Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique (Lettering, Calligraphy, Typography)
Product ID: 1407007
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"Vastly rewarding and illuminating." — American Artist This comprehensive history and instruction manual contains, in one volume, thirteen significant medieval scripts, with a history of the evolution of the alphabets, and fascinating background material on the scribes, their world, and how writing styles changed over a thousand years. Moreover, it is the only modern book that provides clearly described, brilliantly photographed, and accurately reproduced examples of both major and minor hands along with explicit directions for writing them. The author — a professional calligrapher of medieval styles, as well as illuminator, writer, and teacher — presents a spirited historical account of thirteen important writing styles developed from about the fourth century to the end of the fifteenth. These include Roman Rustic, Uncial, Carolingian Minuscule, Early Gothic, Luxeuil Minuscule, Gothic Littera Bastarda , and seven other distinctive hands. The text explains how and why different styles evolved, why certain devices, codes, and abbreviations were used, and how form and function interacted. In addition to fascinating facts about the origin and development of medieval scripts, Medieval Calligraphy also shows you how to duplicate medieval techniques with modern writing tools. Thorough instructions and sharply detailed, full-page photographs of the original alphabets explain pen angles and stroke sequences for each letter and capital. By carefully studying and practicing the techniques described, calligraphers will be able to master some of history's most interesting and influential scripts. Mr. Drogin has rounded out the book with helpful lists of suppliers of tools and materials, American and European sources for facsimiles and books, calligraphic societies, a bibliography, index, and more. Review: Best book if you want to know about the history of scripts - I have a whole bookshelf full of books on calligraphy, but this title is extraordinary. The author wrote it in 1980 as a frustrated calligraphy teacher who wanted a comprehensive book for his students. He felt that most other books on the subject were either too simple and glossed over important information, or were written for scholars and therefore inaccessible to the average student. “Medieval Calligraphy” is the result, and an impressive one it is! The book is full of history and technique, but more importantly, it’s eminently readable. Most books on calligraphy are heavy on technique (unfortunately “modernized”); more of a reference than a good read. I sat and read the book as if it were a novel, looking forward each day to my private reading time, and as with reading any good novel I was sad to come to the end. The scripts are explained in chronological order so there is a clear historical line drawn from, say, Roman Rustic to Roman half-uncial and the scripts in between. Drogin explains the pressures of the day, the movement of people, the politics and other factors that went into the development from one script to another. Included are dozens of pictures of original documents so that you can see the scripts in their native habitat. The author also includes technical notes on each script, though full alphabets are not included. Other interesting sections show page layout used by the scribes and also how to order facsimiles. If you are passionate about calligraphy and are hungry for more than mere technical guidance, I highly recommend this book. Review: Perfect book - I cannot believe my luck finding this book. I was doing a lot of research on Medieval handwriting and paleography for an art project. I want to create original art using different types of scripts along with some knowledge I have about Old and Middle English. Originally I tried to blow the letters up and trace them, but it didn't work well because the letters varied a bit in size over different pages (had to use different pages because for instance a capital Q isn't found very often). I decided to try to learn the writing styles myself. I found this book and thought I might as well try it. It is PERFECT. I was expecting it maybe to show different styles, but it actually teaches you how to write them. I'm amazed that this book wasn't written exactly for my project. It even has a picture of the specific manuscript I had used for my tracing attempt. I also wanted to add that my art will be given to others who may not be well-versed in letters like wynn, a w that looks like a p. I had considered trying to make modern letters for that reason. But lo and behold, this book has modern letters already made for me for scripts with old-fashioned ones. The author also clearly cares a lot about this subject and it shows. It's a wonderful book that I will treasure.
| Best Sellers Rank | #118,150 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #66 in Calligraphy Guides #136 in Decorative Arts #156 in Art Movements (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 491 Reviews |
C**X
Best book if you want to know about the history of scripts
I have a whole bookshelf full of books on calligraphy, but this title is extraordinary. The author wrote it in 1980 as a frustrated calligraphy teacher who wanted a comprehensive book for his students. He felt that most other books on the subject were either too simple and glossed over important information, or were written for scholars and therefore inaccessible to the average student. “Medieval Calligraphy” is the result, and an impressive one it is! The book is full of history and technique, but more importantly, it’s eminently readable. Most books on calligraphy are heavy on technique (unfortunately “modernized”); more of a reference than a good read. I sat and read the book as if it were a novel, looking forward each day to my private reading time, and as with reading any good novel I was sad to come to the end. The scripts are explained in chronological order so there is a clear historical line drawn from, say, Roman Rustic to Roman half-uncial and the scripts in between. Drogin explains the pressures of the day, the movement of people, the politics and other factors that went into the development from one script to another. Included are dozens of pictures of original documents so that you can see the scripts in their native habitat. The author also includes technical notes on each script, though full alphabets are not included. Other interesting sections show page layout used by the scribes and also how to order facsimiles. If you are passionate about calligraphy and are hungry for more than mere technical guidance, I highly recommend this book.
