Francois didot biography

HENRI DIDOT, b. 1765, d. 1852, son of Pierre-Francois, made a name as engraver, founder, and engine-maker. When 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.

Saint-LEGER DIDOT, b. 1767; d. 1829, second son of Pierre-Francois, devoted his attention to paper-making in the famous factory of Essonne, and, after ten years of patient experiment, invented a machine to make “endless” paper.

EDOUARD DIDOT, b. 1797; d. 1825, soh of Saint-Leger, made a good translation of Johnson’s “Lives of the Poets”, which was printed by Jules Didot.

PIERRE DIDOT, b. 1760; d. 1853, eldest son of Francois-Ambroi Francois didot biography children!