When in Doubt Use Caslon

abcdefghijkl mnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQR STUVWXYZ 1234567890 “When in doubt use Caslon” The story of William Caslon and John Baskerville &and their transitional typefaces abcdefghijkl mnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKL MNOPQR STUVWXYZQ 1234567890 HUMANIST OR VENETIAN STYLE ABC 123 Trajan Pro GARALDE OR OLD STYLE TYPEFACES ABC 123 Adobe Garamond Pro TRANSITIONAL TYPEFACES ABC 123 Baskerville ABCAdobe Caslon Pro123 William Caslon, 1692–1766 John Baskerville, 1706–1775 Caslon Born in Cradley, Worcestershire 1692 Gun lock engraver Bookbinder’s tool cutter Caslon specimen sheet The type he created, bearing his last name, followeed the Dutch and French designs of the day (the old styles) but was considered groundbreaking because of its superior legibility. The quality of his punch-cutting and engraving were suberb. The shapes of his letters echoed the aesthetics of his engravings on gun locks. He paid attention to the relationships between the letters (the kerning) on the page with an eye for detail not seen in Britain at that time. The popularity of Caslon’s letters was even felt on our shores here in America where it was used by most printers. In fact, it was so popular that even into the 20th century the old saying in print shops was, “When in doubt, use Caslon.” In Williamsburgh, VA they have a working printing press where they produce a daily newspaper. These are, of course, actors recreating a piece of history but they are very very accurate. The type they used back then, and the type they are most likely using now, is Caslon. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia Printing house, Williamsburg, Virginia “Caslon Antique” Dunlap broadside Because of it’s popularity Caslon played an important role in revolutionary America. On July 4, 1776, when the American Continental Congress ratified their Declaration they were faced with the problem of spreading the word of this up-to-then secret document. Somebody, I would like to think perhaps Thomas Jefferson himself, secreted the text a few blocks to the print shop of John Dunlop, who spent the night setting the declaration into lead type. He printed 200 copies, now referred to as “The Dunlop Broadside,” the first reproduction of those famous words. With these printed copies in hand, they could get the text around the colonies, since there would have been no other way to distribute the information at the time. This page was printed and distributed quickly and therefore has no signatures on it. Handwritten Declaration of Independence The second, most famous version, the one written in hand, is usually regarded as THE Declaration of Independence and it is displayed at the National Archives in Washington D.C. Here is an interesting note for those interested in calligraphy: By July 9, 1776 all 13 colonies had now signified their approval of the Declaration. On July 19, therefore, Congress ordered that the Declaration be “fairly engrossed on parchment . and be signed by every member of Congress.” Engrossing Engrossing is the process of preparing an official document in a large, clear hand. Timothy Matlack, engrosser of the Declaration of Independence Goddard broadside A second printing of the Declaration was commissioned by congress in January 1777, again, of course, in Caslon. Mary Katherine Goddard, a publisher and the first American postmistress, printed this second copy. “The Goddard Broadside” which contains a list of all the signers. Dunlap broadside Goddard broadside Here lies William Caslon, RIP 1766 Caslon in the world today Big Caslon, designed by Matthew Carter in 1994 Baskerville Born in the village of Wolverly, near Kidderminster in Worcestershire 1706 Japanning Baskerville, designed in 1757 Baskerville Virgil collection Baskerville’s transitional serif typeface designed was in 1757. His design was inspired by his own calligraphy, and letters engraved in metal and stone. He published his first work, a collection of Virgil, which was followed by some fifty other classics including Milton’s Paradise Lost. Baskerville Paradise Lost Baskerville “Small Pica” specimen sheet Baskerville’s typeface and type style • introduced wide margins and leading • the typeface was part of a larger series of experiments to improve legibility • Another goal was to improve upon the types of William Caslon. • He increased the contrast between thick and thin strokes, making the serifs sharper and more tapered • He shifted the axis of rounded letters to a more vertical position. • The curved strokes are more circular in shape • The characters became more regular. Increased contrast between thick and thin strokes CGaramond CBaskerville Sharper serifs Garamond Baskerville Shifting the axis to the center ooo Trajan Garamond Baskerville Curved strokes became more rounded Curved Strokes Baskerville improved printing inks and paper Baskerville edition of the Bible Baskerville edition of the Book of Common Prayer Ben