E**H
Perfect book
I cannot believe my luck finding this book. I was doing a lot of research on Medieval handwriting and paleography for an art project. I want to create original art using different types of scripts along with some knowledge I have about Old and Middle English. Originally I tried to blow the letters up and trace them, but it didn't work well because the letters varied a bit in size over different pages (had to use different pages because for instance a capital Q isn't found very often). I decided to try to learn the writing styles myself. I found this book and thought I might as well try it. It is PERFECT. I was expecting it maybe to show different styles, but it actually teaches you how to write them. I'm amazed that this book wasn't written exactly for my project. It even has a picture of the specific manuscript I had used for my tracing attempt. I also wanted to add that my art will be given to others who may not be well-versed in letters like wynn, a w that looks like a p. I had considered trying to make modern letters for that reason. But lo and behold, this book has modern letters already made for me for scripts with old-fashioned ones. The author also clearly cares a lot about this subject and it shows. It's a wonderful book that I will treasure.
D**S
Re-Revised Appreciation
As title of the review shows, I've changed my assessment three times for this book. Now that I've finished reading the whole thing I am wholly delighted with it. At first I was turned off by some of the lettering in chapter headings, but the information is concise, very readable, gives both detail and explanations when details are avoided (the author gives examples of five or more names for the same style of writing, depending on the perspective of the historian or calligrapher). I am an amateur hobbyist, if that, so I find this a perfect overview of the history with helpful pages of instruction on writing. This is a Dover edition, which means it is made to be affordable (thanks!) and which may explain the chapter heading script -- but the book is the right size, the paper seems good and the narrative and writing instruction are both valuable! I now feel far more comfortable with my other handbooks and their names for scripts.
M**Y
Best of both worlds
I was frustrated with calligraphy books that only contained modern, sometimes not too attractive lettering forms, but I also wanted to know the history of the evolution of the text used in illuminated manuscripts, which I find fascinating and beautiful. This book is perfect for both. If you are looking simply for a lot of older alphabets to copy, this is not the book for you, but if you would like samples of a few alphabets from the middle ages to work with and also know the history of the evolution of the practice and how preferences changed over time, this is a wonderful book. Keep in mind, this is black and white - no color in the book and no "practice pages" to write in, but that wasn't the purpose of the book. I highly recommend this book if you like the history of the illuminated manuscript - this one very much concentrates on the text therein and its evolution.
L**Z
Medieval Calligraphy.....how you do it!
If you are looking for a good calligraphy reference book that shows a lot of medieval scrips, then this book is for you. The book does a good job of showing some techniques in how to create some of the styles along with some of their history. However, I will note that there is a LOT of stuff crammed into this book and for some people this may come across as a bit busy, but overall I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to try their hand a calligraphy. Enjoy.
E**T
Good resource for artists and historians
Whether you are interested in medieval calligraphy or medieval documents, this book is a great place to start. The book provides a chronological presentation of different script families used from the early medieval to just before the printing press is invented. The author Marc Drogin is a practicing calligrapher, so there is a lot of technical information about how to replicate the lettering for modern pieces. But the book does a pretty deep dive into actual medieval documents including lots of photos of real manuscripts in different languages from Old English to Latin and Middle French. This isn't a paleography course, but this does give real insight into the documents containing text from the MIddle Ages from beautiful illuminated letters to tiny snippets of Anglo Saxon 'glosses' inserted between lines of Vulgate Latin in a Bible. I have an even deeper appreciation of the value of these documents and the value the writing centers have for European civilization.
E**L
GREAT BOOK
Great book for my collection LOTS of great info for my workshops.
C**R
A very nice lesson both in history and technique.
There are a lot of books offering you the first step on the wonderful world of calligraphy and lettering, but I've found in Marc Drogin's book not only an excellent source of information but also a great teacher in the various styles of medieval calligraphy. The history part summarizes the evolution of western alphabet as well as the different lettering styles according to a certain age, but the author also talk a lot about the context and the significance behind the important job of being a scribe. The technique part it's so friendly that takes your hand from the beginning of each stroke to the final one in each letter of the alphabet in the several styles that are reviewed in the book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the wonderful world of medieval calligraphy. Just a tip: If you are practicing with the book beside you, be careful with the ink. May Titivillus be with you to take the blame for all your mistakes, and good writing!
L**P
Todo bien
Buena compra!
C**I
immancabile per appassionati
Ottimo libro per appassionati di calligrafia e del mondo medioevale. La prima parte è dedicata alla storia della calligrafia nel mondo medievale, sia sul suo impatto sulla società che sullo suo sviluppo e modificazione. Segue una parte dedicata ai vari stili calligrafici con breve storia introduttiva, un alfabeto di base e numerosi esempi e variazione con tanto di foto dei manoscritti originali. Non certo adatto per un primo approccio alla calligrafia ma immancabile per un appassionato
S**O
Amazing!
The book looks very comprehensive and useful!
A**N
Medieval Masterpiece
Just received this book today and for only $18 it is by far the most comprehensive calligraphy guide I have seen to date. Although it only covers a little over a dozen medieval scripts they are covered so completely as to leave no question about their form or structure for a beginner like myself (ligatures, embellishments and special historical nuances are also covered). This book also contains a vast amount of high quality photographs of historical works and script examples to further illustrate the development and structure of the various script types. I was first debating picking up a copy of David Harris' 'The Art of Calligraphy' because of it's excellent demonstration of techniques that I found very clear and thorough, but for twice the cost (for a used copy) and no current interest in the other scripts that Harris' book also covers (renaissance-modern) I chose this book instead. Massively impressed!!!
A**T
TARİH FAZLA TEKNİK AZ
Daha iyi olabilirdi.
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