John Baskerville: A Bibliography

Book excerpt: This 1959 bibliography lists and describes everything that came from the press of John Baskerville of Birmingham, who was appointed Printer to the University of Cambridge in 1758. After an introduction in which Dr Gaskell describes the methods that he has adopted and the conclusions that he has drawn from the investigation, there are two main parts: Specimens, Proposals and other Ephemera, and Books. Each entry contains a quasi-facsimile transcription of the title page, and gives details of formula contents amongst several other things. This, which was the first full bibliography of Baskerville's work, will be an essential tool for Baskerville collectors and for historians of printing and typography as well as for bibliographers. There are twelve collotype plates, most of which illustrate unique copies of Baskerville's ephemera; and there is in addition a full-size facsimile of Baskerville's last type specimen.