Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
TRANSITIONAL
Baskerville
Additional transitional fonts
Transitional type appeared during the
eighteenth century, a period of typographic
evolution. Steady technical advances
allowed more refined punches, matrices, and
typecasting. Designers were able to gradually
increase the contrast between thick and thin
strokes, apply sharper and more horizontal
serifs to their characters, and make the stress
of rounded letterforms more vertical. By
the century's end, Old Style typefaces had
evolved into the Modern styles with hairline
serifs and geometric proportions: typefaces
designed during the middle of this period of
evolving designs were transitional.
Simplicity and understated elegance were
achieved through the use of John Baskerville's
masterful transitional typefaces, seen in
the title page of Virgil's
Georgics
(Fig.
13-3
).
Generous margins, careful letterspacing of
display type, and thoughtfully considered
interline and wordspacing are present. The
great Roman poet is presented to the reader
with clarity and dignity in a book that “went
forth to astonish all the librarians of Europe.”
If the words
transitional
and
Baskerville
have become interwoven in the lexicon of
typography, it is because the transitional
typefaces produced by John Baskerville of
Birmingham, England, have an unsurpassed
beauty and harmony. Many transitional
typefaces in use today, including most of the
specimens in this section, are inspired by the
exquisite beauty of Baskerville's work.
13-3
Type page for the second book of Virgil's
Georgics
,
designed and printed by John Baskerville, 1757.
