John Baskerville, type-founder and printer, 1706-1775

Part 6

Chapter 61,519 wordsPublic domain

Baskerville, John, birth and death, 1; settles in Birmingham, teaches writing and practises stone-cutting, 2; builds up great trade in japanned ware, 3, 4, 5, 6, 19; his estate, Easy Hill, 4-6; High Bailiff of Birmingham, 6; his dress, 6, 8, 9; his connection with Mrs. Eaves, marriage, death of son, 7; his private character and habits, 8-9; lack of education, 9, 10; general remarks and quotations on his character and work, 11-19; probable origin of his interest in printing, 19; his statement of his purpose to improve the arts of type-founding and printing, 20-22; his tribute to Caslon, 20; his type-making, 22-24, 27; construction of presses, 24; his improvement of printing-ink, 25-26; his edition of Virgil, 27-29; of Milton, 29-30; of the Bible, 30-32; of the Book of Common Prayer, 32-34; of Addison, 34; of _Aesop’s Fables_, 34-35; of Rev. John Huckell’s _Avon_, 35; his prices, 35; reasons of the financial failure of his printing business, 35-36; his Greek type, cut for the University of Oxford, 36-37; notice of, by Dibdin, 37-39; his quarto editions of the classics, 39-41; prints Ariosto, for the Brothers Molini, 41-42; his paper-making, 43-45; does little binding, 45; duration of his printing business, 45; books upon which his fame rests, 45-46; his influence upon the art of printing, 46-47, 57-58; his efforts to sell his business, 48-50; these efforts continued by his widow, 51; sale to a French society, 51; printing-press reëstablished at Kehl, for printing of Voltaire’s works, 52; business broken up and type scattered, 52-53; Baskerville’s title-pages, 54-55; provisions of his will, 59-60; his tomb and epitaph, 60, 61; successive removals of his remains, 61-62; inscription over last grave, 62; his artistic vision, 62-63; list of his works in collection of J. H. Benton, 67-69.

Baskerville, Sarah, wife of John, 7, 9; advertises her late husband’s business for sale, 51; sells to a French society, 51.

Baskerville House. _See_ Easy Hill; _also_ Smart, Mr.

Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de, forms society for printing Voltaire’s works with Baskerville’s types, 51.

Bedford, Dr. John, quoted, 12.

Bensley, Thomas, 39.

Berners, Juliana, her _Treatyse of Fysshinge wyth an Angle_ printed with Baskerville’s types, 53.

Bible, edition of, 5, 21, 30-32, 46, 49, 55.

Birmingham, in the early eighteenth century, 1; noted for freedom in religion and in industry, 1, 2.

Blanché, Augustin, quoted, on Baskerville’s improvement in paper-making, 43.

Boden, Nicholas, 18.

Bodoni, Giambattista, 58.

Bowyer, William, 13; criticises Baskerville’s Greek type, 36-37.

Boydell and Nicol, press of, 53.

Bridgewater, James, buys some of Baskerville’s type, 51.

Brunet, Jacques Charles, 42.

Bulmer, William, 39.

Burke, Edmund, 36.

Burton, John Hill, quoted, 14, 15.

Bute, Lord. _See_ Stuart, John, 3d Earl of Bute.

C

Cambridge, University of. _See_ University of Cambridge.

Carlyle, Alexander, describes visit to Baskerville, 4, 15-16.

Caslon, Samuel, type-founder, 13, 19.

Caslon, William, type-founder, 19, 57; Baskerville’s tribute to, 20.

Catullus, edition of, 39, 40, 46, 55.

Chambers, John, quoted, 8, 9, 10.

Chesterfield, 4th Earl of. _See_ Stanhope, Philip Dormer, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.

Chiswick Press, 54.

Cibber, Colley, 36.

Classics, Baskerville’s quarto editions of, 39-40, 41, 46, 55.

Clive, Robert, Lord Clive, 1.

Colinaeus, Simon de, 38.

Common Prayer, Book of, 5, 21, 32-34, 46, 48, 49.

Cooper, Sir Anthony Ashley, 3d Earl of Shaftesbury, Baskerville’s edition of his _Characteristics_, 17.

