PHS/BIAD conference: Industry and Genius in the Printing Trade

4 - 5 September 2012
Birmingham School of Art
Margaret Street
Birmingham, UK

Between the Hall of Memory and Baskerville House in Birmingham, stands a sculptural tribute to John Baskerville. On the columns of Portland Stone are reversed bronze letters spelling ‘Virgil’, the Roman poet whose works were printed by Baskerville in 1757 in the famous typeface that bears his name. A poem in praise of the printer appeared in Aris's Gazette in 1751, entitled 'Industry and Genius' from which the sculpture takes its name.

The contribution made by printers, processes and products to their industry and the wider political and cultural world will be examined in this two day conference organised jointly by the Printing Historical Society and the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.