The Baskerville typeface is familiar to billions of readers and users of standard computer software across the world. However, the story behind its creation by John Baskerville (1707-75) is much less widely known. This is in spite of the fact that he was England's foremost printer, and what he called his 'small performances' in typeface design 'went forth to astonish all librarians of Europe’. This talk will introduce Baskerville the man, the typeface, and some of the beautiful books he, and others, created with his eponymous types.
Caroline Archer-Parré is Professor of Typography and Co-director of the Centre for Printing History & Culture at Birmingham City University / University of Birmingham (UK), and Chair of the Baskerville Society. She is Co-Investigator on a three-year funded project with the University of Cambridge, titled: ‘Small Performances: investigating the typographic punches of John Baskerville through heritage science and practice-based research’. With an interest in typographic history from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, Caroline has published widely. www.cphc.org.uk
