Catpuring Craft Exhibition

A new exhibition, ‘Capturing Craft: the making of the Baskerville punches’ opened on Wednesday 2 July at The Hive, Birmingham and aims to shine a spotlight on the precision tools used to create the timeless Baskerville typeface – and the legacy behind it.

As well as showcasing large-scale detailed images of the original Baskerville punches taken by team members in the Cultural Heritage Imaging Lab, University of Cambridge, the free exhibition includes historic tools and contemporary films produced at Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery which showcase demonstrations of the craft. The exhibition highlights how the tools Baskerville used to create his typeface all left their marks on the punches, and by decyphering these marks we can start of understand the methods Baskerville used for their manufacture.

Capturing Craft runs until 30 July, and is open to the public Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 3pm.

Installation view of Capturing Craft, The Hive, Birmingham, 2-30 July 2025.

The exhibition is part of the ‘Small Performances’ project which brings together printing historians, heritage scientists, craftspeople, and type designers in an interdisciplinary project which is making a substantial contribution to the history of printing technology.  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. The project is led by the University of Cambridge and funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council research grant (2024-2026). You can find out more on the project’s dedicated website: baskervillepunches.org