Born around 1510 in Paris and died in 1561, Claude Garamont, whose name is also spelled Garamond, was a punchcutter and type founder. He probably trained with Antoine Augereau and was one of the first independent punchcutters, selling his type to different printers.
Vision
In the midst of the Renaissance, Garamont sought to create roman typefaces of great finesse and perfect regularity, inspired by the Venetian models of Aldus Manutius. He wanted elegant letters, in the service of reading.
Works
He cut the typefaces that gave rise to Garamond, as well as the Grecs du Roi, commissioned by Francis I for the printer Robert Estienne.
Legacy
On his death, his punches were dispersed, some of them bought by the printer Christophe Plantin in Antwerp, where they are still kept at the Plantin-Moretus Museum. His typefaces dominated European printing for two centuries and remain everywhere in publishing.