"Small performances": investigating the typographic punches of John Baskerville (1707-75) through heritage science and practice-based research

世界各地数十亿标准计算机软件的读者和用户都熟悉巴斯克维尔字体。然而，约翰·巴斯克维尔(John Baskerville，1707-75年)创作它背后的故事却鲜为人知。这是尽管他是英国最重要的印刷商，他所说的他在字体设计方面的“小表演”“震惊了欧洲的所有图书馆员”。从更广泛的角度来看，印刷术被认为是千禧年的发明，是知识的民主化--但它仍然无处不在，但它是无形的，它是如何发生的一般不为人所知。这个跨学科的项目寻求为印刷技术的历史做出重大贡献，同时确保这是一个活的过程，将持续到未来。它的核心是巴斯克维尔在伯明翰的工作室设计、切割和使用的排版打孔器的特殊集合，这些打印器现在剑桥大学图书馆举行。冲压是金属活字制造的三个阶段中的第一个阶段--这对材料和设计都构成了挑战--因此，它们保存了原本无法获取的信息，这些信息可以通过科学研究解锁。我们将把印刷历史学家、遗产科学家、工匠和活字设计师聚集在AHRC资助的剑桥遗产科学中心(CERISH)周围，用开创性的科学和手工方法重建18世纪的冲切技术。我们的方法将包括显微镜、化学分析、3D建模和实验室中的高级成像，但也将涉及珠宝商、雕刻师、铁匠和字体设计师的实际实验，他们将帮助理清工艺，同时学习可能对他们自己的行业有用的历史技术。该项目将成为世界技术史上一个新的重要篇章，并成为学者、从业者和普通人之间的一种新的研究参与形式，通过3D模型、数字版本、新的字体设计以及实用和创造性的研讨会进行展示。这项工作将改变我们对巴斯克维尔拳击收藏的理解，并有利于当前的工业和工艺应用，以及教育项目。最近，数字人文和手工艺的复兴促使人们对模拟通信形式和使其成为可能的技术重新产生兴趣。几个世纪以来，凸版印刷一直是占主导地位的印刷工艺，现在在商业上已经过时，但通过使用多余的凸版印刷设备的小型印刷，它获得了新的生命。以前用来指导印刷学徒的排版设备，已经激起了艺术家和设计师的兴趣。然而，受过历史印刷技术培训的人数正在减少，他们的技能很少转移到新一代创意印刷商手中。遗产组织经常很难找到空间、资源或技术来管理他们的印刷收藏品。可用的设备和材料正变得越来越稀缺，那些有知识修复和恢复它的人是一个濒临灭绝的物种。作为传统工艺协会红色名单上的濒危工艺，凸版面临着不确定的未来。它的保存需要文件和实践，但也需要富有想象力的办法使其适应和在目前使用。“小型表演”将是朝着这个方向迈出的一步。

The Baskerville typeface is familiar to billions of readers and users of standard computer software across the world. However, the story behind its creation by John Baskerville (1707-75) is much less widely known. This is in spite of the fact that he was England's foremost printer, and what he called his "small performances" in typeface design "went forth to astonish all librarians of Europe". From a broader perspective, printing is recognised as the invention of the millennium, and a democratiser of knowledge - and yet it remains ubiquitous but invisible, and how it happens is not generally known.This interdisciplinary project seeks to make a substantial contribution to the history of printing technology, while ensuring this is a living process that will continue into the future. At its heart is the exceptional collection of typographic punches designed, cut, and used at Baskerville's workshop in Birmingham, which are now held at Cambridge University Library. Individually engraved in steel, punches were the first of three stages in the manufacturing of metal type - one that posed challenges in both materials and design - and therefore they preserve otherwise inaccessible information that can be unlocked through scientific study.Bringing together printing historians, heritage scientists, craftspeople, and type designers around the AHRC-funded Cambridge Heritage Science Hub (CHERISH), we will reconstruct 18th-century punch-cutting techniques using pioneering scientific and artisanal methods. Our approach will involve microscopy, chemical analyses, 3D modelling and advanced imaging in the laboratory, but also practical experimentation involving jewellers, engravers, blacksmiths, and typeface designers who will help disentangle the craft while also learning historical techniques that may be of use in their own trade. The project will materialise as a new and essential chapter in the history of world technology, and as a novel form of research engagement among academics, practitioners, and laypeople, made visible through 3D models, digital editions, new typeface designs, and practical and creative workshops. This work will transform our understanding of the collection of Baskerville punches and benefit current industrial and craft applications, as well as educational projects. Recently, digital humanities and craft revival have prompted a resurgence of interest in analogue forms of communication and the technologies that enabled them. Letterpress, for centuries the dominant printing process, is now commercially obsolete but has been given a new lease of life through small-press imprints that use redundant letterpress equipment. Typographic equipment, previously used to instruct printing apprentices, has piqued the interest of artists and designers. However, the number of people trained in historical printing techniques is declining, and their skills are seldom transferred to the new generation of creative printers. Heritage organisations often struggle to find the space, resources, or know-how to curate their printing collections. Usable equipment and material are becoming increasingly scarce, and those with the knowledge to repair and restore it are a dying breed. An endangered craft on the Heritage Craft Association's Red List, letterpress faces an uncertain future. Its preservation requires documentation and practice but also imaginative approaches to their adaptation and use in the present. "Small performances" will be a step in that direction.