of japanning, and gained a
considerable fortune. About the year 1750 he began to make experiments in
type-founding, producing types much superior in distinctness and elegance
to any that had hitherto been employed. He set up a printing-house, and in
1757 published his first work, a _Virgil_ in royal quarto, followed, in
1758, by his famous edition of Milton. In that year he was appointed
printer to the university of Cambridge, and undertook editions of the Bible
and the Book of Common Prayer. The _Horace_, published in 1762, is
distinguished even among the productions of the Baskerville press for its
correctness and for the beauty of the paper and type. A second _Horace_
appeared in 1770 in quarto, and its success encouraged Baskerville to
publish a series of quarto editions of Latin authors, which included
Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Lucretius, Terence, Sallust and Florus.
This list of books issued by Baskerville from his press lends some irony to
the allegation that he was a person of no education. These books are
admirable specimens of typography; and Baskerville is deservedly ranked
among the foremost of those who have advanced the art of printing. His
contemporaries asserted that his books owed more to the quality of the
paper and ink than to the type itself, but the difficulty in obtaining
specimens from the Baskerville press shows the estimation in which they are
now held. His wife, Sarah Baskerville, carried on the business for some
time after his death, which took place on the 8th of January 1775.

BASKET, a vessel made of twigs, cane or rushes, as well as of a variety of
other materials, interwoven together, and used for holding, protecting or
carrying any commodity. The process of interweaving twigs, rushes or
leaves, is practised among the rudest nations of the world; and as it is
one of the most universal of arts, so also does it rank among the most
ancient industries, being probably the origin of all the textile arts of
the world. Decorative designs in old ceramic ware are derived from the
marks left by the basket mould used before the invention of the potter's
wheel, and in the willow pattern on old china, and the basket capitals or
mouldings of Byzantine architecture, the influence of the basketmaker's art
is clearly traceable. Essentially a primitive craft, its relative
importance is in inverse ratio to the industrial development of a people.

The word "basket" has been generally identified with the