B
askerville
Baskerville
Baskerville Pamela Mulhern
2014
CHAPTER
1
John Baskerville
8
2
History
10
3
Characteristics
12
4
Variations
14
5
Uses
20
John Baskerville was one of the first printers to use type which moved away from the old face patterns of the preceding two centuries. Although his work was frequently derided in his native England it influenced continental printers like Didot and Bodoni. Born in Wolverly Worchestershire, he moved to Birmingham in 1725, where he worked as a writing master and engraver for ten years before setting up in business making japanware. Following the financial success of that venture he set up a type-foundry and printing press in 1750. After a considerable period of experimentation in production processes, his first book, Virgil’s Bucolica, Georgica et Æneis, appeared in 1757. Baskerville 8
Baskerville became printer to Cambridge University Press in 1758, printing a grand folio Bible in 1763, which brount much acclaim on the Continent, along with a Greek New Testament for Oxford University Press in the same year. His Type was cut by John Handy, and its restraint was mirrored by Baskerville’s Typography which (apart from his Bible titlepage) is notable for its sensitive use of space. The punches for his types were sold by his widow Sarah after his death in 1775 and they eventually came into the possession of the Deberny Et Peignot typefoundry, which presented them to Cambridge University Press in 1953.
9 Baskerville
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTU VWXYZÀ ÅÉÎÕØabc defghijklm nopqrstuvw xyzàåéîõøü &1234567 890($£.,!?)
Baskerville began the Baskerville faces circa 1752, giving careful attention to drawing consistent and refined letterforms that retained the elegance and spirit of the hand. Baskerville was used as a text type in books such as the Latin Virgil (1757), Milton (1758), and The Spectator (1761). But initially the designer’s refined type and clarity in book design were not well received; in fact, it wasn’t until 150 years after his death that the face again became popular. The font’s alleged lack of readability was blamed on a number of factors including Baskerville’s use of hot-pressing, which added a gloss to the pages.
Baskerville 10
The delicate refinement of the Baskerville face, high contrast between strokes, and lack of a comforting calligraphic flow were also cited as factors disruptive to reading. Although rejected by his English contemporaries, Baskerville’s type and page designs were welcome in France and the U.S. Benjamin Franklin was a supporter and purchased many copies of the Latin Virgil, saying it “be the most curiously printed of any Book hitherto done in the World” (Type historian Robert Bringhurst points out that the face’s warm reception in the U.S. might be due to a shared neoclassical sensibility and the rise of the Federal architectural style in the late 1700s.)
11 Baskerville
What distinguishes Baskerville type from old-style and modern faces? As noted before, Baskerville’s type was criticized for its lack of convention, most notably for its contrast between thick and thin strokes. Baskerville’s departure from traditional processes and accepted notions of readability made little sense to readers in the late 1700s. Today, conversely, we see considerable similarity between Baskerville type and the old-style faces, such as Caslon at the same time recognizing more discrepancies between it and modern faces like Bodoni.
g
Baskerville has many distinctive characteristics. The stress is almost vertical, eliminating the reclined axis of old-style type and its close association to handwriting. The open loop and the swashlike tapered tail of the g unmistakably identifies the letterform as Baskerville. A less obvious identifier is the flowing, swashlike tail of the Q. This calligraphic feature varies in the different foundry versions, but it is always connected to the body of the letterform by a hairline. Along with its unique identifiers, Baskerville has several additional nuances. The C has serifs on both top and bottom, but a serif is not present on the central junction of the W. The spur of the G is slightly serifed from the concave joint. Baskerville 12
CGWA Ee
Other notable attributes of the upper-case include a high crossbar on the A and a long lower arm on the E. Because the lowercase counters have a large shape, the type has a full-bodied appearance. However, the e is slightly different from its lower-case siblings. The counter is smaller and restricts the type’s flexibility in printing, creating the possibility of a closed counter.
13 Baskerville
in 1917, American typographer Bruce Rogers revived Baskerville, using it in work for the Harvard University Press. The Baskerville types soon became fashionable again. In 1923, Stanley Morison created a version for British Monotype as part of its program of historical revivals. George W. Jones’ revival for Linotype appeared in 1929, and soon every major foundry had its own version of Baskerville. A variety of Baskerville-inspired designs have been developed in the digital era are frequently seen in quality book typography and similar projects where readability and refinement are the focus.
Berthold Baskerville Regular C is remarkable for its single serif.
Digital versions of Baskerville are more uniform than photostype versions, but there are still significant variations between the digital faces. Monotype Baskerville Regular bears the closest relationship to the original Baskerville. Overall, it has a greater contrast between the thick and thin strokes than does ITC New Baskerville, Berthold Baskerville Regular, and certainly Emigre’s Mrs Eaves. Berthold tends to be heavier that the other versions with less contrast between thick and thin strokes, a contrast most similar to that of Emigre. ITC distinguishes itself with slightly concave serifs. Most of the other differences between these versions lie in their serifs, bowls, loops, arms, and counters. Baskerville 14
The body height of the O is quite different in the various versions of Baskerville. The counter of Mrs. Eaves is the most circular.
