John Baskerville was born on January 28th, 1706 in Wolverley, England and died on August 8th, 1775 in Birmingham, England. He was a type designer, printer, and was even known as a writing master. In 1750 he goes on to start his own type foundry and printing workshop. In 1754 he went on to design the now famous Baskerville URW typeface.

In 1740, Baskerville became a writing master in Birmingham, but he also started a japanning business. With the profits made from the japanning business, it gave him the freedom to be able to experiment in typefounding. Throughout the years he published multiple pieces of print such as an addition Virgil (1757), an edition of Horace (1762), followed by an edition of the bible (1763) in which is considered to be his masterpiece. His prints had such a bold quality due to his own high glossed paper and truly black ink that he had made. After his death in 1775, his types were bought by a French dramatist named Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Eventually, the remains of the types were given to the University of Cambridge where the Baskerville URW typeface was then revived.After his death in 1775, his types were bought by a French dramatist named Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. Eventually, the remains of the types were given to the University of Cambridge where the Baskerville URW typeface was then revived.

Baskerville URW is a transitional serif typeface that was influenced by the designer’s interest in calligraphy. It is a transitional typeface that fit in between classical typefaces and the highly contrasted modern typefaces. It was not very popular during John Baskerville’s lifetime but after being sold to France, it made a huge influence in Europe as a whole as it circulated around the countries. In 1996, designer Zuzana Licko designed a contemporary Baskerville typeface revival. It was named after Baskerville’s late mistress, Mrs. Eaves.