Le Romain du Roi

André G. Isaak

According to Wikipedia, Le Romain du Roi was first used in Médailles sur les principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand. A copy of this work is available from archive.org (https://archive.org/details/medaillessurlesp00acad/page/n13) but the type in that volume doesn’t look like le Romain du Roi to me. However, the date and publisher appear to be correct, and Simmoneau is credited.

Did this type undergo several incarnations? Or is the Wikipedia article simply wrong? Or are my eyes simply broken?

Cristóbal Henestrosa

I am not an expert in the Romain du Roi (or anything else, for that matter), but it is obvious that the book at your link is not set with that typeface. For one reason, the Wikipedia page shows a sample of the Romain du Roi from 1702 (the same year of the book publication) and it is NOT the same typeface of the book you show us.

Craig Eliason

The book at the archive.org link includes at the beginning an "Avertissement" that mentions this is a quarto-sized quick publication to satisfy the public's demands following the deluxe folio-sized original. It makes sense with the size difference that the text would have to be recomposed. And if the folio was in fact the first Romain du Roi book, it wouldn't be surprising that a smaller size of the new type suitable for the smaller format book wasn't ready to go right away. 

André G. Isaak

Thanks, Craig

Ramiro Espinoza

Les caractères de l imprimerie nationale is a nice and affordable volume to have as reference with printed examples of most of the types produced in the IN.

IMHO, the smaller bodies of the Romain du Roi are OK but the bigger sizes are horrendous (the close up is from a different book).

Michel Boyer

I just had a look at the scan on Gallica and it is definitely the Romain du Roy font
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1041715f/f35.item

André G. Isaak

That scan definitely is. Presumably that is the original folio edition. Thanks for the link.

Stephen Coles

There is at least one other version of the book because I just saw it in a private collection last week and it has large, colored, engraved medallions in the center of each page.