Rolling with the punches: the versatile chaîne opèratoire of the Baskerville typographic punches

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• Julia Montes Landa (University of Cambridge)
• Friday 20 June 2025, 13:15-14:00
• Seminar Room, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Site.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Qin-Qin Lü.

Abstract: John Baskerville (1707-1775), England’s foremost printer, was the designer of the famous Baskerville typeface. His designs for roman and italic, upper- and lower-cases, and numbers and symbols, were originally cut into small iron bars (punches) of various sizes which were then used to produce the letter types for the printing press. >3,000 Baskerville punches have survived until today, representing one of the most complete collections of its kind. However, very little is known about punch-making, nowadays a practically lost skill at the core of printing technology, cross-cutting black smithing, engraving and other crafts.

As part of the AHRC -funded project ‘Small Performances’, we reverse-engineered punch-making technology using pXRF, stereo and digital microscopy, metallography, SEM -EDS and micro-CT. Combining the composition of the punches, the tool marks still visible on their surfaces, and other aspects of their design, we were able to rebuild the chaînes opèratoires used to manufacture the punches and to define the technological tradition developed at the Baskerville workshop during the 18th century. This tradition entailed a versatile approach with intricated entanglements between iron suppliers, blacksmiths and punch-cutters, reflective of the complexity of this craft. This ultimately allowed us to understand the organisation of the workshop and to establish comparisons with later punches also present in the collection. This is a unique window to an otherwise invisible chapter of the history of printing technology.

Bio:

I completed previous degrees at Complutense University of Madrid and UCL , to then join this department as a PhD student in Archaeometallurgy, funded by the Cambridge Trust and the AHRC . After that, I joined the AHRC -funded project ‘Small Performances’ as a Heritage Scientists. I am interested in metals and technology in a broad sense, but have a soft spot in Iberian prehistory.

This talk is part of the Pitt-Rivers Archaeological Science Seminar Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• AUB_Cambridge Seminars
• Pitt-Rivers Archaeological Science Seminar Series
• Seminar Room, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Site

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