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The archives of Gérard Blanchard start with the lead era and finish when computing began to take root in the design industry. They are an underused seminal source for researchers in type design, typography, and, more broadly, graphic design. This article is based on an exploratory work of the Blanchard fund curated at Imec. First, it deals with the materiality and peculiarities of the manuscripts: numerous versions of the same text, personal graphic markers, and a staging of the page. Second, it shows his subjects of interest, his personal encounters, his social, teaching, and researching activities, and how these different aspects and their interwoven links resulted in a unique and innovative study on the semiology of the letter. Blanchard’s research is currently a reference and a source for many professionals.