Samples of woodblock for the type used by Garamond.
his first romans and his grecs du roi were cut for the firm of Robert Estienne.
In 1545 he began to publish books; apparently he was not successful in
business, for he died in poverty.
Garamond was one of the first punch
cutters to work independently of printers. His roman fonts, cut from
1531 onward, surpassed the best existing romans in grace and clarity and
influenced European punch cutters for 150 years. His Greek type set the
pattern for Greek printing until the early 19th century.
See what he does with latin scripts:
See what he does with latin scripts:
Garamond also has his famous Grecs du Roi, ordered by Francis I of France.
now ask yourself the following question: how come a non-greek can make the best greek typeface?