Alphabetically, the C of Berthold is the first letterform to offer significant contrast to the other versions. Following its general characteristics, the serif of the Berthold C is heavier and bit wider. Whereas Monotype, ITC, and Emigre all have bracketed serifs on the top and bottom, Berthold employs only one serif on the top. One of the most structurally consistent Baskerville letterforms is the O. The counter of ITC has a slightly more vertical oval, causing Monotype and Berthold to appear a bit rectangular in comparison. The Emigre O exhibits more geometry and less contrast. The one obvious difference between the forms lies in body height, with Berthold towering over the others. 15 Baskerville
A comparative look at the tails of ITC, Monotype, Berthold, and Emigre shows variations in length, width, and terminus
Overlapping letterforms reveal nuances in both body height and serif style in all four versions: Monotype, ITC, Berthold, and Emigre.
As noted earlier, the Q has a tail that is easily identifiable as a Baskerville feature. A shared element between versions of the Q is the equal ratio between the stroke width of the tail and the bowls. The swash tails are all long yet vary in each version. In Monotype, the hairline is attached to the bottom of the right side of the bowl, and the terminus is flat; it looks snipped off. ITC connects the tail at the bottom-center of the body via a shorter hairline. The terminus of its swash comes to a point in true calligraphic gesture. The tail of the Berthold version is the same as Monotype in swash stroke weight and connection point; the variation between Berthold and Monotype is Berthold’s slightly thicker hairline and rounded terminus. Baskerville 16
The tail of the Emigre Q is similar to that of Monotype and Berthold, but the connection is made at the center of the body form and is curved. Concerning the swash, the tear is more pronounced, and the terminus is flat like Monotype. There are significant differences in serif treatment in the d, h, and p. The top and foot serifs of Monotype and Berthold version has a deeper curve. It is surprising to find the top serifs of ITC as a straight angle, unlike those of the uppercase. However the lower serifs of the h and p echo the concave character of the uppercase. The letterforms b, k, l, and q also follow the aforementioned attributes. ITC also has a more obtuse angle in the foot serifs of d and u. Emigre has straight angled top serifs while retaining flat descender serifs in the h and p. 17 Baskerville
The cursive strokes of these Baskerville italic are unique to Monotype.
The terminus of the Berthold Baskerville Regular g almost closes the bowl. Emigre Mrs. Eaves Italic differs significantly from Monotype Baskerville Italic in the T and J
ITC New Baskerville Italic contains a looped arm on the k and center serif on the W.
The e and g are subtly yet distinctively different in each version. The small eye of the Monotype and Emigre e preserves Baskerville’s original letterform. ITC and Berthold have made modifications to the eye so that it is larger and more proportional to the other letterforms; ITC has increased overall character width while Berthold has a lower bar. The open bowl of the g is different in three of the four versions. Monotype and Emigre share a similar terminus, coming to a slender point and leaving the openess of the bowl well defined. ITC brings the terminus inward slightly with a wider stroke and point. The terminus of Berthold almost closes the bowl with a broad stroke that comes to a sharp point. Baskerville 18
Monotype Baskerville Italic is easy to distinguish from ITC, Berthold, an Emigre’s italic versions. The J, K, N, T, Y, and Z employ cursive strokes unmistakable as ITC or Berthold. The J and Z have swashes for crossbars while the K, N, T, and Y have tears on most of the termini. Emigre shares the cursive stroke faithfully with Monotype in the same uppercase letter except for the T and J. The J resembles ITC, and the T is characterized by serifs angled in opposite directions. ITC distinguishes itself in its W, w, and k. Radically breaking from the other faces, the arm of the k loops around to the leg to form a closed bowl. The W employs a center serif and the w does not loop at the apex, contrary to the other faces. 19 Baskerville
Prints Studio Ginger Monkey Designer Ginger Monkey/Tom Lane Principal Typeface Baskerville Inspiring Words series of limited-edition prints,
Book Cover Publisher McGill Queen’s University Press Montreal Studio Salamander Hill Design Designer David Drummond Principal Typeface Trade Gothic & ITC New Baskerville
Baskerville 20
Book Cover Publisher Random House New York Studio Salamander Hill Design Designer David Drummond Principal Typeface ITC New Baskerville
Baskerville type is familiar to designers as a body text and has been employed rarely above 18 point. However, with the invention of scalable digital fonts, today’s designers are finding the type to be very useful in a varity of point sizes.
21 Baskerville
May 7 2014 Pamela Mulhern Sources (Photo & Print) MacMillan, Neil. An A-Z of Type Designers. New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006. Print. Meggs, Phillip B. & McKelvey, Roy. Revival of the Fittest: Digital Versions of Classic Typefaces. New York: RC Publications, 2000. Print. Riggs, Tamye. Typeface: Classic Typography for Contemporary Design. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Print. John Baskerville and Virgil Æneid with expansive margins and fine alignment. Photograph & Print. n.d. Know Your Type: Baskerville. IDSGN A Design Blog. Web. 07 May 2014. Baskerville 22
Typefaces Used Baskerville, Helvetica & Helvetica Neue.