CHAPTER I_Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: See Transcriber's Endnote for details of this

transcription. Scans of the original printed book are available from

https://archive.org/details/writingillumina00john.

THE ARTISTIC CRAFTS SERIES

OF TECHNICAL HANDBOOKS

EDITED BY W. R. LETHABY

WRITING & ILLUMINATING,

AND LETTERING

[Illustration: _Frontispiece._

A SCRIPTORIUM

_This drawing (about two-fifths of the linear size of the original)

is made from a photograph of a miniature painted in an old MS.

(written in 1456 at the Hague by Jean Mielot, Secretary to Philip

the Good, Duke of Burgundy), now in the Paris National Library (MS.

Fonds français 9,198)._

_It depicts Jean Mielot himself, writing his collection of Miracles

of Our Lady in French. His parchment appears to be held steady by a

weight and also by (? the knife or filler in) his left hand—compare

fig. 41 in this book. Above there is a sort of reading desk, holding

MSS. for copying or reference._]

WRITING & ILLUMIN-

ATING, & LETTERING

BY EDWARD JOHNSTON. WITH

DIAGRAMS & ILLUSTRATIONS

BY THE AUTHOR & NOEL ROOKE

8 pp. EXAMPLES IN RED&BLACK

AND 24 pp. OF COLLOTYPES

PUBLISHED BY JOHN HOGG

13 PATERNOSTER ROW

LONDON 1906

[p-vii]

EDITOR’S PREFACE

In issuing these volumes of a series of Handbooks on the Artistic

Crafts, it will be well to state what are our general aims.

In the first place, we wish to provide trustworthy text-books of

workshop practice, from the points of view of experts who have

critically examined the methods current in the shops, and putting

aside vain survivals, are prepared to say what is good workmanship,

and to set up a standard of quality in the crafts which are more

especially associated with design. Secondly, in doing this, we hope

to treat design itself as an essential part of good workmanship.

During the last century most of the arts, save painting and sculpture

of an academic kind, were little considered, and there was a

tendency to look on “design” as a mere matter of _appearance_. Such

“ornamentation” as there was was usually obtained by following in a

mechanical way a drawing provided by an artist who often knew little

of the technical processes involved in production. With the critical

attention given to the crafts by [p-viii] Ruskin and Morris, it came

to be seen that it was impossible to detach design from craft in this

way, and that, in the widest sense, true design is an inseparable

element of good quality, involving as it does the selection of good

and suitable material, contrivance for special purpose, expert

workmanship, proper finish, and so on, far more than mere ornament,

and indeed, that ornamentation itself was rather an exuberance of

fine workmanship than a matter of merely abstract lines. Workmanship

when separated by too wide a gulf from fresh thought—that is, from

design—inevitably decays, and, on the other hand, ornamentation,

divorced from workmanship, is necessarily unreal, and quickly falls

into affectation. Proper ornamentation may be defined as a language

addressed to the eye; it is pleasant thought expressed in the speech

of the tool.

In the third place, we would have this series put artistic

craftsmanship before people as furnishing reasonable occupations for

those who would gain a livelihood. Although within the bounds of

academic art, the competition, of its kind, is so acute that only

a very few per cent. can fairly hope to succeed as painters and

sculptors; yet, as artistic craftsmen, there is every probability

that nearly every one who would pass through a sufficient period of

apprenticeship to workmanship and design would reach a measure of

success.

In the blending of handwork and thought in [p-ix] such arts as we

propose to deal with, happy careers may be found as far removed from

the dreary routine of hack labour as from the terrible uncertainty

of academic art. It is desirable in every way that men of good

education should be brought back into the productive crafts: there

are more than enough of us “in the city,” and it is probable that

more consideration will be given in this century than in the last to

Design and Workmanship.

* * * * *

Of all the Arts, writing, perhaps, shows most clearly the formative

force of the instruments used. In the analysis which Mr. Johnston

gives us in this volume, nearly all seems to be explained by the two

factors, utility and masterly use of tools. No one has ever invented

a form of script, and herein lies the wonderful interest of the

subject; the forms used have always formed themselves by a continuous

process of development.

