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John Baskerville (28 Jan 1706 - 8 Jan 1775)
John Baskerville
(28 Jan 1706 - 8 Jan 1775) |
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Art Work
| Name: |
John Baskerville |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Sion Hill, Worcs |
| Nationality: |
English |
| Birth: |
28 Jan 1706 |
| Death: |
8 Jan 1775 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
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| Medium: |
Printer and Publisher |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
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Biography
| He developed skills in calligraphy and monumental inscription-cutting apparently without an apprenticeship. Aged 19 he went to Birmingham to teach writing and bookkeeping and also to cut tombstones. Around 1740 he entered into business as a manufacturer of japanned goods, at which he proved highly successful. The proceeds enabled him to purchase a large house outside Birmingham and to start experimenting with type-founding c. 1750. Baskerville entered into partnership with the London bookseller Robert Dodsley (1733-64), and he published an edition of the works of Virgil as his first book in 1757; it met with praise but also with the criticism that was to follow him throughout much of his career: the print was too dazzling, the strokes too narrow and the paper too glossy. Baskervilles types achieved their effect by his modification of the stress nearer the vertical; the transition between thick and thin strokes was more pronounced than in previous types, and the general effect was of greater precision. He may not have set up his own paper mill, as has been suggested, but he certainly exploited the properties of the newly developed wove paper and pressed it to achieve a crisp finish (see Typography).In 1758 Baskerville gained the rights to print the Bible and Prayer Book from Cambridge University and was appointed Printer to the University. The Bible appeared in 1763 and was a critical but not financial success; the Book of Common Prayer (1760) was republished three times. Other major ecclesiastical projects included a Greek type for an Oxford University edition of the New Testament (1763), in quarto and octavo format, which was not a success. More successful editions included the works of English poets and those of Horace (Birmingham, 1762), edited by John Livy.After a period of stagnation, in 1766 Baskerville handed over his business to his employee Robert Martin ( fl 1758-96), who produced a number of undistinguished books before Baskerville resumed charge in 1769. After his death his types were turned down by the universities and were purchased by the author Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-99). The surviving punches and matrices were presented to Cambridge University in 1953. |
Samples of Work
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