Latest updates

Baskerville makes the BBC news

Between March and May an exhibition to celebrate the life and work of John Baskerville was on display in the foyer of the Library of Birmingham. The purpose of the exhibition was partly to promote ‘Small Performances’ and partly to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of John Baskerville. By Happy coincidence the unveiling […]

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Baskerville Blue Plaque Unveiling

John Baskerville is one of England’s most important historical figures whose contribution to eighteenth-century Birmingham, the Republic of Letters, the progress of industry and the development of the Enlightenment, and, of course, to typography have never received civic acknowledgement that he deserves. This was rectified at an event on Wednesday 30 April at The Exchange, […]

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Advisory Board Meeting

The combined ‘Small Performances’ research team from Birmingham City University and the University of Cambridge came together with the project Advisory Board in Birmingham 12–13 May to discuss the project’s progress and the next steps for the research. Presentations and round-table activities took place at two little known BCU sites, St Paul’s Square which houses […]

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Overcoming challenges for precision photography

Baskerville Punches are small, shiny and dark metal objects. The main body of the punch is known as the shank. The face of the punch is the side that contains the engraved design of the letter or character. This design is cut in reverse and in relief into the steel bar. For the project we […]

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John Baskerville 1707–75 printer, publisher, typefounder, deist

‘John Baskerville 1707–75 printer, publisher, typefounder, deist’ is a new public exhibition which presents the life, work and lasting legacy of Baskerville alongside some of the research that has been undertaken. The exhibition, which opened in the foyer at the Library of Birmingham on 8 March and runs until 22 May, coincides with the 250th anniversary of […]

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Type Revival Workshop at the University of Reading

An important part of the Small Performances programme is the design of digital revivals of Baskerville’s original type. These revivals are developed through intensive workshops held at type design masters courses across Europe. The first workshop was held at the Department of Typography of the University of Reading from 20 to 24 January 2025. It focused on […]

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News and updates

Hello Friends of Small Performances, We’d love to share some news about what we’ve been up to. We are into our second very busy year for the AHRC funded Small Performances interdisciplinary project. Colleagues in Birmingham have been working on an exhibition at the Library of Birmingham which went up last week, 6th March until 22nd May. Archive work on the peregrinations […]

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Baskerville’s final resting place?

Baskerville has been as active in death and he was in life. First interred under a conical building in the grounds of his own home in accordance with his deist beliefs, his corpse has since been moved on nine separate occasions. In 1829, after having been placed on display in an ironmongers shop, Baskerville’s remains […]

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Happy Baptismal Day!

Today is Baskerville’s Baptismal day. We don’t know the exact date of John Baskerville’s birth, but the Wolverley parish register recording Baskerville’s baptism at Wolverley church in Worcestershire states: ‘1706 John ye Son of John Baskervile by Sara his wife, was baptized January ye 28’. Before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1752, the […]

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Baskerville’s internment

Today, 8 January, is the 250th anniversary of Baskerville’s death. When Aris’s Birmingham Gazette published notice of Baskerville’s death on Monday 23 January 1775 the announcement was concise: Died. On Monday last, at Easy Hill in this Town, Mr John Baskerville; whose Memory will be perpetuated, by the Beauty and Elegance of his Printing, which […]

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