STEPHANUS, Henry, the founder of a most remarkable and meritorious family of printers, was born at Paris in the year 1470. The French name is Estienne, which is frequently transformed into the English Stephens, although the correct translation would be Stephen. He began the business of a printer about the year 1503. This is the date of Boethius's treatise on arithmetic, the first book that is known to have issued from his press. A great proportion of the books which he published were Latin. They are printed in the Roman letter, and are not inelegant, though some of them abound rather too much in contractions. He died about the year 1520, and left behind him three sons, Francis, Robert, and Charles. His widow married Simeon de Colines (Colineus in Latin), who thus got possession of Henry's printing-office, and continued the business till his death.
Of Francis, the eldest son, little more is known than that he carried on business along with Colineus, and that he died at Paris in 1550.