The curious assemblages of wedge-shaped indentations which make up

Assyrian writing are a direct outcome of the clay cake, and the

stylus used to imprint little marks on it. The forms of Chinese

characters, it is evident, were made by quickly representing with a

brush earlier pictorial signs. The Roman characters, which are our

letters to-day, although their earlier forms have only come down to

us cut in stone, must have been formed by incessant practice with a

flat, stiff [p-x] brush, or some such tool. The disposition of the

thicks and thins, and the exact shape of the curves, must have been

settled by an instrument used rapidly; I suppose, indeed, that most

of the great monumental inscriptions were designed _in situ_ by a

master writer, and only cut in by the mason, the cutting being merely

a fixing, as it were, of the writing, and the cut inscriptions must

always have been intended to be completed by painting.

The “Rustic letters” found in stone inscriptions of the fourth

century are still more obviously cursive, and in the Catacombs some

painted inscriptions of this kind remain which perfectly show that

they were rapidly _written_. The ordinary “lower case” type with

which this page is printed is, in its turn, a simplified cursive form

of the Capital letters. The Italic is a still more swiftly written

hand, and comes near to the standard for ordinary handwriting.

All fine monumental inscriptions and types are but forms of writing

modified according to the materials to which they are applied. The

Italian type-founders of the fifteenth century sought out fine

examples of old writing as models, and for their capitals studied the

monumental Roman inscriptions. Roman letters were first introduced

into English inscriptions by Italian artists. Torrigiano, on the

tombs he made for [p-xi] Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey and for

Dr. Young at the Rolls Chapel, designed probably the most beautiful

inscriptions of this kind to be found in England.

This volume is remarkable for the way in which its subject seems to

be developed inevitably. There is here no collection of all sorts

of lettering, some sensible and many eccentric, for us to choose

from, but we are shown the essentials of form and spacing, and the

way is opened out to all who will devote practice to it to form an

individual style by imperceptible variations from a fine standard.

Writing is for us the most universal of the Arts, and most craftsmen

have to deal with lettering of a more formal kind. It is a

commonplace of historical criticism to point out how much the Italian

artists owed to the general practice amongst them of goldsmith’s

work, a craft which required accuracy and delicacy of hand. We cannot

go back to that, but we do need a basis of training in a demonstrably

useful art, and I doubt if any is so generally fitted for the purpose

of educating the hand, the eye, and the mind as this one of ‹WRITING›.

W. R. LETHABY.

_October 1906._ [p-xii]

“_We must set up the strong present tense against all the rumours

of wrath, past or to come. So many things are unsettled which it is

of the first importance to settle,—and, pending their settlement,

we will do as we do. . . . Expediency of literature, reason of

literature, lawfulness of writing down a thought, is questioned;

much is to say on both sides, and, while the fight waxes hot, thou,

dearest scholar, stick to thy foolish task, add a line every hour,

and between whiles add a line. Right to hold land, right of property

is disputed, and the conventions convene, and before the vote is

taken, dig away in your garden, and spend your earnings as a waif

or godsend to all serene and beautiful purposes. Life itself is a

bubble and a scepticism, and a sleep within a sleep. Grant it, and

as much more as they will,—but thou, God’s darling! heed thy private

dream: thou wilt not be missed in the scorning and scepticism: there

are enough of them: stay there in thy closet, and toil, until the

rest are agreed what to do about it. Thy sickness, they say, and thy

puny habit, require that thou do this or avoid that, but know that

thy life is a flitting state, a tent for a night, and do thou, sick

or well, finish that stint. Thou art sick, but shall not be worse,

and the universe, which holds thee dear, shall be the better._”

—‹Emerson.›

“_I began to think that if I should discover how to make enamels, I

could make earthen vessels and other things very prettily, because

God had gifted me with some knowledge of drawing. And thereafter,

regardless of the fact that I had no knowledge of drugs, I began to

seek for the enamels as a man gropes in the dark._”

—‹Palissy.›

“_. . . in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the

mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but

realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and

bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of

God and be immortal, if mortal man may._”

—‹Plato.›

[p-xiii]

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

WRITING

The arts of WRITING, ILLUMINATING, & LETTERING offer a wide field

for the ingenious and careful craftsman and open the way to a number

of delightful occupations. Beyond their many uses—some of which are

referred to below—they have a very great educational value. This has

long been recognized in the teaching of elementary design, and the

practice of designing Alphabets and Inscriptions is now common in

most Schools of Art. Much would be gained by substituting, generally,

‹WRITING› for _designing_, because _writing_ being the medium by

which nearly all our letters have been evolved from the Roman

Capital (see p. 35), the use of the pen—essentially a letter-making

tool—gives a practical insight into the construction of letters

attainable in no other way. The most important use of letters is

in the making of books, and the foundations of typography and book

decoration may be mastered—_as they were laid_—by the planning,

writing, and illuminating of MSS. in book form. Of this a modern

printer (see also p. 368) says:

