In the design of his printing types, he sought to create a unique letterform of such beauty as to be admired for its own sake and, further, he wished to bring to a logical conclusion the work of Baskerville, who was his idol. Bodoni’s desire was a type which was suitable for contemporary times rather than the age of the scribe. Instead of the stroke of the pen, his inspiration was the mathematical precision and delicate hairline strokes characteristic of copperplate engraving, which was very popular at that time.