French Oldstyle.—This is the title by which is known among printers a style of type-face made, under the name of “Elzevier,” by the Gustave Mayeur foundry of Paris in 1878. Its design, M. Mayeur tells us, was suggested by types used in a book printed in Leyden by the Elzevirs in 1634.
In 1889, Farmer, Little & Co. of New York procured drives of five sizes from France and began making the letter in America, naming it “Cadmus.” The type foundry of Phelps, Dalton & Co. of Boston had as early as 1884 made a similar and rather pleasing letter in capitals only, which it called French Oldstyle.
Theodore L. De Vinne was the first to use the Mayeur French Oldstyle in America. It was a favorite with Walter Gilliss, who adopted it in remodeling the catalogs and other printed matter used by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
EXAMPLE 485
A study of the French Oldstyle design of Roman capitals
The capitals of French Oldstyle are especially pleasing, and when this letter is employed they should be used in display with frequency. The Mayeur letter would be even more attractive if the proportions of its capitals were nearer those of early Roman lettering (Example [464-B]), as are some other French Oldstyles.
French Oldstyle is tall and formed with liberal space between the strokes of the lower-case letters. It should always be leaded, as its open character and large lower-case demand that it shall not be crowded. Like Cheltenham, it is best suited for pages that are narrow and long, such as the 12mos issued in the seventeenth century by the Elzevirs.
The Mayeur French Oldstyle has a slight resemblance to the type-faces found in the Elzevir seventeenth-century books (Example [475]), but is a rather free rendering of those types. The capitals of the Elzevirs are more in the proportions of Jenson’s (see Cloister Oldstyle, Example [467-A]), and the small letters (o) of the lower-case are not so large in comparison with the tall letters (l) as they are in French Oldstyle. The Mayeur letter also contains the shortened descenders and short-kerned f of the nineteenth-century typefounders. In fact, both ascending and descending strokes have been shortened.
Examples [45], [183], [184], [217], [410], [411], and the Jacobi specimen on page [33] show French Oldstyle in use.