Monument to John Baskerville

Birmingham is known for its accent, and you could be forgiven for thinking the word ‘ligriv’ is some kind of Brummie secret slang.
Found outside the office building that bears his name, this sculpture pays tribute to the 18^th Century industrialist John Baskerville. The monument, carved from stone and bronze in 1990, is by David Patten and is actually entitled ‘Industry and Genius’. Though it may seem like five handy make-​shift seats to local office workers enjoying a lunchtime sandwich in the sun, the short columns actually pay tribute to Baskerville’s printing business. Each pillar combines to spell the word ‘Virgil’, written backwards to mark Baskerville’s invention of an elegant typeface — ‘The Poems of Virgil’ being the first book from the printing arm of Baskerville’s empire. In this way, the piece neatly portrays a man who was pulled in two competing directions — art and industry. This is one of the more interesting works of public art that appeared in city in the early 1990s and is well worth a visit when you’re next in ‘mahgnimriB’.