Printing in the 17th Century
The trade of a printer was more than a job; it was a proud, literate, and often rebellious subculture in the heart of Paris.
— Philippe Minard, Typography of the Enlightenment
The Latin Quarter Hub
The three parishes of the Latin Quarter—St-Benoit, St-André-des-Arts, and St-Séverin—formed the headquarters of the French printing industry. Surrounding the Sorbonne, these narrow streets attracted the intelligentsia of the era. The workshops were cramped, noisy, and relied on technology that had barely changed since the days of Gutenberg.
Apes and Bears: The Two Roles
The "Apes" (Compositors)
Sitting at the type cases, they assembled lead letters line by line. These men were highly literate, often fluent in Latin and Greek, and masters of orthography. They were nicknamed "apes" for the rapid, agile movements of their hands.
The "Bears" (Pressmen)
Operating the 300kg wood-and-metal press required Herculean strength. Two men worked in tandem: one inking the "eye" of the type with leather balls, the other pulling the bar with a rhythmic back-and-forth motion that earned them the nickname "bears."
The Daily Grind
A pair of well-synchronized "bears" could pull 1,500 double-sided sheets a day—requiring 6,000 pulls of the heavy bar. Work didn't end with printing. Compositors spent their evenings "distributing type" back into cases, while pressmen arrived early to "grind the black" (ink preparation) and dampen the paper.
The atmosphere was pungent; letters were cleaned with boiling potash lye, and inking leathers were often treated with urine to keep them supple. This was the gritty reality Pierre Jubinville likely navigated every day.
The Path to Mastery
In 1686, an apprenticeship contract cost roughly 100 livres. For four years, an apprentice was housed and fed but rarely paid. The first two years were spent on menial labor, and the final two on actual training—often in the face of hostility from journeymen who saw them as unpaid competition. Apprentices were strictly forbidden from marrying until their service was complete.
The Paper Trail
If we are able to write so much about this trade despite how much time has passed, it is thanks to a double effort of documentation. First, there was a sort of "professional distortion"—printers simply loved to document things. Second, the authorities maintained a very close watch on them, recognizing the immense power of what we would later call "the media."
Indeed, for the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous sources of information still exist in France, particularly in Paris. These include the records of the Chambre Syndicale (the guild) itself, royal censuses, and notarized acts of the period that list every worker by name and address.