“In the making of the Written Book, . . . . . . the adjustment of

letter to letter, of word to word, of picture to text and of text

to picture, and of the whole to the subject matter and to the page,

admits of great nicety and perfection. The type is fluid, and the

letters and words, picture, text, and page are conceived of as one

and are all executed by one hand, or by several hands all working

together without intermediation on one identical page and [p-xiv]

with a view to one identical effect. In the Printed Book this

adjustment is more difficult. . . . . . . Yet in the making of the

printed book, as in the making of the written book, this adjustment

is essential, and should be specially borne in mind, and Calligraphy

and immediate decoration by hand and the unity which should be

inseparably associated therewith would serve as an admirable

discipline to that end.”

And though calligraphy is a means to many ends, a fine MS. has a

beauty of its own that—if two arts may be compared—surpasses that of

the finest printing. This in itself would justify the transcribing

and preservation of much good literature in this beautiful form

(besides the preparation of “Illuminated Addresses,” Service Books,

Heraldic and other MSS.) and make the practice of formal writing

desirable. And furthermore as the old-fashioned notion _that a

legible hand is a mark of bad breeding_ dies out, it may be that

our current handwriting will take legibility and beauty from such

practice. And even the strict utilitarian could not fail to value

the benefits that might some day come to men, if children learnt to

appreciate beauty of form in their letters and in their writing the

beauty of carefulness.

ILLUMINATING

Of the practice of ‹ILLUMINATING›—properly associated with writing—it

may be observed that, among various ways of acquiring _a knowledge

of the elements of design & decoration_ it is one of the most simple

and complete. Moreover, a fine illumination or miniature has a beauty

of its own that may surpass the finest printed book-decoration. And

pictures in books may be as desirable as pictures on the wall—even

though like the beautiful household gods of the Japanese they are

kept in safe hiding and displayed only now and then. [p-xv]

LETTERING

Magnificent as are the dreams of a fine Decoration based on

lettering, the innumerable practical applications of ‹LETTERING›

itself (see Chap. XVI.) make the study of _Letter-Craft_ not only

desirable but imperative. And perhaps I may here be permitted to

quote from _The Athenæum_ of Feb. 3, 1906, which says of “the new

school of scribes and designers of inscriptions”

“These have attacked the problem of applied design in one of its

simplest and most universal applications, and they have already done

a great deal to establish a standard by which we shall be bound to

revise all printed and written lettering. If once the principles

they have established could gain currency, what a load of ugliness

would be lifted from modern civilization! If once the names of

streets and houses, and, let us hope, even the announcements of

advertisers, were executed in beautifully designed and well-spaced

letters, the eye would become so accustomed to good proportion in

these simple and obvious things that it would insist on a similar

gratification in more complex and difficult matters.”

Yet _Ordinary Writing_ and even scribbling has had, and still might

have, a good influence on the art of the Letter maker, and at least

the common use of pen, ink, & paper makes it a simple matter for any

one to essay a formal or ‘book’ hand. A broad nib cut to give clean

thick and thin strokes (without appreciable variation of pressure)

will teach any one who cares to learn, very clearly and certainly.

And though much practice goes to the making of a perfect MS., it is

easier than people suppose to make really beautiful things by taking

a little pains. As “copy book” hands simple, primitive pen-forms—such

as the Uncial & Half-Uncial (pp. 38, 70)—afford the best training and

permit [p-xvi] the cultivation of the freedom which is essential in

writing: they prepare the way for the mastery of the most practical

characters—the ROMAN CAPITAL, roman small-letter, & _Italic_—and the

ultimate development of a lively and personal penmanship.

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING & ILLUMINATING

Developing, or rather _re_-developing, an art involves _the

tracing in one’s own experience of a process resembling its past

development_. And it is by such a course that we, who wish to revive

Writing & Illuminating, may _renew_ them, evolving new methods and

traditions for ourselves, till at length we attain a modern and

beautiful technique. And if we would be more than amateurs, we must

study and practise _the making of beautiful ‹THINGS›_ and thereby

gain experience of Tools, Materials, and Methods. For it is certain

that we must teach ourselves how to make beautiful things, and must

have some notion of the aim and bent of our work, _of what we seek

and what we do_.

