The Fournier System

By the Parisian typographer Simon Fournier

The typographic point was developed by Pierre Simon Fournier. He chose 12 Cicero as the initial dimension. 12 Cicero are 2 inches of the then common measure in france, "Pied de roi".

This measure was again split into 2 parts with 12 lines each. One sixth of a line was the smallest unit: The point.

The "Pied de roi", which literally means "king's foot" in french, was 32,49 cm or 12,79 in in today's measure.

The Fournier System was replaced by the Didot System, invented by typographer Francois Ambroise Didot and his son Firmin Didot.