Henry

A Garamond revival calibrated to wood-pulp paper

Henry is Matthieu Cortat's reinterpretation of the Deberny & Peignot Garamond, engraved by Henri Parmentier between 1914 and 1926 under Georges Peignot's direction. The revival draws specifically from medium optical sizes (9–14) of Parmentier's cutting, which were themselves designed to reconcile the grace of Claude Garamont's originals with the demands of wood-pulp paper. The result is a slim, narrow Garalde carrying residual Art Nouveau character in several distinctive letterforms.

Set in Henry

Insights

Cortat anchored the design to medium type sizes (9–14) of Parmentier's engraving rather than display or text extremes.
Art Nouveau influence surfaces in specific letterforms: a leftward-leaning z, winding a and J, the lower loop of the heavily curved t, and the ample Q tail.
The italic preserves the same Art Nouveau sensibility through changing rhythm and joyous ligatures.
The original Parmentier engraving was explicitly designed to adjust for wood-based paper stocks rather than the cloth-based papers of the 16th century.