A conference organised by the École supérieure d’art et de design (Amiens) and the Centre for Printing History and Culture (Birmingham) with the support of the Ministère de la Culture,the Baskerville Society and the Bibliographical Society.
John Baskerville (1707–75) was an English typographer, printer, industrialist and Enlightenment figure with a worldwide reputation. He not only designed one of the world’s most popular and important typefaces, he also experimented with casting type, improved the construction of the printing press, trialled a new kind of paper and refined the quality of printing inks. His typographic experiments put him ahead of his time, had an international impact and did much to enhance the printing and publishing industries of his day.
Baskerville, however, was a prophet without honour in his own land and ‘only in France did he meet with the encouragement he undoubtedly deserved.’ This conference considers the impact of Baskerville in France from the eighteenth century to the present day. Papers will present the technical, aesthetic, literary, political or philosophical influences of Baskerville on France and France on Baskerville. A companion exhibition displays rare artifacts, books and documents related to his career and his posterity.
Venue
Ministère de la culture et de la communication
DRAC Hauts-de-France
Site d’Amiens
5 rue Henri Daussy
80000 Amiens
Registration
b.dennys@amiens-metropole.com
Download the information file here
THURSDAY 18 OCTOBER
9h15
Coffee & registration
9h45
Welcome address
10h
Caroline Archer, Malcolm Dick (Chair: Alexandre Parré)
John Baskerville: art and industry of the Enlightenment
This discussion introduces the eighteenth-century typographer, printer, industrial and Enlightenment figure John Baskerville (1707-75). Baskerville not only designed one of the world’s most historically important typeface, he also experimented with casting type, improved the construction of the printing press, helped develop a new kind of paper and refined the quality of printing inks. His typographic experiments put him ahead of his time and did much to enhance the printing industry of his day. Yet, despite his importance, many aspects of Baskerville’s life remain unexplored. Along side his typographic advances, this discussion will also look at his contribution to the arts, industry, culture and society of the Enlightenment both in Britain and France.
11h
Patrick Goossens
Questions surrounding Baskerville’s printing innovations and their introduction into France
This talk will give an overview of Baskerville’s innovations in printing technology. While the English printing industry did not embrace his innovations, after his death, some of Baskerville’s typographical material was moved to France. John Dreyfus has already studied aspects of this, but several questions remain unanswered. Firstly, what were the motivations for this move? Secondly, to what extent were French printers ready to receive Baskerville’s new insights: his correspondence with the French printer Philippe-Denis Pierre showed some interest from France, but how widespread was this? Thirdly, were French printers able to use the new techniques to their full potential? Etienne Anisson-Duperron showed interest in the process, but once the equipment was employed at the Kehl printing house he found it was not used to its full potential. Finally, Baskerville was not the only innovator of printing technology, but he certainly stands out. How was this achieved?
LUNCH
14h
Barry McKay Baskerville’s Papers plain and coloured Baskerville’s constant search for improvements in all aspects of book production is well known. Less consideration, however, has been given to his use of wove paper. The first part of this talk will review the evidence for the development of this type of paper and how it met Baskerville’s needs. It will then describe how Baskerville’s early experiments with wove paper influenced papermakers both in Western Europe in general and France in particular. The second part will present work on
Baskerville’s marbled papers that I have undertaken with Prof Diana Patterson, with particular reference to some newly discovered
examples of the printer’s marbled papers and the possible influence of French and other European decorated papers on Baskerville’s
marbling.
15h
Aurélie Martin
Bound with France: French bindings on Baskerville
editions and their owners This talk will investigate the connection between Baskerville and France through a study of the bindings of his editions. Baskerville was, reputedly, appreciated in France where his books were purchased and collected. However, little attention has been given to the bindings of the volumes bought by French collectors. A study of these bindings, based on an analysis of the materials and techniques used, the decorative styles, and their provenance, can help reconstruct the history of their manufacture and help us understand when and by whom his books were collected in France. Did French collectors buy Baskerville’s editions during
his lifetime and did they continue after his death? Were the volumes bound in France or were they received in English bindings
and kept as such? Finally, what can the binding tell us about the economic status and the taste of these French collectors, depending
on the level of refinement of their books?
16h15
Albert Corbeto
Baskerville’s types in XVIIIth
century Spanish printing
The second half of the eighteenth
century is regarded as the golden
age of Spanish printing, when, for
the first time, the productions of
leading indigenous typographers
such as Ibarra, Sancha or Monfort
reached levels comparable to those
of the most prestigious printers of
Europe. These printers benefited
from the skills of various craftsmen
in the art of punch cutting
who freed Spanish printing from
its dependence on the major
European type-exporting centres.
However, despite the magnificent
designs by Pradell, Gil and
Espinosa, the prestige of Baskerville’s
work led to the attempted
acquisition, in 1766, of some of
his punches and matrices for the
planned printing press of the Real
Biblioteca. Although this transaction
did not take place, some years
later, the Spanish government
obtained several of Baskerville’s
types which were used towards the
end of the century in a number
of books printed by the Imprenta
Real.