Cotton, H., on Baskerville’s Bible, 32.

Culloden, battle of, 1.

D

Darwin, Dr. Erasmus, 16.

Day, Thomas, 16.

De Vinne, Theodore Low, quoted, on Baskerville’s title-pages, 55.

Dent, Robert K. _See_ Straus, Ralph, and Robert K. Dent.

Derrick, Samuel, quoted, 5, 43.

Dibdin, Thomas F., quoted, 10, 28, 30, 32, 33-34, 37-39, 42, 57.

Didot, François Ambroise, 58.

Didot, Pierre, quoted, on Baskerville, 38 _n._

Divine right of kings, collapse of, 1.

Dodsley, James, 26.

Dodsley, Robert, his edition of _Aesop’s Fables_ printed by Baskerville, 5, 34, 35; Baskerville’s acquaintance and correspondence with, 7, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 26, 28; business relations with, 35,41.

_Douglas_, tragedy of, 15.

E

Easy Hill, Baskerville’s residence, 4-6, 61, 62.

Eaves, Richard, 7.

Eaves, Sarah, wife of Richard. _See_ Baskerville, Sarah, wife of John.

Elzevir family, 38.

Enamel, invention of, 3.

English power in the East and in the New World, 1.

Epitaph, 61.

F

Fitzgerald, Percy Hethrington, quoted, 48.

Florus, edition of, 39, 40, 46.

Franklin, Benjamin, 7, 17, 28, 29, 48; letters of, on Baskerville’s work, 13-14, 45; undertakes negotiations for Baskerville with French government, 50.

Frederick the Great, 1.

G

Galton, Samuel, 16.

Garbett, Samuel, 15.

German Empire, foundation of, 1.

Gilt buttons, boxes, etc., 3.

Goldsmith, Oliver, 36.

Gravelot, Hubert François Bourguignon, 40, 41.

Gray, Thomas, 36.

Greek type, cut by Baskerville, 36-37.

Grignion, Charles, 41.

H

Handy, John, works for Baskerville, 22.

Hansard, Thomas Curson, gives recipe of Baskerville’s ink, 25-26; quoted, on Baskerville’s edition of Milton, 30; on his processes of work, 46; his criticism of Martin’s types, 53.

Harwood, Edward, quoted, on Baskerville’s edition of Virgil, 28; of Horace, 41; suggests that English nation should purchase Baskerville’s types, 51.

Herschel, Sir William, 16.

Hervey, James, his _Meditations_ printed in Baskerville type, 51.

Hollar, Wenzel, 39.

Home, John, 15.

Horace, edition of, 33, 39, 40, 46; Dr. Harwood’s remarks on, 41.

Horne, Thomas Hartwell, quoted, 47.

Hot-pressing, Baskerville’s process of, 24-25, 46.

Huckell, Rev. John, his _Avon_ printed, 35.

_Hudibras_, Baskerville’s admiration for, 17-18.

Hutton, William, 10; quoted, 6, 8, 11.

I

Ibarra, Joachim, 58.

Ink, printers’, 25-26.

J

James, Thomas, type-founder, 57.

Japanned ware, 3, 19.

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 28, 36.

Juvenal, edition of, 39, 55.

K

Kehl, printing-press at, 52.

Kippis, Andrew, 16, 46.

Knott, Jonathan, 61.

L

Livie, John, edits Horace, for Baskerville, 40, 41.

Lowndes, William Thomas, on Baskerville’s Bible, 32.

Luckombe, Philip, 24.

Lucretius, edition of, 39, 40, 46.

Luna Club, Birmingham, 16.

M

Macaulay, Thomas Babington, Baron, quoted, 28.

Manutius, Aldus, 37; Baskerville compared to, 17, 38.

Marston, Mr., of Birmingham, 61.

Martin, William, type-cutter, disciple of Baskerville, 53.

Mazyck, Isaac, 28.

Merrymount Press, 52.

Middle classes, rise of influence of, 1.

Milton, John, edition of his _Paradise Lost_, 10-12, 20, 21, 43, 46.

Minden, battle of, 1.

Molini Brothers, Ariosto printed for, by Baskerville, 41-42.

Montreal, capture, by English, 1.

