Octave
Faire Type · Maxime Gau · 2023
A revival of Théophile Beaudoire's 19th-century French Elzevir type, drawn by Maxime Gau from an 1898 book source with a Text and Display subfamily across seven weights.
About
Based on Beaudoire's Elzévir as it appeared in Albert Soubies's Histoire de La Musique en Russie (1898), the design preserves the translation-axis contrast, compact serifs and heavy bowls that characterise the French Old Style tradition. Seven weights from Hairline to Black run across both the text-oriented Octave and the optically adjusted Octave Display, each with matching italics added in March 2025. The 28-style family sits well in literary publishing and editorial contexts where a cool, classically French register is wanted.
Classification
A revival of Beaudoire's French Elzevir, itself a 19th-century interpretation of Oldstyle forms. Features translation-axis contrast consistent with broad-nib calligraphic origins, placing it firmly within the humanist old style tradition.