Franklin 1760: Baskerville’s friend Benjamin Franklin wrote to him about a trick he played on a “connoisseur” of type. Franklin was an industrious printer around Fleet Street who championed the use of the Baskerville fonts. One day, he met a man, a published author and “connoisseur” of type who said, “[using Baskerville] would be a means of blinding all of the readers of the nation, for the strokes of the letters are too thin and narrow, hurt the eye, and readers could never read a line of text without pain.” Ben Franklin tried to support Baskerville against these charges but the man was set in his thoughts against the typeface. So Ben Franklin played a trick on him. He gave this man a specimen of type and said it was set in Baskerville. The man said again that the type hurt his eyes, and that he detected “a painful disproportion” in the letters. Franklin then revealed that the type specimen was, in fact, set in Caslon! EbitassendiBaskerville omnimpo ribus, sunt ommodit vernatur? Quia dolupti omn imilitasi dis num coOtaerum simo ip sae volum idem volore adi doleste cta nimet veliquiam sim intio. Everes ut et, quos aut occaecu llitior estotas sanimolessum nitatat ibusam ad etur, nobis ellorum rem quo min repe rro tempore alia corrorro odi intion porerio dolo cusam cuptasita si volor erum fuga. Et alitat magnatum susda voloratemod quasi beatem ut veria cus am quate ilibust, que nima ducitat quatem quias ea auta esenihicil elignam quist, offictus es solorep ere rion cus. Rum adi bearuptatem. CASLON Ebitassendi omnimpo ribus, sunt ommodit vernatur? Quia dolupti omn imilitasi dis num coOtaerum simo ip sae volum idem volore adi doleste cta nimet veliquiam sim intio. Everes ut et, quos aut occaecu llitior estotas sanimolessum nitatat ibusam ad etur, nobis ellorum rem quo min repe rro tempore alia corrorro odi intion porerio dolo cusam cuptasita si volor erum fuga. Et alitat magnatum susda voloratemod quasi beatem ut veria cus am quate ilibust, que nima ducitat quatem quias ea auta esenihicil elignam quist, offictus es solorep ere rion cus. Rum adi bearuptatem. Ben Franklin Printer Franklin had a long history in printing. He started off as an apprentice to a printer in Boston then moved to Philadelphia to apprentice again until he was able to set up his own business in 1728. His earliest printing jobs were for legal documents and religious works. In the mid 1700s, not only were there newspapers, like we talked about before, but Ben Franklin was the first to propose a monthly magazine for the American colonies called, The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, Franklin’s General Magazine survived for six issues. Sarah Baskerville née Eaves* At the age of 16 she married Richard Eaves with whom she bore 5 children before he deserted her. She was then working as John Baskerville’s live-in housekeeper and later became his lover. Sarah’s husband, Richard Eaves, it turned out, would not grant her a divorce, and the only way that she could legally marry Baskerville was upon her husband’s death. When Richard Eaves died in 1764, Sarah was free to marry Baskerville. * This is not really Sarah Baskerville, I could not find a single picture of her but this comes close, I particularly like that this woman is holding a printed piece of paper. At any rate, living with a married woman for sixteen years, the jealousy of his peers, being an atheist, and his total disregard for convention earned him scorn that would last well after his death. This is said to be one of the reasons The Hound of the Baskervilles and the character William Baskerville from The Name of the Rose were named for him. RIP John Baskerville, 1775 Industry and Genius, 1990, by David Patten Baskerville House It wasn’t until the 1920s that Baskerville finally won the attention he had always merited. The American classical typographer Bruce Rogers (designer of the Centaur typeface, among others) was in large part behind the modern revival of Baskerville’s typefaces. Now, dozens of type foundries have their own versions and derivatives. Baskerville today The New York Times, August 8, 2012, Errol Morris Gold has an atomic number of 79. Pyrite is gold. Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA. Galileo discovered Jupiter’s moons. On August 8th, 2012 The New York Times published a research study by Errol Morris The premise was to show people sentences, some true, some not but each one was set in a different typeface. These sentences were part of a test and you had to choose which statement was true and which were false. There was no mention of the different typefaces. Only one person taking the test picked up on the different fonts and posted a comment. Morris’ test showed that the use of the Baskerville font increased the likelihood of the reader agreeing with a statement by 1.5% as compared to the average of five other fonts, including Comic Sans which had the most negative influence on agreement of the six.

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