In 1585 the family and the printing works moved to Geneva in order to escape religious persecution as Huguenots in the French Wars of Religion.

Their mottoes included Nescit labi virtus; Son art en Dieu; Per ipsum facta sunt omnia; Quod tibi fieri non vis, alteri ne feceris and Virum de mille unum reperi.

[1] Jean de Tournes published many of the Lyonnais poets of his generation, including Antoine Du Moulin [fr], Maurice Scève, Louise Labé, Joachim du Bellay and Olivier de Magny [fr].

He published accurate editions of the works of authors including Petrarch (1545), Dante (1547), Marguerite de Navarre (1547), Vitruvius (1552) and Froissart (1559–61).

Illustrated books from his press include the Emblemata of Andrea Alciati (1547), Aesop's Fables (1547), the Quadrins historiques de la Bible (1553) and the Metamorphoses of Ovid (1557).