Bindings of Baskerville: Study of the bindings found on John Baskerville’s editions in the British Isles and abroad (18th-19th century)

The thesis examines the different types of bindings found on John Baskerville’s editions from a material perspective, to understand the market for his editions in the British Isles and abroad from the middle of the 18th century to the first quarter of the 19th century. This project first focuses on the context of production of the bindings created in Baskerville’s supposed workshop, sometimes called the ‘Baskerville bindery’. The aim is to understand Baskerville’s exact involvement in this workshop’s production and shed light on the place of the printer in the book trade. John Baskerville (1706-1775), the eighteenth-century English printer and typefounder from Birmingham, extended his interest in bookmaking to the manufacture of specific bindings involving a workshop in Birmingham. Little is known of the exact context in which these were produced, the extent of Baskerville’s involvement and their intended market. As a result, more than 2700 Baskerville editions were surveyed, and binding descriptions were recorded, which led to the creation of a database based on the CIDOC-CRM which is a novel contribution to heritage documentation (CIDOC-CRM is a Conceptual Reference Model designed by CIDOC, ICOM International Committee for Documentation). This large survey resulted in the identification of 114 bindings produced by the workshop that Baskerville employed to bind his editions. The examination of the decorative motifs tooled, as well as the structural and material features, allowed the identification of the style and characteristics of these bindings, as well the modus operandi of the workshop and bookbinders at work. Baskerville’s involvement in the binding of his own imprints probably started as early as 1757, but soon grew into a more elaborate and defined venture thanks to his association with different bookbinders leading to the establishment of new decorative features, through tool design and innovative marbling. The provenance evidence found on this group of bindings revealed that he was likely offering this binding service to local customers.

The present research also explores the rest of the bindings found, which constitute most of the books surveyed, and draws connections with other bookbinders at work at the time and slightly later until the early 19th century. As a result, the scope of the study widens to include a material and provenance analysis of the types of bindings that can be found on Baskerville’s editions to study the market for them, and Baskerville’s place in the book trade.