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In the beginning
was the word....
and the word still is! One of the most distinctive characteristics of humans is language. Language in an human society serves as the chief means of communication between it’s members, it is also directly linked to the thinking process, and right through the human development has set us apart as an unique species with an unparalleled ability to crystallise this abstract process of thinking into something tactile, that can impart social codes, laws, religion and all other societal elements to it’s many members even those who haven’t been born yet!, and while language has always utilised speech as a vehicle to communicate it’s very complex structures, it is the written word that carries the fuller expression of language rather than simply being a visual way of transcribing speech, and that is what gives writing it’s special properties, for while language is a system of symbols; writing is the system for symbolising these symbols! Writers of old have added another dimension to their important manuscripts, to highlight the inscribed text and emphasise the significance of what the words convey, by embellishing the lettering and adding, often, heavy ornamentation which in time became an art form in it’s own right, that is what we know today as calligraphy. calligraphy, could be defined as the art of beautiful and elegant handwriting as exhibited by the correct formation of characters, the ordering of the various parts, and the harmony of proportions, and that word’s origin certainly embodies that definition as as it comes from the Greek words “Kallos” means beauty and “graphein” meaning to write! The development of early calligraphy was very much parallel to the development of hand writing and could be traced in many other written languages apart from western civilisations, like Chinese, Japanese and Arabic, where characters in themselves are considered to be an highly aesthetic objects, traditionally these cultures hold the art of calligraphy in a revered status and is respected as highly as painting. From antiquity and up to about the eighth century AD, Greek lettering dominated writing in Europe and that was usually in two forms, one used for copying books and that was normally in clear stylised capital letters compared to the other kind used for documents,letters and the like which varied according to the nature of the users, but had the characteristics of being flowing and rounded as a result of writing speedily. Major changes have been introduced during the Byzantine Empire to the Greek styles of writing, including the invention of the “ Lowercase “ lettering, but remained mainly in the two formats mentioned i.e. formal for liturgical works & books and personal for the everyday use, both will have a great influence on printing styles later on. Latin writing since appearing in the first century AD, has taken a similar route and shown two formats, the rustic capitals which served as the book hand and the cursive capitals which taken the role of business and letters hand, that has in turn produced the minuscules letter forms. Under Charlemagne's rule in the 8th and 9th centuries, specifically under the leadership of the English cleric Alcuin, abbot of St. Martin's at Tours, several important scripts were developed, notably the Carolingian minuscule. The humanist literary movement of the 14th to 16th centuries produced two scripts that influenced all subsequent handwriting and printing: the so-called Roman and Italic styles. For 200 to 300 years after the invention of printing, European calligraphy was increasingly distinguished by bold and frequently extravagant ornamentation, manuscripts were written as much to show off a hand as to convey information and knowledge. A revival of more traditional forms occurred in the 19th century, and calligraphy and illuminating became a popular “drawing room” activity. As a turning point, in 1870, William Morris started producing manuscripts with illumination in the pre-Raphaelite manner with lettering modelled on the Italian cursive style. Another landmark leading to modern calligraphy was the publication in 1906 of Edward Johnston’s manual titled “ Writing, illuminating and lettering “, generally acknowledged as the foundation of all modern calligraphy.
In this monumental
work, Johnston showed that the
best of medieval
lettering could be adopted for modern
use through the
correct use of traditional tools such as the edged pen. He also
revived the ancient technique of
applying burnished gold leaf in conjunction with Graily Hewitt. The Society of Scribes and illuminators “ SSI “ was established in 1921 by a group of Johnston and Hewitt’s students, this was the major catalyst for advancing the cause of modern calligraphy forward, and continued to exert huge influence through it’s professional and lay members, an influence that has spread from England to the rest of the continent and America. Johnston’s book has been supplemented for technique by C.M. Lamb’s publication “ the Calligrapher’s Handbook in 1956 and both references with Fairbank’s writings (see next paragraph) continue to be essential reading for anyone interested in practicing this fine art. Another modern pioneer work was instrumental in reviving this ancient art form was published by Alfred Fairbank in 1932, “ A Handwriting Manual “ . He has also revived Italic handwriting ( a style based on the 16th century Italian “chancery cursive” ) and single handedly adopted it to every day’s use. Fairbank has, while president of the SSI, proposed establishing the Society for Italic Handwriting (1952), SIH for short, and that continues to be the major driving force behind the teaching of Italic Handwriting and calligraphy to this very day! |