Sixteenth-century Hebrew typography: A typographical and historical analysis based on the Guillaume I Le Bé documents in the Bibliothèque nationale de France

This thesis is an analysis and examination of the Hebrew types that are to be found in the two documents or scrapbooks in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (N.A.F. 4528 and Rés X 1665), which were compiled by the sixteenth-century French punchcutter Guillaume I Le Bé (c. 1524 to 1598). Of the 53 specimens in the two documents, 20 were cut by Le Bé, and the rest by other known and unknown punchcutters of the sixteenth century. The 16 additional Greek, Music, Roman and Italic types in the documents are also shown, but are not analysed as part of the thesis. This thesis aims to present a detailed analysis of each distinct Hebrew typeface based on the methods developed principally by Hendrik Vervliet, combined with a book history approach which seeks to situate Le Bé in the context of his times using as much of the historical background as could be discovered from documentary evidence from the period. In addition, hypotheses are put forward as to methods of punch cutting, striking of matrices, casting and the composition of Hebrew types during this period. Over 200 separate Hebrew editions from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were examined to discover where and when these types were used, in order to draw conclusions concerning the spread of these types both during the sixteenth century and in later periods. This thesis contains a complete facsimile of the two documents together with a transcription and translation of the annotations by Guillaume I Le Bé, in addition to a comparative chart of the types included in the two documents, and other relevant documentary material. It also has a complete bibliographical apparatus of primary and secondary sources.