Charlotte Guillard

Charlotte Guillard (c. 1485 - 1557) was an early printer who directed the Soleil d'Or printing house in Paris. Annie Parent described her as a "notability of the Rue Saint-Jacques", the street in the Latin Quarter where the shop was located. Twice married and twice widowed, Guillard operated her own publishing imprint for theological books during her two periods of widowhood, that is to say in 1519–20, and in 1537–57. While she was not the first woman printer, succeeding both Anna Rugerin of Augsburg (1484) and Anna Fabri of Stockholm (1496), she was the first woman printer with a significantly known career.

Early life
Guillard was very likely born in the late 1480s in Saint-Calais, France. Her name is sometime spelled Guillart and in Latin books as Carola Guillard. Living in the province of Maine in France, her parents were Jacques Guillard and Guillemyne Savary. The professions of her parents are unknown, but her known relatives are mostly merchants or lawyers.

First marriage
Guillard's first marriage was to the Alsatian printer Berthold Rembolt about 1507 (and not 1502 as it has wrongly been assumed ). Rembolt collaborated with Ulrich Gering, who had been a partner in the first printing press of France. Gering owned the Soleil d'Or, a printing house of considerable repute. Together, Gering and Rembolt specialised in theological and legal texts.

Gering retired in 1508, and Rembolt died in 1518 or 1519. Thereupon, Guillard ran the Soleil d'Or on her own initiative until her second marriage.

Second career
In 1520 Guillard married Claude Chevallon, a bookseller who also printed theological books. From this time forward, Guillard was known as "la Chevallonne". She was widowed a second time in 1537. Thereafter, Guillard ran her printing business on her own.

The publishing house was led by Guillard, with the help of her correctors: Jean Hucher (until 1538), Jacques Bogard (1538-1541), Louis Miré (1541-1552) and then Guillaume Guillard. She helped her nephew Pierre Haultin to establish as a printer and a punchcutter. Her business was significant: she owned five or six printing presses with about 25-30 employees and published about 200 editions. She catered to students, professional or religious clientele, often printed anti-Protestant books, and offered books in Latin as well as Greek.

She remained active in the publishing trade until her death in 1557.

More than 400 different libraries worldwide have books printed by Guillard.

Selected works

 * Jacques Toussain (Jacobus Tusanus), Lexicon Graecolatinum (1552)
 * Louis Lassere, La Vie de Monseigneur Sainct Hierosme (1541) (previously printed by Josse Badius ca. 1529)
 * List of works printed by Charlotte Guillard (on Copac)
 * Alexandri ab Alexandro iurisperiti Neapolitani genialium dierum libri sex, varia ac recondita eruditione referti (Paris: Carolam Guillard, 1539), from the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection at Duke University.