diff --git a/src/backends.jl b/src/backends.jl
index 04b8d3f01..b18b3c4ad 100644
--- a/src/backends.jl
+++ b/src/backends.jl
@@ -456,6 +456,7 @@ const _gr_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
     :titlefontvalign,
     :titlefontrotation,
     :titlefontcolor,
+    :legend_column,
     :legend_font_family,
     :legend_font_pointsize,
     :legend_font_halign,
@@ -869,6 +870,7 @@ const _pyplot_attr = merge_with_base_supported([
     :titlefontfamily,
     :titlefontsize,
     :titlefontcolor,
+    :legend_column,
     :legend_font_family,
     :legend_font_pointsize,
     :legend_font_color,
diff --git a/src/backends/deprecated/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/deprecated/pyplot.jl
index 4fc33cfd2..5eb548a88 100644
--- a/src/backends/deprecated/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/deprecated/pyplot.jl
@@ -1527,14 +1527,16 @@ function py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)
     # if anything was added, call ax.legend and set the colors
     if !isempty(handles)
         leg = legend_angle(leg)
-        ncol = if (lc = sp[:legend_column]) < 0
+        ncol = if (lc = sp[:legend_column]) == -1
             nseries
-        elseif lc > 1
-            lc == nseries ||
-                @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc is not compatible with n° of series=$nseries"
+        elseif lc > nseries
+            @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc is larger than n° of series=$nseries"
             nseries
-        else
+        elseif lc == 0 || lc < -1
+            @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc has undefined behaviour. Assuming vertical layout."
             1
+        else
+            lc
         end
         leg = ax."legend"(
             handles,
diff --git a/src/backends/gr.jl b/src/backends/gr.jl
index b7ccf0695..2201c360d 100644
--- a/src/backends/gr.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gr.jl
@@ -1093,9 +1093,12 @@ function gr_add_legend(sp, leg, viewport_area)
             if vertical
                 ypos -= leg.dy
             else
-                # println(string(series[:label]), " ", nentry, " ", nentry % legend_cols)
+                # row-major sorting
                 xpos += nentry % legend_cols == 0 ? -(legend_cols - 1) * leg.dx : leg.dx
                 ypos -= nentry % legend_cols == 0 ? leg.dy : 0
+                # column-major sorting
+                # xpos += nentry % legend_rows == 0 ? leg.dx : 0
+                # ypos -= nentry % legend_rows == 0 ? -(legend_rows - 1) * leg.dy : leg.dy
                 nentry += 1
             end
         end
@@ -1222,14 +1225,13 @@ function gr_get_legend_geometry(vp, sp)
     elseif legend_column > nseries && nseries != 0 # catch plot_title here
         @warn "n° of legend_column=$legend_column is larger than n° of series=$nseries"
         (1 + has_title, nseries)
-    elseif legend_column == 0
-        @warn "n° of legend_column=$legend_column. Assuming vertical layout."
+    elseif legend_column == 0 || legend_column < -1
+        @warn "n° of legend_column=$legend_column has undefined behaviour. Assuming vertical layout."
         vertical = true
         (has_title + nseries, 1)
     else
         (ceil(Int64, nseries / legend_column) + has_title, legend_column)
     end
-    #println(column_layout)
 
     base_factor = width(vp) / 45  # determines legend box base width (arbitrarily based on `width`)
 
diff --git a/src/backends/pythonplot.jl b/src/backends/pythonplot.jl
index 11e411559..10fa58ea2 100644
--- a/src/backends/pythonplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pythonplot.jl
@@ -1426,14 +1426,19 @@ function _py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)
     isempty(handles) && return
 
     leg = legend_angle(leg)
-    ncol = if (lc = sp[:legend_column]) < 0
+    ncol = if (lc = sp[:legend_column]) == -1
         nseries
-    elseif lc > 1
-        lc == nseries ||
-            @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc is not compatible with n° of series=$nseries"
+    elseif lc > nseries
+        #lc == nseries ||
+        #    @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc is not compatible with n° of series=$nseries"
+        #nseries
+        @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc is larger than n° of series=$nseries"
         nseries
-    else
+    elseif lc == 0 || lc < -1
+        @warn "n° of legend_column=$lc has undefined behaviour. Assuming vertical layout."
         1
+    else
+        lc
     end
     leg = ax.legend(
         handles,
@@ -1447,7 +1452,7 @@ function _py_add_legend(plt::Plot, sp::Subplot, ax)
         framealpha = alpha(plot_color(sp[:legend_background_color])),
         fancybox = false,  # makes the legend box square
         # borderpad = 0.8,  # to match GR legendbox
-        ncol,
+        ncols = ncol,
     )
     leg.get_frame().set_linewidth(_py_thickness_scale(plt, 1))
     leg.set_zorder(1_000)