The Erasure of John Baskervile

John Baskerville, lived in Birmingham and was a successful businessman in the 18th century but his passion was the creation of the Baskerville typeface. Baskerville was influential and someone who shunned conventional life. He had connections with the French Revolution & Voltaire and links to Benjamin Franklin & the U.S.A.. Despite his considerable achievements, for many years he was overlooked and his body interred in an unmarked tomb in Warstone Lane Cemetery in Birmingham. Exploring Baskerville's legacy and life, I became fascinated at how he seemed to have been erased from history after his death and began to dig into archival material held at Birmingham Library. From this material, emerged a number of drawings.