Estienne Press

French publishing house in Paris (1502-1674). The leading French publishers of the 16th century, they were noted for their scholarly editions of Greek and Roman classics. A family business, it was founded by Henry I Estienne (died 1520), whose widow married his partner, Simon de Colines. He in turn trained his stepson Robert (1503-59) who took over the press in 1526, later receiving the royal appointment to Francis I. In the 1550s a branch was established in Geneva.

Robert Estienne's Latin thesaurus 1531 (an enlarged edition appeared in 1543) was followed by several bilingual dictionaries, while his editions of the Bible, including a Greek-Latin New Testament (1551) (the first to divide the chapters into numbered verses), combined his scholarship and his firm Christian beliefs. Robert's Calvinist sympathies took him to Geneva in 1550, while his brother Charles continued printing in Paris, his outstanding works being the first French encyclopedia (1553) and a textbook on anatomy. He was followed by his nephew Robert II (1530-71), who also became a royal printer in 1564.

In Geneva Robert I was succeeded by his sons Henry II (1528-98), who brought out a Greek thesaurus (1572) to match his father's Latin one, and Francis (1537-82). Robert's grandson Paul (1567-1627), son of Henry II, eventually returned to Paris, where his son Antoine (died 1674) was the last of the dynasty and another royal printer.