Geoffroy Tory

Geoffroy Tory (also Geofroy, Latin "Godofredus Torinus") was born in Bourges around 1480 and died in Paris before 14 October 1533. He was a French humanist and an engraver, best known for adding accents on letters in French. His life's work has heavily influenced French publishing to this day.

Geoffroy Tory was born in Bourges in 1480, a decade after the first printing press arrived in Paris. He attended the local university, where he developed an interest in Latin literature. After completing his studies, Tory left Bourges for Italy, where he studied at two additional universities: first, the Sapienza at Rome, and then Bologna, where he studied under Philip Beroaldus, a well-known Latinist. The exact date of Tory's death is unknown, however it is said in a lease that in 1533 his wife was a widow.

Around 1505, Tory left for Paris after completing his studies in Italy. He worked there as a bookbinder, editor of texts, and corrector for the press, serving such clients as Jean Grolier de Servières.

The first book Tory is known to have worked on is the Pomponius Mela, in 1508. This work helped him to develop a rather large reputation, despite his youth. In 1509 he became one of the youngest professors to teach at the Collège du Plessis. While Tory taught, he continued to work on his passion of bookbinding and editing.

Tory was known to be an extremely hard worker, often taking on large workloads. Some time around 1511, he became a professor at Collège de Coqueret, and soon after at the Collège de Bourgogne, which at the time was a principal unit of the University of Paris. His lectures were said to draw large audiences.

Tory's interest in this period turned to the arts, especially painting and engraving. Several years after joining the Collège de Bourgogne, he resigned his post and moved to Italy so as to better study Italian art. Beyond his passing references to his travels in Champ Fleury, there is not much known of Tory at this time. He returned to Paris in 1518 and began regularly producing woodcuts, for which he gained a reputation among Parisian editors. It was during this same period that Tory took up selling books himself.

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