A Designer's Musings: Baskerville: the man, the font, and no, not the hound...

THE MAN
John Baskerville, born in 1706, was an English printer known today for his creation of the font that shares his name. Before working as a printer and typographer, his jobs ranged from tombstone engraver to the business of japanning (a lacquering process to make European imitations of Asian lacquer works)
John made many improvements to the printing world in addition to his creation of Baskerville. After starting up his own printing company, he improved existing types and printers, and even created new inks and better paper. Because of his hard work improving all parts of the printing process, Baskerville’s printings were usually clearer and blacker than the competition, which worked out well since his font had some pretty narrow strokes. In fact, most people at the time criticized the font for its thinness, and Baskerville didn’t gain attention or proper use until as late as the 1920s!
Among Baskerville’s printed works, his most notable piece is his Bible in 1763. Considered by some to be the ‘finest printed work in

England

,’ the Bible also stands out because Baskerville was an atheist. In addition, Baskerville also printed Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise regained, and even printed for Cambridge university.
Upon his death in 1775, he was buried in the non-consecrated ground of his own house, later being moved to a couple of different locations after the house was demolished to build a canal.

THE FONT

Baskerville is a transitional font, providing a segue between the traditional Caslon font and newer fonts. Baskerville is characterized by its thin lines, and was in fact criticized for being too thin. Overall though, it was based on the Caslon font, designed to be an improvement: straighter letters, a straighter serif, and the higher contrast between thick and thin lines. During John Baskerville's lifetime, the font was not very popular, however, it's poplarity grew over time: starting with Ben Franklin bringing it to America (used in governement documents) and later to it's rise in popularity in the 1920s.