Baskerville

REMAINS ONE OF THE

MOST FAVOURED OF THE OLD STYLE

typefaces. Its traditional form rarely looks out of place, no matter
the context. It was designed by John Baskerville of Birmingham
(1706-1775) and the original punches cut by him still survive.
They had been sold to Beaumarchais and made their way via
several other French foundries to Deberney & Peignot in Paris,
but are now held by Cambridge University Press. This typeface
was the first of the ‘transitional romans’, between the softer
calligraphic Old Face and the ‘Modern’ sharp Bodoni, which
shows more influence of the engraver’s tool than the brush or
pen. It may not look very different from the Old Faces but a
closer inspection and comparison with Caslon, the favourite of
the time, reveals more crisp differentiation of thin and thick
strokes, and the serifs on the lower case are closer to the
horizontal. It is a round type and normally wide set, suitable for
bookwork and display advertisements but the thin strokes tend
to disappear in poster work. It should not be confused with
‘Baskerville Old Style,’ which is a semi-modern face from Caslon.

BASKERVILLE

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72 POINT BASKERVILLE