DOI Heft:
No. 384 (March 1925)
DOI Artikel:M. Léon Pichon's exhibition of books at the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21402#0141
M. LEON PICHON'S EXHIBITION OF BOOKS
BALTASAR GRACIAN
L'HOMME
DE COUR
TRADUIT PAR
AMELOT DE LA HOUSSAIE
ET PREFACE PAR
HENRI FOCILLON
A PARIS
CHEZ LIMPRIMEUR LEON P1CHON
S. RUE CHRISTINE. S
1924
TITLE-PAGE BY LEON
PICHON. (TYPE
CASLON OLD ROMAN)
M. LEON PICHON'S EXHIBITION
OF BOOKS AT THE PLANTIN-
MORETUS MUSEUM, ANTWERP. 0
FROM January 15th to the 31st last,
there was held in the Plantin Museum
at Antwerp an exhibition of books pro-
duced by M. Leon Pichon, the Parisian
master-printer and engraver, whose fine
editions have gained a well-deserved fame.
This is the first time that any artist in
book-production not belonging to the
town of Antwerp has been a guest in the
great house where, from the sixteenth to
the nineteenth century, the Plantin-More-
tus dynasty carried on uninterruptedly its
monumental work ; and a signal honour
is thereby conferred on contemporary
French book-production and on M.Pichon.
We reproduce herewith several examples
of M. Pichon's typographical arrangement,
which will give some idea of how tastefully
his works are produced, but to appreciate
them to the full the originals must be
seen ; for not only is the choice of the
paper an important factor in any scheme,
but several of the layouts here illustrated
are printed in two colours — in the
" Genesis," for instance, the French text
is in black and the Latin in red. a a
To the catalogue of the exhibition M.
Henri Focillon contributes an appreciative
and illuminating preface, from which one
would wish to borrow heavily. Space,
however, only allows a short extract: a
" Typography, as Pichon understands
is, is not merely a fantasy, a display of
happy caprices, but a matter of order—a
system wherein everything has its proper
place. It is architecture and it is music.
It is architectural in its choice of materials,
in its logical building up and sense of
proportion, in its discrimination and the
excellent use it makes of decoration. . . .
It is musical in the delicate suggestions
and true harmonies it evokes, and the fine
printer stands in the same relation to an
eminent author as does the pianist to the
composer." a a a 0 a
SCAKAM OUCH\
lique nvcc qui j'at dot engagements, jc voudrais
ctre de la pnriit! Tons nos seigneurs vont VOUl
envicr!
— Mais, objecta don Cesar, je n'ai pii* envie
d'aller a Trieste.
PAGE FROM COUNT ARTHUR DE GOBI-
NEAU'S 44 SCARAMOUCHE," PRINTED
BY LEON PICHON. (TYPE, DEBERNY
ROMAN, NO. 18). WOODCUT BY LEON
PICHON AFTER MAXIME DETHOMAS
135
BALTASAR GRACIAN
L'HOMME
DE COUR
TRADUIT PAR
AMELOT DE LA HOUSSAIE
ET PREFACE PAR
HENRI FOCILLON
A PARIS
CHEZ LIMPRIMEUR LEON P1CHON
S. RUE CHRISTINE. S
1924
TITLE-PAGE BY LEON
PICHON. (TYPE
CASLON OLD ROMAN)
M. LEON PICHON'S EXHIBITION
OF BOOKS AT THE PLANTIN-
MORETUS MUSEUM, ANTWERP. 0
FROM January 15th to the 31st last,
there was held in the Plantin Museum
at Antwerp an exhibition of books pro-
duced by M. Leon Pichon, the Parisian
master-printer and engraver, whose fine
editions have gained a well-deserved fame.
This is the first time that any artist in
book-production not belonging to the
town of Antwerp has been a guest in the
great house where, from the sixteenth to
the nineteenth century, the Plantin-More-
tus dynasty carried on uninterruptedly its
monumental work ; and a signal honour
is thereby conferred on contemporary
French book-production and on M.Pichon.
We reproduce herewith several examples
of M. Pichon's typographical arrangement,
which will give some idea of how tastefully
his works are produced, but to appreciate
them to the full the originals must be
seen ; for not only is the choice of the
paper an important factor in any scheme,
but several of the layouts here illustrated
are printed in two colours — in the
" Genesis," for instance, the French text
is in black and the Latin in red. a a
To the catalogue of the exhibition M.
Henri Focillon contributes an appreciative
and illuminating preface, from which one
would wish to borrow heavily. Space,
however, only allows a short extract: a
" Typography, as Pichon understands
is, is not merely a fantasy, a display of
happy caprices, but a matter of order—a
system wherein everything has its proper
place. It is architecture and it is music.
It is architectural in its choice of materials,
in its logical building up and sense of
proportion, in its discrimination and the
excellent use it makes of decoration. . . .
It is musical in the delicate suggestions
and true harmonies it evokes, and the fine
printer stands in the same relation to an
eminent author as does the pianist to the
composer." a a a 0 a
SCAKAM OUCH\
lique nvcc qui j'at dot engagements, jc voudrais
ctre de la pnriit! Tons nos seigneurs vont VOUl
envicr!
— Mais, objecta don Cesar, je n'ai pii* envie
d'aller a Trieste.
PAGE FROM COUNT ARTHUR DE GOBI-
NEAU'S 44 SCARAMOUCHE," PRINTED
BY LEON PICHON. (TYPE, DEBERNY
ROMAN, NO. 18). WOODCUT BY LEON
PICHON AFTER MAXIME DETHOMAS
135