(DESIGN / TYPOGRAPHY / ALPHABETS .) Midolle, Jean. Spécimen des Écritures Modernes Romaines fleuronées,Gothiques nouvelles, Fractures, Françaises, Anglaise, Italienne et Allemande. Lithographed title and 39 plates after designs by Midolle, all color-printed. Oblong folio bound along top edge, 284x406 mm; 11 1/4x16 inches, original pictorial boards ("Oeuvres de Jean Midolle . . . 10. Livraison"), worn, rebacked with calf; plates 2 and 12 foxed and dampstained, plate 30 bound upside-down, light foxing on plate 36, remaining contents generally clean. Strasbourg: Émile Simon fils, 1834-35
"An amazing display of chromolithographic pyrotechnics . . . The plates depict decorative alphabets by Jean Midolle, but the printed effects go far beyond the requirements of calligraphy. Although Midolle was clearly a graphic designer of great skill and inventiveness, virtually nothing is known of him outside these volumes. He brought to Simon two series of alphabets, entitled Anciennes and Modernes, together with another more elaborate group under the heading Galérie—meaning a gallery of Midolle's most fanciful compositions . . . Many of Midolle's pages are delightful, decorative, and highly detailed. Simon seems to have decided that they were perfect material for trying out new effects in colour printing. He used four basic devices to add colour and variety to Midolle's calligraphic fantasies. These were transfer, rainbow printing, dusting with gold, and inking à la poupée"—Gascoigne, Milestones in Colour Printing, pages 26-27. Bonacini 1186.
