Charlotte Guillard (died 1557) was the first woman

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

of importance. Guillard worked at the famous ''Soleil d'Or'' printing house from 1502 until her death. Annie Parent described her as a "notability of the Rue Saint-Jacques", the street where the shop was located in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. She became one of the most important printers of the Latin Quarter area in the city of Paris. As a woman, she was officially active with her own imprint during her two widowhood periods,Béatrice Craig:
Women and Business Since 1500: Invisible Presences in Europe and North America?
' that is to say in 1519–20, and in 1537–57. While she was not the first woman printer, succeeding both Anna Rugerin of Augsburg (1484) and

Anna Fabri Anna Fabri, née ''Ghotan'' (floruit 1496), was a Swedish publisher and printer. She was the first female book printer in Sweden. She was likely the sister of book printer Bartholomeus Ghotan from Lübeck, who alongside Johann Snell became th ...

of Stockholm (1496), she was the first woman printer with a significantly known career.

Biography

Early life

Guillard was very likely born in the late 1480s in Saint-Calais, France. Her name is sometime spelled ''Guillart'' and in Latin books as Carola Guillard. Living in the

province of Maine The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the Canadian ...

in France, her parents were Jacques Guillard and Guillemyne Savary. The professions of her parents are unknown, but her known relatives are mostly merchants or lawyers. Guillard had at least three and possibly four sisters and one brother.

First mariage

Guillard showed interest in the printing business as early as 1500. Guillard first married

Berthold Rembolt Berthold Rembolt (died 1518) was a medieval printer. Life He was originally from Ehenheim in Alsace. He died in 1518. Career Though a native of Strasbourg, he worked in Paris. His printing career began in 1494. He was a contemporary of G ...

about 1507 (and not 1502 as it has wrongly been assumed). Her first husband worked with the earliest French printer

Ulrich Gering Ulrich Gering (active as a printer in Paris from c. 1470 to 1508 – 23 August 1510) came from Beromünster in the diocese of Konstanz, Constance. He was one of three partners to establish the first printing press in France.A. Claudin, '' Fi ...

. Their printing business specialised in law and theology. Rembolt died in 1519.

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

businesses and crafts in the sixteenth century were regulated by the

guild system A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

Second career

In 1520 Guillard married Claude Chevallon, a bookseller who also printed theological books. From this time forward, Guillard was known as "la Chevallonne". She was widowed a second time in 1537. Thereafter, Guillard ran her printing business on her own. Normally women were not allowed to own a business, however they were allowed to take over the business of their husband after their death. The publishing house was led by Guillard, with the help of her correctors : Jean Hucher (until 1538), Jacques Bogard (1538-1541), Louis Miré (1541-1552) and then Guillaume Guillard. She helped her nephew

Pierre Haultin Pierre Haultin (c. 1510 – 1587) was a French printer, publisher, punchcutter and typefounder. He was the nephew of the famous Parisian women printer Charlotte Guillard. As a punchcutter, he may have been trained by Claude Garamont, who wo ...

to establish as a printer and a punchcutter. Guillard's works were recognized for their beauty and accuracy. In fact she built up such a good reputation of accuracy that she was commissioned by

Luigi Lippomano Luigi Lippomano (also Alvise, or Aloisio, in Latin Aloisius Lipomanus) (1496, Venice – 15 August 1559, Rome) was an Italian bishop and hagiographer. Life Luigi Lippomano was the illegitimate son of Venetian patrician Bartolo Lippomano, who det ...

bishop of Verona 235px, The facade of ''Palazzo del Vescovado'' The Diocese of Verona ( la, Dioecesis Veronensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy. The diocese belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Venice. The bishop of Verona ...

to publish his works. She was often associated with Guillaume des Boys, her nephew-in-law. Her business was significant: she owned five or six printing presses with about 25-30 employees and published about 200 editions. She catered to students, professional or religious clientele, often printed anti-Protestant books, and offered books in Latin as well as Greek. She probably died in 1557. More than 400 different libraries worldwide have books printed by Guillard.

Selected works

* The works of the Fathers * Jacques Toussain (Jacobus Tusanus), ''Lexicon Graecolatinum'' (1552)Parisijs, Apud Carolam Guillard viduam Claudij Cheuallonij, in via Iacobæa sub sole aureo: & Guilielmum Merlin, in ponte Teloneorum sub signo hominis syluestris * Louis Lassere, ''La Vie de Monseigneur Sainct Hierosme'' (1541) (previously printed by Josse Badius ca. 1529)
List of works printed by Charlotte Guillard (on Copac)
*
Alexandri ab Alexandro iurisperiti Neapolitani genialium dierum libri sex, varia ac recondita eruditione referti
' (Paris: Carolam Guillard, 1539), from the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection at Duke University.

Notes

Bibliography

* Beatrice Beech, "Charlotte Guillard: a sixteenth-century business woman," in: ''Renaissance Quarterly''; No. 36, 3 (Autumn 1983:345-367) * Rémi Jimenes, "Passeurs d'atelier . La transmission d'une librairie à Paris au XVIe siècle : le cas du Soleil d'Or", Gens du livre et gens de lettres à la Renaissance, Turnhout, Brepols, 2014, p. 309-322. * Rémi Jimenes, ''Charlotte Guillard. Une femme imprimeur de la Renaissance'', Tours, PUFR, 2017. *Nelson, Naomi L., Lauren Reno, and Lisa Unger Baskin ds. ''Five Hundred Years of Women's Work: The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection'' New York and Durham, NC: The Grolier Club and Duke University, 2019, forthcoming vi
Oak Knoll Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillard, Charlotte 1557 deaths French printers French publishers (people) Year of birth unknown 16th-century French businesswomen 16th-century printers 16th-century publishers (people) Women printers