Samples of Baskerville’s early work (click for larger image). But the difference between fine and bold strokes is more marked, the lower-case serifs are almost horizontal and the emphasis on the stroke widths is almost vertical. ![]() ![]() ![]() As a matter of fact, with its generous proportions, the Baskerville appears not very different from its predecessors. Now, dozens of type foundries have their own versions and derivatives.īenjamen Franklin (who already had a successful printing business) was an admirer of Baskerville (they met in Birmingham in 1758), and returned to the US with Baskervilles’s work, popularising it through its adoption as one of the standard typefaces employed in federal government publishing. The American classical typographer Bruce Rogers (designer of the Centaur typeface, among others) was in large part behind the modern revival of Baskerville’s typefaces. It wasn’t until the 1920s that Baskerville finally won the attention he had always merited. As Cambridge University owned the patent to that Bible version and the Prayer Books, they stipulated that Baskerville should actually take his printing presses to Cambridge to print them. Although in his lifetime he was underappreciated compared with his close contemporary William Caslon, he is now recognized as the other half of the duo that transformed English printing and type founding. However, during those seven years he was an impressive innovator, not only in the construction of the printing press but even in the inks and papers he prepared.Īmong Baskerville’s most noted works are Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, Book of Common Prayer, and his Bible of 1763 – generally considered to be his finest achievement. English writing master, stonecutter, letter designer, typefounder and printer. In 1750 he set up a printing business, but it took him until 1757 to produce his first book. [Restorationįorm of Prayer for the 25th day of October.Type founder, printer, stone cutter and lacquer ware professional. The Thanksgiving of Women after Child-bearing.įorm of Prayer for the 5th Day of November.įorm of Prayer for the 30th Day of January.įorm of Prayer for the 29th Day of May. Tables and Rules for the Feasts and Fasts through the whole Year. The Order how the rest of the holy Scripture The Order how the Psalter is appointed to be g., the typeface is 13 point, rather than the original 14Ĭoncerning Ceremonies, why some be abolished, Piece of paper, so all dimensions of the original were reduced by aboutĨ% to fit (e. The original pages are slightly larger than half of an 8½ x 11" The font used is John Baskerville, from Storm Foundries, which is veryĬlose to the original and includes all the characters used in this book. Another printing from 1760 (single column, decorated borders, Griffths 1760/4, Gaskell 12) is available from the Internet Atrchive.Īll in PDF format if clicking on one of the files doesn't automaticallyīring up the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you will need to get a copy (it's free) Google Books or the Internet Archive as PDF graphics. Of the Book of Common Prayer as 1762/4 and is #19 in Phillip Gaskell'sīibliography of Baskerville's works the title page may be seen at right. It appears in David Griffiths' Bibliography The edition used here is single column, undecorated,Īnd was printed in 1762. ![]() In three basic flavors: single column, two column, and with or without The Book of Common Prayer, done as printer at Cambridge University, came His typefaces were finely constructed, his designs simple,Īnd spare, and made great use of white space. Making a number of innovations, including the Baskerville typeface still Baskerville was one of the giants of English typography, Many printings, only a few stand out, chief among which are a series doneīetween 17. Of England) has gone through literally hundreds of printings. 1662 Book of Common Prayer (still the official Prayer Book of the Church
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