Calligraphy (from Greek κάλλος kallos “beauty” + γραφή graphẽ “writing”): The art of writing.
Illumination: Decorations for text, in the strictest definition, gold or silver. These may include decorated letters, margins, miniature paintings, etc.
These are the books I have found most useful for historical calligraphic hands, quill-cutting, information on leafing and historical materials, etc. I haven’t yet found a really good how-to for historical illumination–recommendations welcome.
Harris, David. The Art of Calligraphy: a practical guide to the skills and techniques. Dorling Kindersley: New York (1995), 128 pp.
Includes how to cut quill and reed pens, script timeline, script reference chart, historical background, and instructions for the following hands:
Rustic Capitals (Roman Rustic), Square Capitals, Imperial Capitals (Roman), Uncial, Artifical Uncial (Late Uncial), Insular Majuscule, Insular Minuscule, Caroline Minuscule (Carolingian), Foundational (a post-Renaissance), Early Gothic (Late Carolingian, Carolingian Gothic), Gothic Textura Quadrata, Gothic Textura Prescisus, Gothic Capitals and Versals, Lombardic Capitals, Bastard Secretary (Elizabethan Secretary), Bâtarde, Fraktur, Schwabacher, Bastard Capitals, Cadels, Rotunda, Rotunda Capitals, Humanist Minuscule, Italic, Humanist and Italic Capitals, Italic Swash Capitals, Copperplate and Copperplate Capitals (post-Renaissance)
The two weaknesses of the book are 1) It does not discuss inks, and 2) it presents Secretary as a semi-formal bookhand, and does not show any examples of the commonly used Secretary script used by the Elizabethans for everyday writing, such as letters. Most surviving examples of Secretary are considerably less formal and consistent than bookhands.
This is a fantastic book and I would recommend it over Drogin’s Medieval Calligraphy for the beginner. It also has the advantage in presenting Renaissance hands, and in being full-color, so the numerous examples of manuscripts are easier to read and more inspirational.
Drogin, Marc. Medieval Calligraphy. Dover: New York (1980), 198 pp.
This is the classic reference text for medieval calligraphy. It presents all of the major medieval hands, along with historical background and some minimal discussion of technique and materials. It is in black-and-white, so doesn’t really inspire illumination, but presents a variety of examples of the hands so the reader can see the historical variance. The hands covered are:
Roman Rustic (Rustic Capitals), Uncial, Artificial Uncial (Late Uncial), Roman Half-Uncial, Insular Majuscule, Insular Minuscule, Luxeuil Minuscule, Carolingian Minuscule (Caroline), Early Gothic, Gothic Textura Quadrata, Gothic Textura Prescisus, Gothic Littera Bastarda and Cadels
I find Drogin’s lettering diagrams less easy to follow than Harris’s, and it isn’t always clear when letter forms are modernized. I also strongly disagree with some of his comments on materials, particularly the recommendation of fountain pens, although I agree that quills are difficult to use and can be very frustrating and off-putting for beginners (if I couldn’t use a metal-nibbed dip pen, I would be very frustrated right now). Drogin does not cover Cadels as extensively as Harris.
Overall, while Drogin covers fewer hands than Harris, he does so in more depth. The hands are also presented differently. For example, Drogin’s Bastarda does not involve pen rotations (which can be tricky), while Harris’s does. I recommend both books strongly, as they complement each other well.
Johnston, Edward. Writing & Illuminating & Lettering. Pittman: London (1977).
Johnston was first published in 1906, and it’s pretty dense and sometimes hard to follow, but it’s an invaluable resource. It discusses working surface, quill and reed cutting, letter and line spacing, practicing, rubrication, gold, illumination, and just about everything else, and includes numerous black-and-white illustrations. Although some colors and techniques described are post-Renaissance, much is not.
Dawson, Giles E., and Kennedy-Skipton, Laetitia. Elizabethan Handwriting, 1500-1650: A Manual. W.W. Norton: New York (1966), 130 pp.
This is the only book I’ve found so far that really focuses on everyday writing rather than more formal book- or courthands. It focuses primarily upon the Elizabethan Secretary hand, a bastard script, although it also includes some examples of italic cursive (used primarily by women until 1600 or so, but which replaced Secretary in the 17th century) and a few legal and court hands.
The book includes discussion of Elizabethan spelling and the evolution of the Secretary hand, as well as numerous examples of 16th and 17th century handwritten documents with transcriptions, including several plates from various penmanship books. The handwritings presented vary wildly in formality.
It does NOT include any instructions on the hands themselves. However, between the plates from penmanship books and the instructions for Bastard Secretary in Harris, I imagine one could develop one’s own version of Secretary. There is a lot of latitude for variation.
Cennini, Cennino D’Andrea. Il Libro dell’ Arte (The Craftsman’s Handbook). Trans. Daniel V. Thompson Dover: New York (1933), 142 pp.
Probably written in the 14th century, this is an amazing primary source on Renaissance painting. Although much of it deals specifically with fresco painting, Cennini also discusses pigments, brushes, drawing with silverpoint, drawing on cloth, and many other topics. For instructions of preparing period pigments, it’s hard to beat Cennini. This English translation divides the text into useful sections, including “On the character of ultramarine blue, and how to make it” and “How to paint a dead man.”
The full text is available free online.
Thompson, Daniel V. The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting. Dover: New York (1956), 239 pp. (Originally published 1936).
Thompson’s thoroughly researched book covers topics like binding media, gesso, size, oils, pigments, and application of metals in detail. It is an excellent complement to Cennini.
Morgan, Margaret. The Bible of Illuminated Letters. Barron’s Educational Books: Hauppauge, NY (2006), 256 pp.
Although this is aimed at calligraphers inspired by rather than recreating historical work, it does include clear directions for gold and for illuminated letters in several historical styles, including Ottonian. It has some beautiful examples of historical manuscript pages that I haven’t seen elsewhere, and does discuss techniques like writing with thinned gouache for color calligraphy.
However, the hands presented ARE modernized, and design elements should be compared with historical examples before use. Morgan exaggerates the dangers of many historical pigments and recommends some extremely fugitive modern ones.
I like this book for inspiration, but I definitely recommend pairing it with one of the more historically accurate calligraphy books, such as Harris or Drogin.