Mores, Edward Rowe, his abuse of Baskerville, 10, 37; quoted, 12, 44; note upon, 12 _n._

N

Newton, Thomas, Bp. of Bristol, 21.

Nichols, John, quoted, 12; printer and author, 13.

Noble, Mark, his description of Baskerville, 9; sketch of, 9 _n._

Norris, Isaac, 29.

O

_Orlando Furioso_, 42, 46.

Oxford, University of. _See_ University of Oxford.

P

Palmer, Samuel, 24.

Paper, Baskerville’s manufacture of, 43-45.

_Paradise Lost_, 10-11, 20.

Paterson, Samuel, 9.

Persius, edition of, 39, 55.

Pickering, William, 54; prints last English book with Baskerville’s types, 53.

Pine, John, 39.

Pitt, William, 1st Earl of Chatham, 1.

Plantin, Christophel, 38.

Plassey, battle of, 1.

Ponce, Nicolas, 39.

Pope, Alexander, 36.

Prayer Book. _See_ Common Prayer, Book of.

Printing, in England, in seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, 56, 57.

Propertius, edition of, 40.

Protestant Dissenting Charity School, Birmingham, bequest of Baskerville to, 59.

Psalms, versions of, printed by Baskerville, 32, 40.

R

Reed, Talbot Baines, quoted, on Baskerville’s work, 14, 29, 37, 47; on survival of his types, 52, 53; on Martin’s types, 53.

Robertson, James Craigie, 15.

Rossbach, battle of, 1.

Ryland, John, 61.

S

Sallust, edition of, 39, 40, 46.

Shaftesbury, 3d Earl of. _See_ Cooper, Sir Anthony Ashley.

Shakespeare Press, types used in, 53.

Shenstone, William, 34, 35; Baskerville’s acquaintance with, 17, 18, 22; quoted, on Baskerville’s edition of Horace, 40-41.

Smart, William, bookseller at Worcester, buys Baskerville prayer books, 33; builds house called “Baskerville House,” 33.

Snuff-boxes, 3.

Stanhope, Philip Dormer, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, 36.

Stationers’ Company, payment to, for permission to print the Psalms, 32, 48, 49.

Stephen, H., 44.

Sternhold and Hopkins, their version of the Psalms printed by Baskerville, 40.

Straus, Ralph, quotation from his _Robert Dodsley_, showing relations of Dodsley and Baskerville, 16.

Straus, Ralph, and Robert K. Dent, their memoir of Baskerville, quoted, 43, 58.

Stuart, John, 3d Earl of Bute, 41.

T

Tate and Brady, their version of the Psalms printed by Baskerville, 40.

Taylor, John, carries on large business in japanned ware, 3, 4.

Tedder, Henry R., quoted, 16.

Terence, edition of, 39, 40, 46.

Tibullus, edition of, 40.

Title-pages, 54-55.

Tonson, Jacob, London bookseller, employs Baskerville to print an edition of Milton, 21, 28; procures type in Amsterdam, 57.

Type, Baskerville’s process of making, 23-24.

U

University of Cambridge, dealings of, with Baskerville, concerning printing of Bible and Prayer Book, 32, 33, 48, 49.

University of Oxford, Baskerville makes Greek type for, 36-37.

V

_Viator_ (pseudonym), quoted, 10-11.

Virgil, editions of, 20, 23, 27-29, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 55; subscribers to, 28.

Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de, Baskerville compared to, 9; Baskerville’s admiration for, 18; edition of his works in Baskerville’s types, 51-52.

W

Wale, Samuel, 41.

Walpole, Horace, 36; letter of Baskerville to, 48-50.

Walpole, Sir Robert, 1st Earl of Orford, 1, 18.

Warren, Mr., quoted, on Baskerville’s _Aesop_, 34.

Wedgwood, Josiah, 16.

Wesley, Rev. John, 1.

Whitefield, Rev. George, 1.

Whittingham, Charles, printer, 39, 54.

Withering, Dr. William, 16.

Worlidge, Thomas, 39.

Y

Young, Edward, 36.

Z

Zatta, Antonio, 42.

Transcriber’s Notes

Page 10: “creature a an artist” changed to “creature as an artist”