Who is John Baskerville

John Baskerville was a printer in Birmingham, England. He was a part of the Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the Lunar Society as well. He was mostly remembered as a printer and a typographer. He created many designs for Cambridge University in England, and other works. Benjamin Franklin took many of his designs back to the United States and adapted them for federal government publishing. His work there after was criticized and then fell out of favor. Yet, ever since the 1920’s fonts have been released by many type foundries to revive John Baskerville’s original style.

Baskerville, Johns revived style, is a transitional serif typeface designed in 1757. Baskerville is set as a transitional typeface, positioned between the old style typefaces of William Caslon, and the modern styles of Giambattista Bodoni and Firmin Didot. The Baskerville typeface is the result of Baskerville's intent to improve upon the types of William Caslon. He increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes, making the serifs sharper and more tapered, and shifted the axis of rounded letters to a vertical position. The curved strokes are more circular in shape, and the characters became more regular. The overall transformation creates a greater consistency in size and form. Baskerville's typeface was the culmination of a larger series of experiments to improve legibility which also included papermaking and ink making. The result was a typeface that reflected Baskerville's ideals of perfection; he chose simplicity and quiet refinement. His background as a writing master shows in the swash tail on the uppercase Q and in the cursive serifs in the Baskerville Italic. The refined feeling of the typeface makes it an excellent choice to convey dignity and tradition.