*Ø* Blogmanac January 28, 1706 | John Baskerville
1706 John Baskerville, English printer and typefounder whose fonts (including the famous 'Baskerville', above) were so successful, his competitors claimed they damaged the eyes (d. 1775).
His masterpiece was a folio Bible, published in 1763. Among Baskerville's publications held in the British Museum are Aesop's Fables (1761), the Bible (1763), and the works of Horace (1770).
A native of Worcestershire, Baskerville made a fortune in a japanning business in Birmingham. He devoted his resources to the art of printing and development of typefaces, was said to be a great perfectionist and made his own ink, presses, moulds for casting, and all the apparatus.
Baskerville enjoyed a lasting friendship with Benjamin Franklin, who had built up a successful printing business in Philadelphia, and who visited Baskerville in Birmingham.
"His typography is extremely beautiful, uniting the elegance of Plantin with the clearness of the Elzevirs; in his Italic letters he stands unrivalled," wrote one commentator.
He was a man of eccentric tastes: he had each panel of his carriage painted with a picture of one of his trades. John Baskerville was buried in his own garden; in 1821 his remains were accidentally disturbed, the leaden coffin was opened and his body and shroud were in a nearly perfect state of preservation.
People were actually charged sixpence for a look at the wonder. Baskerville was an atheist and wished not to be interred in a churchyard. His body had several moves before it found its final resting place. As Deborah Cooper writes in John Baskerville: A man with a mission, writes,
Just as his typeface is now recognized as one of the greatest ever designed, so his body is more or less where he would want it, in a place where there is no church. Perhaps he would have been happy about this as it proves that if you keep persevering, you will eventually get what you want. This was John Baskerville to the letter.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
1706 John Baskerville, English printer and typefounder whose fonts (including the famous 'Baskerville', above) were so successful, his competitors claimed they damaged the eyes (d. 1775).
His masterpiece was a folio Bible, published in 1763. Among Baskerville's publications held in the British Museum are Aesop's Fables (1761), the Bible (1763), and the works of Horace (1770).
A native of Worcestershire, Baskerville made a fortune in a japanning business in Birmingham. He devoted his resources to the art of printing and development of typefaces, was said to be a great perfectionist and made his own ink, presses, moulds for casting, and all the apparatus.
Baskerville enjoyed a lasting friendship with Benjamin Franklin, who had built up a successful printing business in Philadelphia, and who visited Baskerville in Birmingham.
"His typography is extremely beautiful, uniting the elegance of Plantin with the clearness of the Elzevirs; in his Italic letters he stands unrivalled," wrote one commentator.
He was a man of eccentric tastes: he had each panel of his carriage painted with a picture of one of his trades. John Baskerville was buried in his own garden; in 1821 his remains were accidentally disturbed, the leaden coffin was opened and his body and shroud were in a nearly perfect state of preservation.
People were actually charged sixpence for a look at the wonder. Baskerville was an atheist and wished not to be interred in a churchyard. His body had several moves before it found its final resting place. As Deborah Cooper writes in John Baskerville: A man with a mission, writes,
Just as his typeface is now recognized as one of the greatest ever designed, so his body is more or less where he would want it, in a place where there is no church. Perhaps he would have been happy about this as it proves that if you keep persevering, you will eventually get what you want. This was John Baskerville to the letter.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 7:20 PM | Permalink
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