Scarce type specimen issued by the Girard & Cie. that was in existence between 1921 and 1923. The foundry was started in 1828 by Alexandre De Berny (after Balzac’s failure) under the name Deberny. In 1877, Deberny associated himself with Charles Tuleu, his illegitimate son. Tuleu inherited the firm in 1881 and ran it until 1914. He added many fine typefaces, including a series of ancient Latins, many scripts and neo-elzeviriennes, and a collection of foreign alphabets. In 1914, a childless Tuleu proposed the merger of his business with that of the family of his wife, Jeanne Peignot, the sister of Georges Peignot, who ran Peignot et Cie, a rival type foundry. Jeanne refused to be associated with her brother and thus prevented any collaboration between the firms. Tuleu teamed up instead with an old school friend, Robert Girard. Ownership of the business passed to Girard in 1921 when Tuleu retired. The firm was renamed Girard et Cie. Talks were started with Peignot about a merger. Deberny & Peignot was incorporated on July 1, 1923. This specimen has the same title and format as all of Deberny’s ‘Livrets typographique’. The types are a mixture of those by Girard and all his predessesors. [c .f. L. Devroye].