Born in Worcestershire, England in 1706, John Baskerville has been called "the greatest printer England ever produced". Baskerville improved existing types, ink and presses. Baskerville was also sometimes credited for inventing woven paper, although there is other evidence of use before him. Baskerville was involved with alsmot every aspect of the bookmaking process. He designs, cast, and set type, as well as designing and publishing the books he printed. Also, Baskerville was an accomplished stonecutter and master handwriter, making money in his early days carving gravestones. Before Baskerville, standard English type of the early 18th century was Caslon, a tradition dating back to Aldus Manutius of the 15th century.
Although John Baskerville seems to have made great contributions to printing, especially in England, during his time period, others around him greatly criticized his type, saying that it "hurt the eye" and would be responsible for "blinding the nation" due to its thinness of the strokes. Baskerville was regarded as nouveau-riche, provincial, and had unpopular anti-establishment views on religion. Critcs would comment that the Baskerville's design was just too sharp and had too much of a contrast. There was jealousy among Baskerville's peers, they regarded him as an amateur, when in reality his work set a very high standard of quality.
Baskerville's type designs are considered a transitional typeface, as they bridge a gap between Old Style and modern type design. In difference with the Old Style, Baskerville's designs are wider with a an increased contrast between the thick and thin strokes. Characters such as the "w" and the "e" demonstrate clearly about the prominent difference between the thick and thin strokes. Also found in the Baskerville type is an interesting "droplet" known as a "loop", happening on the ends of such characters as the "j" and the ascender of the "a".