Cambridge Digital Library
Source: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/baskervillepunches Parent: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/
Baskerville Punches
One rather exciting bit of news. You remember John Dreyfus’ book about the survival of Baskerville’s punches. They are now in the possession of Deberny and Peignot in Paris but they intend to give the whole lot to the University of Cambridge." Brooke Crutchley to Walter Lewis, 28 November 1952 (Cambridge University Library, UA/Press 1/5/5/1/3)
Browse by...
\
\
\ Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) \
In March 1953, eight oak boxes containing over 3,000 individual typographic punches, were presented to the University of Cambridge by the French typefoundry Deberny & Peignot. These were the surviving punches used to make the type of the Birmingham printer John Baskerville (1707-75). The punches belong to Cambridge University Press & Assessment and are housed at the University Library alongside its extensive collections of both printed and archival material, as well as objects of typographical interest.
Baskerville was born in Wolverley, Worcestershire and in around 1725 moved to Birmingham. Initially he worked as a writing master and a carver of gravestones. In 1742 he was granted a patent for japanning by which he earned a fortune. In 1750, his wealth enabled Baskerville to return to the creation of letters, when he created one of the world’s most historically important typefaces and redefined the entire printing process from punch cutting through paper production to ink composition. His typographic experiments put him ahead of his time and had an international impact on the publishing industry of his day. Between 1758 and 1766 Baskerville was University Printer at Cambridge, and it was there that he printed his most impressive book: a vast folio Bible, in 1763, still revered as one of the most beautiful books ever printed.
The typographic punch is the initial design for the letterform and one of the first of three stages in the manufacturing of metal type: short lengths of steel onto which his letters were cut in reverse and in relief. The punch was ‘tempered’ to increase its toughness and enable its use as a tool. Secondly, the punch was struck into the surface of a softer piece of metal (copper), leaving an impression of the ‘right-reading’ character to be cast. This was called the matrix. Finally, type was manufactured when the matrix was passed to the type-caster and inserted into a mould, into which molten lead-alloy was poured. This produced a cast of the type in relief and in reverse which were then arranged to create a text block and once inked, paper could be pressed against it.
This project—‘Small performances’: investigating the typographic punches of John Baskerville (1707–75) through heritage science and practice-based research—has combined innovative imaging techniques with an understanding of traditional craft practices to understand how and why Baskerville’s type evolved in the ways it did.
‘Small Performances’ is an AHRC-funded research project involving experts in metallurgy, scientific imaging, printing history and type design based in Birmingham and Cambridge. The main aim is to reconstruct punch-cutting techniques by combining scientific methods, involving microscopy, chemical analysis with 3D modelling, advanced imaging, and practical experimentation engaging jewellers, engravers, blacksmiths, and typeface designers who help disentangle the craft whilst also learning historical techniques that may be of use in their own trade.
This gallery of images offers a relatively small selection from the 3,000+ punches preserved at the University Library. Each punch comes with a series of data, including measurements, and information on the point size, whether the punch is italic or roman. Not all punches in this collection are Baskerville’s originals; some are later additions. In some cases, the shank was manufactured through cold rolling process commonly used in 19th and 20th centuries. For example, Pt. 12 Roman Capital E.
Each punch has at least two images (the face, the hammer-end). Some were analysed at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and will have images of all six sides and will soon link to scientific data. Some of these punches will also have a dynamic view of the surface texture rendered using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and delivered online through the open source Relight Viewer. These items with the RTI viewer can be identified by a ‘bulb’ icon displaying on their item thumbnail. To learn more about processes behind RTI, visit the project blogs on imaging and viewer infrastructure.
To understand the content of this collection it is helpful to look at the anatomy of the punch. Each one of them has six sides.
Face: the top end of the steel where the character is engraved in relief and in reverse.
Hammer end: domed-shaped end of the punch designed to be struck by a hammer to drive the engraved letter on the opposite end into a matrix.
Lateral left: the left side of the shank when looking at the character
Lateral right: the right size of the shank when looking at the character
Top: the side above the face when looking at the character (also known as the front)
Bottom: the side which is below the character when looking at the face (also known as back of the shank)
\ \ \ \