The Baskerville typeface was

designed in 1757 in Birmingham,

England and is a transitional typeface

in the Caslon type family. It was

intended to be a new and improved

type that stretched the limits of paper

and ink. It has many thin lines and serifs

that were almost impossible to create on

many papers at the time. Each stroke is

more geometric than its previous families,

which makes it more legible. Baskerville

did this by making the type simple and

quaint instead of complex and loud.

One of the most identifying

characteristics of the Baskerville typeface

this typeface was new in the 1700’s,

it was disliked for its thin strokes and

curves. Therefore it was a failure at

the time. It was not seen again until

1920, when Bruce Rogers

rediscovered its beauty. He used it

to form many more modern fonts.

Thin edge onvertical stress

Thick edge oninclined stress

Use of thin and thick lines to create anelegant form

Delicate curveto terminate

the tail

Counter

John Baskerville was born

in Worcestershire, England on

January 28, 1706. He grew up in

Birmingham, England as a printer.

His expertise at the time was

japanning and papier-mâché. As he

grew older, he printed many works for

the University of Cambridge, including

the folio Bible. His folio Bible was said

printed in English. Other printers, such as

Benjamin Franklin, admired his works so

much that he brought them to the United

States. Baskerville was known for his

experimentation with type. The standard

typeface of the 1700’s was Caslon, but

Baskerville wanted to break the traditional

methods to try and create a new era of

typography. He created his own inks,

paper, and typefaces. However, he was

criticized greatly for trying to create

a new method. Many said his

new Baskerville font “hurt the eye”

and would be “responsible

for blinding the nation.”

DESIGNER TYPEFACE