Printing is the invention of the millennium, and a democratiser of knowledge—but how it happens through the creation and application of typefaces is not generally known. John Baskerville (1707–75) was England’s foremost printer and the Baskerville typeface—what he called his ‘small performances’—is familiar to billions of readers and users of standard computer software across the world.
Small Performances is an interdisciplinary project which is making a substantial contribution to the history of printing technology. At its heart is the exceptional collection of typographic punches designed, cut, and used at Baskerville’s workshop in Birmingham, which are now held at Cambridge University Library. Individually engraved in steel, punches were the first of three stages in the manufacturing of metal type—one that posed challenges in both materials and design—and therefore they preserve otherwise inaccessible information that can be unlocked through scientific study.
Bringing together printing historians, heritage scientists, craftspeople, and type designers around the AHRC-funded Cambridge Heritage Science Hub (CHERISH), we will reconstruct eighteenth-century punch-cutting techniques using pioneering scientific and artisanal methods. Our approach involves microscopy, chemical analyses, 3D modelling and advanced imaging in the laboratory, and practical experimentation engaging jewellers, engravers, blacksmiths, and typeface designers who will help disentangle the craft whilst also learning historical techniques that may be of use in their own trade.
The project is a new chapter in the history of world technology, and a novel form of research engagement among academics, practitioners, and laypeople, made visible through 3D models, digital editions, new typeface designs, and practical and creative workshops. This work will transform our understanding of the collection of Baskerville punches and benefit current industrial and craft applications, as well as educational projects and our knowledge of Baskerville and his significance as a typeface designer and cultural figure.
Our research problems and questions are articulated around four overlapping strands
What does the collection of Baskerville punches contain? What is missing? What can its constituents reveal about forming collections and curatorial practices?
How were the punches made? How were designs transferred from paper to punch, from punch to matrix, from matrix to type, and from type to paper? What do materials and techniques reveal about trade skills and cross-craft interaction?
How much fidelity was lost from punch to print? Was there a formula for scaling punches? Can we determine if these punches were used in the production of books held at Cambridge
Can knowledge of historic printing be preserved sustainably by applying it in the present? Can heritage science methods be of use in modern manufacturing industries?
Our research unites various overlapping methods which, in combination, and underpinned with historical and technological typographic contextualisation, will provide a new, holistic understanding of the punches, and ensure we achieve our aims while increasing capacity for further studies in heritage sciences, typographic history, craft and beyond.
High-resolution characterisation of the punches is essential to (i) determine manufacturing techniques, (ii) reveal the typographic intent, (iii) assess standardisation, wear and deterioration, and (iv) facilitate reconstruction experiments and public engagement. We will test and compare explicitly the potential of multiple techniques, as a means to establish protocols that may be useful for us but also to other industries requiring characterisation of small metallic artefacts, from quality control in engines to dentistry and design. Our microscopic techniques include 3D digital microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, micro 3D scanning and reflectance transformation imaging. Full 3D models of specific letter punches will be rescaled to enable comparisons of tool marks, standardisation, and wear. These models will also be reversed to obtain digital templates of the printed letter, informing about typographic intent, and enabling comparison to those in Baskerville’s actual books.
Determining the elemental composition and microstructure of the punches will help us (i) classify the collection (including identification of later additions); (ii) investigate the extent to which specific iron alloys were selected because of specific material properties such as hardness, toughness, wear or corrosion resistance, vis-à-vis the ease of cutting and design fidelity; and (iii) produce more accurate replicas. For this purpose, we will employ non-invasive portable XRF as well as metallographic examinations.
Using digital models, we will 3D-print selected punches in a larger size to facilitate handling, examination and interrogation, in discussion with jewellers, medallists, typeface designers, wider industry and members of the public. These prints, and additional analytical information, will form the basis of experimental replications of punches, matrices and printed types. These activities will inform our research while also contributing to knowledge exchange and public engagement, fostering creative synergies among crafts that should evoke those of early modern workshops
The project plans a range of outputs both academic and public facing.
This project is at the intersection of humanities and sciences, academia and craft. Echoing Baskerville’s own methods of working, our disregard for tight disciplinary boundaries is reflected in our approach to research and knowledge co-production, and we expect our methods will themselves act as pathways to impact within and beyond our multiple areas of expertise. Some of the project outputs will include a much-needed catalogue of the Baskerville punches, digital editions of some of Baskerville’s books, as well as digital revivals of Baskerville types that will be produced in workshops with typeface designers. In addition, we will organise hands-on workshops with craftspeople and family events.