Early illuminated MSS. and printed books with woodcuts (or

good facsimiles) may be studied with advantage by the would-be

Illuminator, and he should if possible learn to draw from hedgerows

and from country gardens. In his practice he should begin as a scribe

making MS. books and then decorating them with simple pen & colour

work. We may pass most naturally from writing to the decoration of

writing, by the making and placing of _initial letters_. For in

seeking first a fine _effectiveness_ we may put readableness before

“looks” and, generally, make a text to read smoothly, broken only by

its natural division into paragraphs, chapters, and the like. But

these divisions, suggesting that a pause in reading is desirable,

suggest also that [p-xvii] a mark is required—as in music—indicating

the “rest”: this a large capital does most effectively.

A technical division of illumination into _Colour-work_, _Pen-work_,

and _Draughtsmanship_ is convenient (see Chap. XI.). Though these

are properly combined in practice, it is suggested that, at first,

it will be helpful to think of their effects as distinct so that we

may attain quite definitely some mastery of pure, bright, colours

& simple colour effects, of pen flourishing and ornament, and of

drawing—whether plain or coloured, that will go decoratively with

writing or printing. This distinction makes it easier to devise

definite schemes of illumination that will be within our power to

carry out at any stage of our development. And while the penman

inevitably gains some power of pen decoration it is well for him

as an illuminator to practise in bright colours and gold; for

illumination may be as brilliant and splendid in its own way as

stained glass, enamels, and jewellery are in theirs.[1] At first,

at any rate, hues that have the least suspicion of being dull or

weak are to be avoided as though they were plainly “muddy” or

“washed-out.” The more definite we make our work the more definitely

will our materials instruct us; and such service must precede mastery.

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF LETTERING

Referring again to good ‹LETTERING›: the second part of this book

deals with some of its _Qualities_, _Forms_—the Roman Capitals &

their important pen-derivatives—and _Uses_. It is written [p-xviii]

largely from the penman’s point of view,[2] but a chapter on

inscriptions in stone has been added and various types and modes of

letter making are discussed. The essential qualities of Lettering

are _legibility, beauty, and character_, and these are to be found

in numberless inscriptions and writings of the last two thousand

years. But since the traditions of the early scribes and printers

and carvers have decayed, we have become so used to inferior forms

and arrangements that we hardly realize how poor the bulk of modern

lettering really is. In the recent “revival” of printing and book

decoration, many attempts have been made to design fine alphabets

and beautiful books—in a number of cases with notable success. But

the study of Palæography and Typography has hitherto been confined

to a few specialists, and these attempts to make “decorative” books

often shew a vagueness of intention, which weakens their interest

and an ignorance of _Letter-craft_ which makes the poorest, ordinary

printing seem pleasant by comparison. The development of Letters

was a purely natural process in the course of which distinct and

characteristic types were evolved and some knowledge of how these

came into being will help us in understanding their anatomy and

distinguishing good and bad forms. A comparatively little study of

old manuscripts and inscriptions will make clear much of the beauty

and method of the early work. And we may accustom ourselves to good

lettering by carefully studying such examples as we can find, and

acquire a practical knowledge [p-xix] of it by copying from them

with a pen or chisel or other letter-making tool. A conscientious

endeavour to make our lettering readable, and models[3] and methods

chosen to that end, will keep our work straight: and after all

the problem before us is fairly simple—_To make good letters and

to arrange them well._ To make good letters is not necessarily to

“design” them—they have been designed long ago—but it is to take the

best letters we can find, and to acquire them _and make them our

own_. To arrange letters well requires no great art, but it requires

a practical knowledge of letter-forms and of the rational methods of

grouping these forms to suit every circumstance.

THE SCOPE OF THIS HANDBOOK

Generally this book has been planned as a sort of “guide” to models

and methods for Letter-craftsmen and Students—more particularly for

those who cannot see the actual processes of Writing, Illuminating,

&c. carried out, and who may not have access to collections of

MSS. Much of, if not all, the explanation is of the most obvious,

but that, I hope, gives it more nearly the value of a practical

demonstration. In describing methods and processes I have generally

used the present tense—saying that they “_are_—”: this is to be taken

as meaning that they _are_ so in early MSS. and inscriptions, and in

the practice of the modern school of scribes who found their work on

them.

