The history behind Baskerville typeface
History behind the Baskerville typeface
John Baskerville developed into a writing master at Birmingham but in 1740 established a japanning (varnishing) business, whose profits gave him the chance to experiment in the art of typefounding. He built up a printing house and in 1757 published his first work, a publication of Virgil, followed in 1758 by a copy of John Milton. Selected printer to the University of Cambridge, he started an edition of the Bible in the year 1763, which is considered to be his masterpiece. He published a predominantly beautiful edition of Horace in 1762; the success of a second edition in the later year of 1970 motivated him to issue a series of versions of Latin authors.
What is the Baskerville typeface?
This typeface was created by John Baskerville. It contains six categories;
· Baskerville regular
· Baskerville regular Old Face
· Baskerville regular italic
· Baskerville medium
· Baskerville medium italic
· Baskerville bold
There are a lot of characteristics in Baskerville so that you can easily recognise it.It is a transitional font that crosses between the modern & the old style.Each letter has a high contrast in stroke weight so that is easily readable for the eyes.It nearly has that vertical axis/stress but as it is not fully vertical you will be able to see a slight slant in the letters.The bottom of the letters are bracketed serifs which makes the letters look stable when on the page there are 4 types of serifs that are different from each other which makes it easy to spot out those differences.The Baskerville typeface has more rounded edges/serifs, softer form it doesn’t have harder edges and lines that you would usually see in a regular serif typeface.The terminals/tails are pear shaped. It also has a larger x-height which is unique to most typefaces which again helps you easily recognise the Baskerville typeface. It is an overall elegant typeface which is used for many occasions mainly seen as a typeface used for luxury purposes.A small “g” loops does not touch the neck making the letter easy to read and recognise.The letter ‘Q’ tail is elongated which shows a neutral balance with the larger x-height.The letter “A” seems to exceed the cap height the same height as ascender.Overall, it’s a stable font with thick stems to support each letter and make it look bold and readable.
The Baskerville is a big part of Birmingham as the creator John Baskerville was born there and had created that typeface that has been used countlessly in Birmingham around the city.
