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Above: Gutenburg
Bible, hand-painted illuminations, printed on vellum, 15th-century
Below: The
Works,by William Congreve, printed by John Baskerville, 1761
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One cannot look at the history of the art of the
book without mentioning Johannes Gutenburg. While his name is synonymous
with the invention6 of moveable type and the printing press, he
also contri-buted much to the furtherment of beautiful books and
excellence in the art of printing. The Gutenburg or 42 Line
Bible took six years to complete and is still considered unsurpassed
in its printing quality.7 His goal how-ever was not to further develop
the format or other aspects of the book, but to create work that
mimicked those done by the hand of the scribes.
Because of the proliferation
of printing in Europe, the need arose for a larger selection of
typefaces. Type designers such as Aldus Manutius (1450-1515) not
only developed new typefaces, but also began to experiment with
the layout and design of the page, using the shape of the printing
on the page to add visual interest.
Another typographer and
printer, John Baskerville (1706-75) had wide spread influence that
shaped the book design of this era. In addition to the typefaces
he developed, Baskerville also invented a system where he hot pressed
the printed page with heated copper cylinders, creating a crisp,
smooth, glossy surface and "books of dazzling contrast, simplicity
and refinement."8 Baskerville's tasteful design and consideration
of the book as a whole is in contrast to the very ornate and flamboyant
styles of the period and demonstrate his guiding principle that
nothing should interfere with the clarity of the message. In the
21st century it is Baskerville's typography that he is best known
for. The typeface bearing his name is now considered "the transitional"
typeface that created a bridge for type design to move from the
"Old Style" (Caslon, Goudy, etc.) to the "Modern" (Bodoni, Didot,
etc.). The transition is marked by the subtle increase in the contrast
between in the thick and thin strokes as shown below.
Goudy Baskerville
Bodoni
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