying that I have excogitated and found it rather by divine
inspiration than by anything written or heard. If there be any one who has seen it written, let him say so, and he will give me
pleasure.'[72]
We see that Tory does not beat about the bush concerning his theory, which, although it was different from those of his
predecessors, was not on that account better than theirs.[73] However, let his opinion concerning the original design of the
roman letters be what it may, it is, in my judgement, simply a sort of preface which we may pass over without inconvenience.
The real substance of his work is in the third book. But he does not leave the second without returning once more to the
charge in favour of his mother tongue.
'I know,' he says, 'that there are many goodly minds who would willingly write many excellent things if they thought they
could write them well in Greek or Latin; and yet they abstain for fear of making solecisms or some other fault that they
dread; or they choose not to write in French, thinking the French tongue not good nor elegant enough. With al...
