Dossier Scriptorium de Toulouse

A pedagogy of  the written and drawn letter.
History, testimonies, transmission.

The history, role, and influence of the Scriptorium de Toulouse, a French type design and calligraphy workshop that existed from 1967 to 2005, are little known.

The recent passing of Bernard Arin, director of the workshop from 1982 to 2005, confirmed how urgent it was to document and share this educational and human story, with the workshop’s discontinuous activity, and the fact of it closing more than fifteen years ago, leading to it being forgotten, and to its archives being scattered.

The activity of the Scriptorium de Toulouse was critical for French type design that had been marked by major transformations and pushed to the brink of collapse.

The Scriptorium de Toulouse reintroduced and defended the teaching of the written and drawn letter, playing a key role in the revival of type design that was initiated, in extremis, in 1982.

This book, unique thanks to the wealth of documents—mostly unpublished—and texts that it contains and connects, clearly shows how numerous type designers have benefited both directly and indirectly from this extraordinary, and unique, educational experience.

Co-publishing with Atelier national de recherche typographique
With the support of Centre national des arts plastiques and Signe, centre national du graphisme

Authors: Juliette Flécheux, Manuel Sesma Prieto, Thomas Huot-Marchand, Jan Middendorp

Contributors: Mathieu Chiva, Matthieu Cortat, Xavier Dupré, Rodolphe Giuglardo, Jérémie Hornus, Franck Jalleau, Richard Lempereur, François Leroy, François-Marie Mallet, Stéphane Mazet, Claude Mediavilla, Laura Meseguer, Floriane Mothes, Christophe Pons-Capitaine, Émilie Rigaud, Stéphane Rouget, Véronique Sabard, Kitty Sabatier, Agnès Vidal-Saint-André

Format: 22,7 × 32,2 cm
Pages: 240
ISBN: 978-2-919380-48-0
Release: 2022
Languages: français et anglais
Domain: Typography
Price: 45€

Graphic design: Juliette Flécheux, Bureau 205
Typefaces: Salmanazar, Juliette Collin, 205TF
Printing: Imprimerie Chirat, Saint-Just-La-Pendue (42), France
Papers: Sirio Royal Green 115g et 290g, et Arena White Rough FSC 120g de chez Fedrigoni Papers