Figure 364
French Lettre Batarde, Paris
From reproduction of Simon Vostre’s Heures à l’Usage de Rome
1890
Although in France the Morris revival never had much vogue, it is interesting to recall that a year or two before the founding of the Kelmscott Press some delightful gothic types—a clever rendering of the best form of lettre batarde—were cut by E. Mouchon for a reproduction of Simon Vostre’s Heures à l’Usage de Rome of 1498, of which a page is reproduced. The book was printed by O. Jouaust and published in 1890 by L. Gauthier, who was, by the way, élève and successor to Curmor of Paul et Virginie celebrity. Save for this and a few similar examples of reproduction of old types, the old-fashioned formulæ for fine book-making still survive.