Jean Jannon

Jean Jannon (born April 1580, Geneva; d. December 20, 1658, Sedan) was a French Protestant type designer, punchcutter and typefounder active in Sedan early in the seventeenth century.^[1] His later work was mistaken for that of Claude Garamond, a central figure in the development of the 'old style' typeface who died 60 years before Jannon issued a type specimen, that, in 1825 was mistaken for Garamond's work. Garamond's typeface was influential, and his name was well known. As a consequence of this misapprehension, many typeface revivals of the early 20th century named 'Garamond' are actually based on Jannon's 1621 typeface specimen. This name confusion continues as digital types based on these revivals retain the Garamond name.

This was demonstrated in a 1926 paper published in the British typography journal The Fleuron. Beatrice Warde, writing under the name of Paul Beaujon, convincingly argued that many of the revivals said to be based on Claude Garamond’s designs actually followed Jean Jannon's designs.

Although Jannon's forms are clearly different, being more asymmetrical and irregular in slope and axis, they are clearly in the Garamond tradition. They were confiscated by Cardinal Richelieu for religious and political reasons, as Jannon was printer to the Protestant academy in Sedan. They were used by the Cardinal for his memoires, Cardinal Richelieu named Jannon’s type Caractère de l’Université.^[2]

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