Printed in an edition limited to 600 copies. Reproduced from the copy in the Printing Library of the St. Bride Institute (St Bride Library). Plates depict samples of the types cut by Fournier c. 1742, which then appeared in his Manuel Typographique.
Type measurement in the 17 century France was pure chaos. Every foundry had their own measurement systems and nomenclature, Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune pioneered the first standardisation of type by dividing the Pouce (an obsolete french measurement unit) into 12 lines. He then divided the lines into 6 points. Using this system he created "Petit-Romain" size, which is equivalent to a modern 10 point font, and "Cicero" size, which was equivalent to a modern 12 point font.
He would also go on to make the first specimen book, Modèles des Caractères de l'Imprimerie (Models of Printing Characters) in 1742. The task took him 6 years as he decided to make them by hand. The specimen book also introduced the idea of font families, where visually compatible fonts could be mixed.