The printer
Denis Janot
A Paris printer and bookseller, active from 1529 to 1544, whose shop stood near Notre-Dame.
Janot worked in French, bringing histories, poetry, translations and illustrated books to press. His books married vernacular writing with careful typography and woodcut decoration. His output included Guillaume de La Perrière’s emblem book Le théâtre des bons engins.
His career and catalogue are documented by the Renaissance Typography Database at the University of Tours and the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s BP16 catalogue. Stephen Rawles’s bibliographical study, held by the University of Warwick, traces Janot’s career and surviving editions.
Books from his press
- Le théâtre des bons engins, a richly illustrated book of emblems by Guillaume de La Perrière. View the c. 1540 edition at Gallica.
- Le theatre des bons engins, a later edition bearing Janot’s imprint. Read the 1545 digitized copy at Internet Archive.
The preface below is written in Janot’s voice as part of the novel. Historical records linked here document the real printer and his books.