Calligraphy of the Middle Ages and How to Do It

By Marc Drogin

Book Overview

The most fascinating period in the highly interesting history of calligraphy, the Middle Ages saw the origins of many graceful and dramatic lettering designs. You can re-create these intriguing medieval styles with the help of this captivating introduction to calligraphy and its user-friendly, practical advice.
Author Marc Drogin -- a widely experienced calligrapher and one of the world's leading authorities on the subject -- offers an unusual approach particularly well suited to beginners. His instructions on the four major hands of the era (early medieval Roman Rustic, early Uncial, Carolingian, and late medieval Gothic Textura) appear alongside a look at the life and times of a major figure from the heyday of the style. You'll learn to write in the modes associated with Julius Caesar, King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Robin Hood, and discover absorbing insights into the lives and careers of these historical figures. In addition, you'll find expert explanations of the appropriate spacing, paragraphing, punctuation, and layout for each hand.
The New Orleans Calligraphy Association commended this work as "extremely well written with clear and precise instructions in making all hands historically correct. Full of historical and technical information for the serious beginning or seasoned calligrapher." If you're new to calligraphy, this unique blend of living history and practical instruction will make you a devotee of the art; it you're already proficient, it will inspire you to new heights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486402053
• ISBN13: 9780486402055
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.3" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Good for Kids, Adults need Medieval Calligraphy

This book introduces a few medieval "hands" and is pretty simplistic. Good for a child who just saw a movie about the period or is studying it in school. A serious student of the subject needs to spend the extra money and go for the Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique That one can get pretty dry just as reading material, but the "how-to" pages are very comprehensive and it offers a lot more hands and variations plus the sources for them.

Calligraph of the Middle Ages and How to Do it.

A well written, genuninely interesting volume with excellent how to and use instructions. The text alone is worth the price of the book and the time spent reading. I for one learned quite a lot and have been practicing calligraphy for a couple of decades. FKA, Heidelberg, Germany

Calligraphy of the Middle Ages and How to Do It

This is a good book to start off with when learning calligraphy. It shows you many script forms from different regions and is an excellent purchase.

Calligraphy of the Middle Ages and how to do it

This is a book I wished had been around when I was a kid. A fun, step-by-step book for older kids showing how calligraphy developed during the Middle Ages. With each script, he introduces you to a person living during that time period, and a little history about what was going on in the world. All of the scripts have very clear pictures and instructions, plus photos of real medieval pages so you can see how the script looked. I'm an adult, but I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot.

Modestly priced introduction to historical writing

This is the Dover reprint of "Yours Truly, King Arthur."In this book, Mr. Drogin provides history and instruction for 4 hands used in the Middle Ages. Like many books on this subject, the hands are generally simplified, generic versions. There are, however, a number of pictures of actual, historical writings that allow you to see the real thing and compare that to Mr. Drogin's writing.Each hand is placed into its historic context by presenting the hand in relation to a particular historic persona, giving both a short lesson on the man and the hand he might have written.All in all, it's a nice book; seems slanted towards the youth market, but is nonetheless an excellent book for adults beginning a study of historic hands, as well.