Description
Book SynopsisThis book is concerned with the eighteenth-century typographer, printer, industrialist and Enlightenment figure, John Baskerville (1707-75). Baskerville was a Birmingham inventor, entrepreneur and artist with a worldwide reputation who made eighteenth-century Birmingham a city without typographic equal, by changing the course of type design. Baskerville not only designed one of the world’s most historically important typefaces, he also experimented with casting and setting type, improved the construction of the printing-press, developed a new kind of paper and refined the quality of printing inks. His typographic experiments put him ahead of his time, had an international impact and did much to enhance the printing and publishing industries of his day. Yet despite his importance, fame and influence many aspects of Baskerville’s work and life remain unexplored and his contribution to the arts, industry, culture and society of the Enlightenment are largely unrecognized. Moreover, recent scholarly research in archaeology, art and design, history, literary studies and typography, is leading to a fundamental reassessment of many aspects of Baskerville’s life and impact, including his birthplace, his work as an industrialist, the networks which sustained him and the reception of his printing in Britain and overseas. The last major, but inadequate publication of Baskerville dates from 1975. Now, forty years on, the time is ripe for a new book. This interdisciplinary approach provides an original contribution to printing history, eighteenth-century studies and the dissemination of ideas.
Trade ReviewReviews 'A fascinating account of the printer, type designer, and manufacturer, John Baskerville, which sheds new light on the history of this polymathic figure. Focusing on previously unexplored details of his personal life, the book explores his contribution to fields beyond printing, and his relationship with the broader technologies and ideas of Enlightenment Birmingham.'
Dr Freya Gowrley, University of Edinburgh
‘This book brings to light the life of this relatively unknown 18th century figure…This volume is an important addition to the story of Birmingham and the power of networks that brought together art and industry during the Industrial Revolution.’
The William Shipley Group Bulletin
'This enterprising volume of essays makes a determined effort to…underline the influence that Baskerville had in the Midlands, Britain and beyond.'
Paul Elliott,
Midland History'This collection of papers is a useful contribution to the study of Baskerville [...] There is valuable original work here, especially in filling out some of the gaps in our knowledge of Baskerville’s life.'
John Feather,
Publishing History'Due to the variety of its chapters, and the depth of their investigations, John Baskerville: Art and Industry of the Enlightenment is a most welcome title, and one can only hope that it may be the first in what will become a series of 'Baskerville studies' addressing a range of topics from authors in a variety of fields.
'Dan Reynolds, Journal of the Printing Historical Society
Table of ContentsList of Figures viiAcknowledgements xiForeword xiiiTimeline xv
Baskerville Family Tree xvii
Introduction: John Baskerville: Art and Industry ofthe Enlightenment 1Caroline Archer-Parré and Malcolm Dick1 The Topographies of a Typographer: Mapping JohnBaskerville since the Eighteenth Century 9Malcolm Dick2 Baskerville’s Birmingham: Printing and the English Urban Renaissance 25John Hinks3 Place, Home and Workplace: Baskerville’s Birthplaceand Buildings 42George Demidowicz4 John Baskerville: Japanner of ‘Tea Trays and otherHousehold Goods’ 71Yvonne Jones5 John Baskerville, William Hutton and their Social Networks 87Susan Whyman6 John Baskerville the Writing Master: Calligraphy and Typein the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 113Ewan Clayton7 A Reappraisal of Baskerville’s Greek Types 133Gerry Leonidas8 John Baskerville’s Decorated Papers 151Barry McKay and Diana Patterson9 The ‘Baskerville Bindings’ 166Aurélie Martin10 After the ‘Perfect Book’: English Printers and their Use ofBaskerville’s Type, 1767–90 185Martin Killeen11 The Cambridge Cult of the Baskerville Press 206Caroline Archer-Parré
Appendix 1 The ‘Baskerville Bindings’ 222Appendix 2 Members of the Baskerville Club 226Appendix 3 Comparative Bibliography 230Further Reading 248General Bibliography 255Notes on the Contributors 260Index 263