17h30
Exhibition opening
Esad Amiens gallery,
40 rue des Teinturiers
This exhibition is open until
Thursday 8 November (Monday to
Friday, 9.00-12.30 – 14.00-18.00)
FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER
10h
Marc H. Smith
English, French and European
Handwriting in the Age
of Baskerville
The eighteenth century witnessed
new forms of handwriting which
profoundly affected the evolution
of type. English writing masters in
particular, long under the influence
of French and Dutch models,
blended these into an original cursive
style, ‘English round hand’,
in which a pointed nib, subjected
to delicate pressure, produced
typically contrasted thick and thin
strokes. English copybooks show
some roman alphabets that clearly
inspired the types of Baskerville,
himself a writing master. When
Beaumarchais in France first used
Baskerville’s types, English round
hand also began to spread across
Europe as the Anglaise, Inglese, or
Englische Schrift. Despite opposition
from French writing masters,
in defence of national character in
handwriting, English round hand
became the new European standard
of the nineteenth century,
parallel to the spread of ‘modern’
type and its similarly contrasted
letterforms.
11h
James Mosley
Baskerville after Baskerville
Baskerville acquired a wide reputation
with his edition of Virgil,
which included among its subscribers
not only a typefounder in
the Netherlands but also a former
printer and rising politician in
Massachusetts, Benjamin Frankin.
His types were mentioned with
approval by Fournier le jeune and
Giambattista Bodoni. They were
imitated in Britain, but bought after
his death and used and copied
in France. After long neglect, the
original matrices were rediscovered,
and the types not only came
back into use, but became the
models for new ‘Baskerville’ types
in the twentieth century. More
recently attempts have been made
to make faithful recreations of the
originals as digital fonts, and also
to design creative variations of
them. This talk will offer a survey
of the ‘brand’ that has continued
to bear the name of Baskerville.
LUNCH
14h
Quentin Schmerber
Temeraire: When a French
millenial rediscover Baskerville
legacy, an exploration into
English Vernacular
In 1757, Baskerville’s ‘Virgil’ was
set in new types that were cut by
John Handy between 1750-57.
Unlike those of his predecessor,
William Caslon, these types were
not inspired by Dutch punch
cutters but by Baskerville’s own
practice of calligraphy, and by
copper-plate works from English
writing masters such as Georges
Bickham and Joseph Champion.
Baskerville’s design was copied by
his peers and influenced lettering
artists and stone carvers around
Britain, leading to the development
of what is known today as
the English Letter. Historians,
such as Alan Bartram and James
Mosley, have documented this
genre, also named English Vernacular.
The Temeraire family is an
attempt by a young French designer
to submit a contemporary
interpretation of the English Letter
through an investigation of its
history. This talk will demonstrate
Baskerville’s influence on the
English Vernacular and introduce
the Temeraire family, its design
process and some of the shapes
directly inherited from Baskerville.
15h
Jérôme Knebusch
Between Baskerville & Didot:
Messine
In 2011 students from ESAL Metz,
in combination with Argentinian
type designer Alejandro Lo
Celso and their teacher Jérôme
Knebusch, began work on a
specific design for their school.
Looking for a bookish typeface
with a tendency toward modern
forms, the students found particularly
interesting references to
the work of Baskerville and Didot.
The typeface developed, over the
ensuing years and during intensive
workshop sessions, to form
a complete type family named
Messine, which included text,
display, poster, italic, bold, sans
and serif versions. This talk will
go back to its genesis, show the
evolution of the design (not afraid
of historical giants) and discuss
pedagogic and type design
methodologies of an on-going
inter-generational project.
16h15
Thomas Huot-Marchand,
Charles Mazé, Rosalie Wagner
(ANRT 2017)
Baskervville
In 1784 Claude Jacob, with his
partner Henri Rolland, engraved
a copy of Baskerville for his
new foundry, the Société Typographique
de Strasbourg. With
its rounded forms and marked
contrasts it closely resembled
Baskerville’s types, except for the
italics which were less calligraphic
and more rational. Jacob’s italics
echoed those of François-Ambroise
Didot and thus Jacob’s typeface
provided a link between the English
style and the seeds of French
typographic modernity.
This talk will return to Jacob,
whose name is eclipsed by that of
Baskerville, to present a digital
interpretation of Jacob’s typeface,
produced at the Atelier National
de Recherche Typographique in
Nancy (Alexis Faudot, Rémi Forte,
Morgane Pierson, Rafael Ribas,
Tanguy Vanlaeys, Rosalie Wagner)
in autumn 2017. This new version
is based on historical records at
the Imprimerie Berger-Levrault &
Cie (1878) and composed in ‘type
characters Baskerwille (property of
the House)’ now in the possession
of the company Berger-Levrault.
Typefaces: Cardone Grotesk, Fátima Lázaro (EsadType 2016-18) and Baskerwille (designed after the types of Claude Jacob by Alexis Faudot, Rémi Forte, Morgane Pierson, Rafael Ribas, Tanguy Vanlaeys & Rosalie Wagner / ANRT 2017).
Cet article Baskerville in France est apparu en premier sur école supérieure d’art et de design d’Amiens.