Thursday 16 October 2008

Me and Mrs., Mrs. Eaves, Mrs. Eaves, Mrs. Eaves..


I've had a bit of an obsession today, involving ligatures, all stemming from a blog on the serif. I wasn't so fussed about the content of the post, just the image and 'that' it ligature. We decided that perhaps the font used was a bastardised version of caslon with slanted o's.
I loved the ligature and finally after much searching i reallised it was probably taken from Mrs Eaves just ligatures. I of course may be wrong about that, but the story behind Mrs Eaves typeface is quite interesting considering it is a revival of the types of John Baskerville.
"
the name Mrs Eaves reveals an interesting story. Like his types, Baskerville was, himself, a controversial character. He hired Sarah Eaves as his housekeeper. Eventually her husband Richard abandoned her and their five children, and Mrs Eaves became Baskerville's mistress and eventual helpmate with typesetting and printing. On the death of Mrs Eaves estranged husband, she married John Baskerville within the month. Selection of the name Mrs Eaves honors one of the forgotten women in the history of typography."

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