[TYPOGRAPHY] Valentin COURCHINOUX

Letterpress poster for the 1886 Workers’ Exhibition.

Paris, Paul Schmidt, 1886.

Printed poster (595 x 465 mm), canvas-backed; minor foxing and short tear.

Rare proof of this artistic typographic poster by Valentin Courchinoux (1854-1894) for the 1886 workers' exhibition.
Dedicated to the city of Paris and the Société typographique parisienne, it presents the commandments of the federated book worker.

Valentin Cournichoux had apprenticed as a typesetter in his native Aurillac. Arriving in Paris around 1881, he worked for several printing houses before joining the Imprimerie Nationale. In 1884, he won first prize in the Berthier competition for a typographic calendar. For Turlot, he produced a Semainier composed of 52 typographical compositions.
“At the 1886 Workers' Exhibition, Courchinoux exhibited a painting that was a great success. As a result, a large number of typographers rushed to acquire proofs of this composition”.
He also won a medal at the 1889 Universal Exhibition.

“Courchinoux served typography well.
He lived so much for his art that he devoted all his spare time after the workshop to his combinations in nets; he applied himself to it with such predilection that, despite his merit, he never conquered a very lucrative situation. He died a modest typesetter at the Imprimerie Nationale.
If Courchinoux left no fortune to his widow and orphans, he bequeathed them a name that has the sympathies of the whole typography world.”

Arnold Muller. Annuaire de l'Imprimerie. 1894. pp. 145-147.

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