ROBERT BALLARD, 1551-1606. Letters patent of May 5, 1516,[532] inform us that he received 250 livres tournois in this capacity.
LUCRÈCE LE BÉ (BALLARD'S widow), 1606.
PIERRE BALLARD (son of ROBERT I), 1608-1640.
ROBERT II (son of PIERRE), 1640-1679.
——widow of ROBERT II, 1679-1693.
J.-B.-CH. BALLARD (grandson of ROBERT II), 1694-1750.
——(widow of the preceding), 1750-1758.
——CHR.-J.-F. BALLARD (son of J.-B.-CH.), 1758-1765.
——(widow of the preceding), 1765-1792.
PIERRE-ROBERT-CHRISTOPHE BALLARD (son of CHR.-J.-F.), 1779-1792.
After the Restoration Louis XVIII named as king's printers members of certain families in the printing trade which had formerly borne that title, and some others who had won great renown in their trade; such are the first six in the following list, which includes all the king's printers of the Restoration.
LOTTIN DE SAINT-GERMAIN,[533] 1815-1828.
BALLARD,[534] 1815-1828.
BALLARD'S widow, 1828-1830.
VALADE,[535] 1815-1822.
PIERRE DIDOT, the elder, 1815-1822.
JULES DIDOT, his son, succeeded him; 1822-1830.
FIRMIN DIDOT (PIERRE'S younger brother), 1815-1827.
MADAME HÉRISSANT-LEDOUX, 1816-1822.
LEBEL, successor to VALADE, 1822-1825.
LEBEL'S widow, 1826.
LENORMANT, 1824-1830.
AMBROISE DIDOT (son of FIRMIN) was appointed king's printer by patent of December 7, 1829. The office became extinct in his hands in July, 1830. M. Ambroise Firmin Didot, who thus closes the list of king's printers, opened by Tory, has another bond of union with the latter: like him he was an engraver. See what M. Firmin Didot père wrote on this subject at the beginning of his tragedy, 'Annibal,' which was printed by him in 1817, preceded by a letter from his son, who was then travelling in Greece; the letter being printed in an 'English' type which he tells us was engraved by his son Ambroise.[536]
IX
NOTE CONCERNING THE KING'S BINDERS AND LIBRARIANS.
There had long been functionaries known as 'libraires du roi' (king's librarians), when François I instituted the office of king's printer. Indeed, we find that Guillaume Eustace bore the title as early as 1574, that is, under Louis XII. He is so styled in the subscript of an edition of 'Les Chroniques de France,' in three volumes, folio. At the end of the last volume, we read: 'Here endeth the third and last volume of the great chronicles of France, printed at Paris in the year a thousand five hundred and fourteen, the first day of October, for Guillaume Eustace, libraire du Roy, and sworn binder to the University of Paris.'
In our first edition we expressed the opinion that Eustace may have been replaced in 1522 by Jean de Sansay, who is described as king's librarian, in 1530, in the accounts published by M. de Laborde.[537] This is an error. Eustace was still king's librarian in 1533. Jean de Sansay was not, as Eustace was, purveyor to the king's library, but keeper thereof, a title assumed in more exact terms by one of his successors, Jean Gosselin, in a book which he caused to be printed in 1583.[538]
Jean de Sansay's immediate successor, under François I, seems to have been Claude Chappuis, who was king's librarian before March 28, 1543, as may be seen from the following document, dated January 6, 1544, new style, the original of which is in the Joursauvault collection at the Bibliothèque du Louvre:—
'In the presence of me, notary and secretary of the state to the King our sire, Jehan Estienne,[539] dealer in silversmithery to the queen, having power of attorney from maistre Claude Chappuys, librarian to our said lord, thereby sufficiently authorized, did by deed of the twenty-eighth day of March a thousand five hundred forty-three, after Easter last past, executed before Jehan Langlois, royal notary in the bailiwick or chatelany of Moret, aver that he had had and received from maistre Jacques Bouchetel, treasurer and paymaster of the household of our said lord, the sum of two hundred forty livres tournois on account of his office of librarian during the year beginning the first day of January a thousand five hundred forty-two [1543, n. s.], and ending the last day of December a thousand five hundred forty-three. For which sum of IIᶜ XL livres tournois the said Jehan Estienne, as attorney as aforesaid, hath held and doth hold himself accountable and duly paid, and hath acquitted and doth acquit the said maistre Jacques Bouchetel, treasurer as aforesaid, and all other persons. Witness my sign manual hereto affixed at his request. The VI day of January in the year a thousand five hundred forty-three. 'BURGENSIS.'[540]