Master Printer. He first made his fortune as a headstone engraver and a varnisher before moving into printing. He invented the 'baskerville' typeface and eventually became Printer to Cambridge University. Originally he was buried upright (due to his atheism) in a conical mausoleum in the grounds of the Mill in which he lived. The Mill was later destroyed by rioters and the land disturbed by canal cutting. In 1820 his body became the property of a peepshow, but he was afterward moved to the vault of a now-demolished chapel, and today his body lies in an unmarked grave in a Birmingham cemetery.
Master Printer. He first made his fortune as a headstone engraver and a varnisher before moving into printing. He invented the 'baskerville' typeface and eventually became Printer to Cambridge University. Originally he was buried upright (due to his atheism) in a conical mausoleum in the grounds of the Mill in which he lived. The Mill was later destroyed by rioters and the land disturbed by canal cutting. In 1820 his body became the property of a peepshow, but he was afterward moved to the vault of a now-demolished chapel, and today his body lies in an unmarked grave in a Birmingham cemetery.
Inscription
Stranger
Beneath this cone, in unconsecrated ground,
A friend to the liberties of mankind
Directed his body to be inurned.
May the example contribute to emancipate thy mind
from the idle fears of superstition, and the
wicked arts of priestcraft.
Inscription on original memorial
(From ‘Curious Epitaphs’ by William Andrews 1883)
Advertisement
Advertisement
