Ambroise Cormier

Biography

The Cormier family, which gave to Laval her the first two printers, of which us knew some productions, originating in the Mans and was rather well connected, since we see among its members of the priests, a rider, notaries.

Ambroise Cormier was established in Laval like printer a little front 1633. He was called there by Robert Master Bret, his relative and probably his uncle, who had served for ten years the cure of Nuillé-on-Vicoin.

As when the young man Maria with Anne Masson, like him parish of the Trinity, wanted it as its union was bénite with Nuillé by a relative who protected it. The ceremony took place the June 20th 1633. At that time, the center commercial was on the place of the Palate, the only one which existed in Laval, in the vicinity of the markets. It is there that Ambroise Cormier opened his workshop “ in shops estans in lean-to building against the house of Small-Montjean. ” This house of Small-Montjean and the Room of the Accounts which attenait there, belonged to Guillaume Duparc, who had acquired them by sale by auction. It had resold of it a part with Gilles Lelong, sior of Troussière, which made there its residence and yielded the shops to the new printer.

Ambroise Cormier was with narrow in a lean-to building without depth, plated against a high house; he choked under a low roof, without air and light; he would have liked a dwelling more comfortable than these unhappy shops where he could not even make fire. As its project was in 1644, “ according to the permission as it avoit of Monseigneur…, to make raise the bouticques ones in apentiz as they are and to carry the feste of icelles jusques to demy close foot and below the grids fenestrate house known as the Court of Auditors; and to make bastir and build a house, or another thing for its convenience, on the portal and principal entry of the aforesaid the house, for reason of quoy it is obliged to pay revenues with the recepte châtellenie of Laval… ” It would have also liked to prolong its lean-to buildings beyond the limits assigned with the first dealers. But main Guillaume Duparc, his salesman, who had as engagement the principal house known as of Small-Montjean or the Court of Auditors, did not intend to suffer his encroachments and the humble printer-bookseller was obliged to fold in front of this character who, for the moment, as clerk of the ordinary seat of Laval and purchaser of a good part of the grounds of the marquis Villaines, put in failure, enjoyed a powerful influence. Ambroise Cormier had to be satisfied with the exemption of the weak royalty which it annually paid to the count de Laval. He did not resign himself however without resistance, because even after the agreement of the February 5th 1644, he still accepted an assignment of Me Guillaume Duparc, of which it seems to result that it had not stopped his work of enlarging.

Ambroise Cormier had, like printer, to limit itself to menus work including/understanding the impressions administrative, then extremely mean, the billets for the troops of passage, the quotations with sitted the seigneuriales, some wall cupboards, and some orders of évêché. In fact there at least the only parts seem to have been printed in Laval of its time. Among his work one knows of him only some rare publications:

Extraict of the Registers of Parliament May 1631 and,
because it was then the only printer in the capital of the Low-Maine, one allots to him with some reason the true Histoire, of the extraordinary effects and épouventables, arrive at the month of septemb. 1636, in the towns of Fraud, Pontorson, Mount S.Michel, Tomblaine and be surroundings ''.

Prayers ordered to gain the jubilee granted by N.S.P. the Pope Innocent X by Monseigneur the Bishop of Mans . Printed in Laval by Ambroise Cormier, printer of the roy, 1645.

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