Typography has always been intrinsically linked to technology, a fact most dramatically illustrated by the introduction of the Transitional designs. By the beginning of the 18th century, printing technology had not changed significantly from the time of Gutenberg and was crude by contemporary standards. Presses were made mostly of wood and were incapable of applying even pressure from type to paper. Papers were, of course, hand-made and had uneven thicknesses and coarse surfaces, and printing inks were incapable of rendering dense solids.
John Baskerville: One of the chief influences of this period was English manufacturer John Baskerville, who, for most of his life, had nothing at all to do with printing or typography. He was a successful businessman in japanning, which was the decorating of metal articles with coats of varnish and paintings of floral and pastoral images. By all accounts, he was not well liked, being exceedingly outspoken, strong willed, and egocentric.