Vatard, A Family of Printers.

Pierre Vatard and Marie Moreau.

In a book he published in 1607, Pierre Vatard wrote he moved to Auxerre, Bourgogne, France to marry. On 6 December 1581 Pierre wed Marie Moreau, the daughter of Nicolas Moreau and Françiose Hédot. Marie's sister Germaine was married to François Delorme, sergent royal (one who enforced judicial decrees); her sister Charlotte's husband, Guillaume Billault, was a blacksmith in nearby Saint-Bris.

The couple lived in Auxerre not far from the Yonne River which served as a shipping channel connecting the town to Paris, who eagerly received the Chablis wine produced in the area.

Daughter Françoise was named for her grandmother, and would later recieve her lands. Our ancestor Denis, their second child, was baptized 1 March 1584 in Notre-Dame-la-d'Hors ("d'Hors" refers to the fact the monastery was located outside of town.) His godparents included Denis Perronet, a canon of Auxerre and a doctor of theology, his uncle François Delorme and Thiennette Hédot, wife of Claude Fricquet.

The following year, 1585, Pierre took a five year lease on a house above the monks' church in Notre-Dame-la-d'Hors.

Though a printer, Pierre served one year as roi de l'Arquebuse (the arquebuse was a long gun which required a fork for support when firing). It was a coveted position which came with many privileges.

Libraire et maître imprimeur.

Pierre's shop was soon established on la grand rue Saint-Simeon. He was a bookseller and master printer, no doubt also selling the pamphlets and flyers that predated newspapers. His apprentices, typically young men in their late teens, mixed lamp-black ink from a concoction of varnish, soot from lamps and egg white. Papers made from hemp or flax were dampened for the oil-based inks to achieve a crisper image.

In the foreground, the man on the right is using a ball to ink the text block while the man next to him removes the printed sheet. Dog skin leather, used because it had no pores, was wrapped around sheep's wool to form a ball which was then mounted on a handle for the inking process.

The men in the background working on the raised trays are compositors. They placed the individual metal letters of type designed by Claude Garamond into a galley to form words and sentences. The galleys in turn were set in a forme, then passed off to be placed on a sturdy stone for inking. Our ancestor Denis was among the apprentices, learning his father's trade.

Marie Moreau had died around 1600, and Pierre remarried Marguerite Bonnemain on 22 July 1601. In their marriage contract he retains all tools relating to his print shop, as well as his arms and a silver watch. At least two more daughters were born, Marguerite and Claire. Pierre died sometime before 4 October 1613 when he agreed to a contract for his daughter Marguerite's marriage.

Dennis Vatard and Marguerite Marie.

Denis Vatard was 23 when he married Marguerite Marie on 28 January 1607 in Notre-Dame-la-d'Hors, Auxerre, France. She was the daughter of the merchant, Laurent Marie and his wife Crespine de Marizy.

Like his father, Denis was a master printer. An example of one his printed works is on the right, Coutumes de la ville et du Comte d'Auxerre. The book was printed in 1620. And like his father, he had other irons in the fire as he shared in the collection of tolls collected at the bridge to enter Auxerre.

Their seven children were all baptized in Notre-Dame-la-d'Hors. Our ancestor Jeanne was born about 1607. She would marry Nicolas Servignan. Denis died in 1634 at age 49.