john baskerville.

John Baskerville is best remembered as a typographer and printer.  Born in England, John later in his life became a member of the Royal Society of Arts.  His works became well-known and well-used by the Royal Society of Arts and Benjamin Franklin, who later brought his work to the United States, which were adopted for government publishing.

Early in his life, John was a master writer and headstone engraver.  Over the course of the years, this turned into him setting up a printing business, and doing very well at that.  He managed to print a series of books but lost money doing so, so ended up asking the government for a subsidy to produce a bible for a university. 

Baskerville is still used quite often today, thanks to George Jones' revision and accurate recutting of the metal of Baskerville's English 14pt. Roman and Italic and 1929 done for Linotype & Machinery Ltd.  

The font is very unique in a sense that there is a greater contrast between the thick and thin strokes, the curved strokes being very circular in shape, and the serifs being sharper than usual.  It is said, and obvious to look at, that his background as a writing master can be seen in his work and design of fonts.  

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baskerville

http://www.myfonts.com/person/baskerville/john

http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk/history/images/brum7.1.gif