John Baskerville: creator of his own typeface
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Baskerville House is in Centenary Square on the site of the former home of John Baskerville. He lived and worked here between 1748 and 1775. There used to be an artwork made in 1990 called Industry and Genius (that has now gone into storage due to the Centenary Square redevelopment). It spelt out Virgil (but the characters in reverse).
Born in 1706 or 1707, he lived until 1775. Baskerville was best known for being a printer and type designer. He was born in the village of Wolverley, near Kidderminster in Worcestershire. He lived in a house on Easy Row, which is now where Baskerville House is in Centenary Square. His home was also known as Easy Hill.
Below is an exhibit seen at the Birmingham History Galleries at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The top item shows a plaque that reads:
"Grave stones.
Cut in any of the hands.
John Baskerville"
At the bottom is what looks like a snuff box with a portrait of John Baskerville.
dndimg alt="John Baskerville exhibit at the Birmingham History Galleries" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/BHG BMAG John Baskerville (1).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
A map of the location of John Baskerville's home at Easy Row. He was buried he vertically, but his body later had to be moved to Christ Church in 1821, as a canal basin was built on the land. Christ Church was demolished in 1897 and his remains was moved again to a crypt at the Catacombs Warstone Lane Cemetery.
dndimg alt="Baskerville's Easy Row home" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/BHG BMAG John Baskerville (2).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
I would assume that somewhere around here at Warstone Lane Cemetery, at the catacombs lies the remains of John Baskerville. He only wanted to be buried on his own land, but the constant redevelopment of Birmingham in the 19th century resulted in him being moved twice! John Baskerville was not a fan of consecrated grounds!
dndimg alt="Catacombs at Warstone Lane Cemetery" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Warstone Lane Cemetery Nov 18 (2).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />
The model of the Proposed Civic Centre was seen at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in 2015. It is normally to be found at the Birmingham Museum Collections Centre, so if you go to BM & AG today, you wont see it there now.
Below are the details about the model.
William Haywood, Baker Studios, Erdington (made by)
Model of Proposed Civic Centre (Scale 1" to 12ft),
1941
This model was designed by William Haywood, a special lecturer in town planning at Birmingham University. He supervised its construction by Baker Studios in Erdington over a 12 month period completed in 1941.
The model represents a variety of public buildings including a Planetarium, Natural History Museum, and City Hall, as well as extensive gardens and car parks.
The Hall of Memory and Baskerville House can be seen at the front and middle of the model.
dndimg alt="Proposed Civic Centre model at BMAG" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Civic Centre model BMAG.JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
In August 2009 opposite Baskerville House, archaeologists were digging up the car park where from 2013 onwards would stand the Library of Birmingham. It was the remains of the Baskerville Basin. Gibson's Arm was a private canal that was built during the 1810s. John Baskerville's house was burnt down during the Priestley Riots of 1791. Baskerville Basin was filled in during 1938 to make way for the Civic Centre. Thomas Gibson was the one who acquired the land and property in 1812.
dndimg alt="Baskerville Basin" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Archaeology site Library of Birmingham Aug 2009.JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
It was originally completed in 1938. Before WW2 started, there was plans for the area that is now Centenary Square, for a Civic Centre. But Baskerville House and the Hall of Memory were the only buildings to be completed as part of that scheme. It is built on the site of John Baskerville's home of Easy Hill. Which itself was replaced by a canal basin, known as Baskerville Basin. Was also another basin there called Gibson's Basin. They would have both existed there from the 1820s until about 1919 (or later as the Birmingham City Council had purchased the land for their Civic Centre scheme). T. Cecil Howitt of Nottingham was asked to design Baskerville House in 1936.
dndimg alt="Virgil typeface of Baskerville. Industry and Genius 1990 was a public artwork in Centenary Square. Now in storage." dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Baskerville House Centenary Square (1).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
The war halted construction of Baskerville House, and after WW2 ended, Roman Imperial imagery on public buildings went out of fashion. The building is now Grade II listed, and was renovated from 2003 until 2007. Used to be offices for the City Council, until they moved out in 1998.
dndimg alt="Baskerville House" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Baskerville House Centenary Square (2).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
In 2010, the statue of King Edward VII was restored after spending many years in Highgate Park. You can see it to the right of Baskerville House (it is currently behind the hoardings of the Centenary Square renovation works). This view from November 2010 shortly after the statue was installed at this spot. In fact it is the only statue to remain in the square while Centenary Square is getting done up (which wont be finished until sometime in 2019). The original Centenary Square was completed in 1991.
dndimg alt="Baskerville House" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Baskerville House Centenary Square (3).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
In 2013 the Library of Birmingham opened on the site of what was a car park between The REP and Baskerville House. Seen below in December 2017 after it was announced that Birmingham had won the bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The refurbishment of Centenary Square started in 2017 and should have been completed by the end of 2018, but a series of delays means it will probably not be completed until sometime in 2019. You wouldn't know from the way it is now that canal basins used to be here. Although archeologists examined the land under the Library of Birmingham in the summer of 2009 before the library was built.
dndimg alt="Baskerville House and the Library of Birmingham at night" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Baskerville House Centenary Square (4).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
There used to be a typeface sculpture outside of Baskerville House called Industry and Genius. It was made in 1990 by local artist David Patten. It is a Portland stone sculpture of the Baskerville typeface.
dndimg alt="Virgil Baskerville typeface" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/John Baskerville Virgil (1).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />
I took invidual photos of each letters and flipped them. Together it reads "Virgil". The standing stones represents the letter punches which Baskerville cut to make his type, and the world virgil was Baskerville's first book, published in 1757, as a re-print of the Roman author's poems. The sculpture went into storage a few years ago when the redevelopment of Centenary Square was about to start.
dndimg alt="Virgil Baskerville typeface" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/John Baskerville Virgil (2).jpg" style="width: 100%;" />
Photos by Elliott Brown