Regarding the copying of early work (see pp. 195, 323, &c.) it

is contended that to revive an art [p-xx] one must begin at the

beginning, and that, in an honest attempt to achieve a simple end,

one may lawfully follow a method[4] without imitating a style. We

have an excellent precedent in the Italian scribes who went back 300

years for a model and gave us the Roman small-letter as a result

(see p. 47). The beginners attitude is largely, and necessarily,

imitative, and at this time we should have much to hope from a school

of Artist-Beginners who would make good construction the only novelty

in their work. We have almost as much—or as _little_—to be afraid

of in Originality as in imitation, and our best attitude towards

this problem is that of the Irishman with a difficulty—“to look it

boldly in the face and pass on”—_making an honest attempt to achieve

a simple end_. Perhaps we trouble too much about what we “ought to

do” & “do”: it is of greater moment _to know what we are doing &

trying to do_. In so far as tradition fails to bound or guide us we

must think for ourselves and in practice make methods and rules for

ourselves: endeavouring that our work should _be effective_ rather

than have “a fine effect”—or _be_, rather than appear, good—and

following our craft rather than making it follow us. For all

things—materials, tools, methods—are waiting to serve us and [p-xxi]

we have only to find the “spell” that will set the whole universe

a-making for us.

Endeavouring to attain this freedom we may make Rules and Methods

serve us (see p. 221), knowing that Rules are only _Guides_ and that

Methods are suggested by the work itself: from first to last our

necessary equipment consists in good models, good tools, & a good

will. Within the limits of our craft we cannot have too much freedom;

for too much fitting & planning makes the work lifeless, and it is

conceivable that in the finest work the Rules are concealed, and

that, for example, a MS. might be most beautiful without ruled lines

and methodical arrangement (see p. 343). But the more clearly we

realize our limitations the more practical our work. And it is rather

as a stimulus to definite thought—not as an embodiment of hard and

fast rules—that various methodical plans & tables of comparison &

analysis are given in this book. It is well to recognize at once, the

fact that mere taking to pieces, or analysing, followed by “putting

together,” is only a means of becoming acquainted with the mechanism

of construction, and will not reproduce the original beauty of a

thing: it is an education for work, but all work which is honest and

straightforward has a beauty and freshness of its own.

The commercial prospects of the student of Writing & Illuminating—or,

indeed, of any Art or Craft—are somewhat problematical, depending

largely on his efficiency & opportunities. There is a fairly steady

demand for Illuminated Addresses; but the independent craftsman

would have to establish himself by _useful_ practice, and by seizing

opportunities, and by doing his work well. Only an attempt [p-xxii]

to do practical work will raise practical problems, and therefore

_useful practice is the making of real or definite things_. In

the special conditions attaching to work which the craftsman is

commissioned to do for another person, there is a great advantage.

And the beginner by setting himself specific tasks (for example:

making a MS. book for a specific purpose—see p. 100) should give

reality to his work. As a craftsman in Lettering he might get work in

some of the directions mentioned in pp. 337–341.

Although the demand for good work is at present limited, the

production of good work will inevitably create a demand; and,

finally, the value of Quality is always recognized—sooner or later,

but inevitably—and whatever “practical” reasons we may hear urged in

favour of _Quantity_, the value of Quality is gaining recognition

every day in commerce and even in art, and there or here, sooner or

later we shall know that _we can afford the best_.

EDWARD JOHNSTON.

_October 1906._

My thanks are due to Mr. T. J. Cobden-Sanderson, to Mr. Emery

Walker, and to Mr. George Allen for quotations: to Mr. Graily

Hewitt, to Mr. Douglas Cockerell, to Mr. A. E. R. Gill, to Mr. C. M.

Firth, and to Mr. G. Loumyer, for special contributions on gilding,

binding, and inscription-cutting: to Mr. S. C. Cockerell for several

of the plates: to Mr. W. H. Cowlishaw, to the Rev. Dr. T. K. Abbott,

to Dr. F. S. Kenyon of the New Palæographical Society, to the Vicar

of Holy Trinity Church, Hastings, to the Secretary of the Board of

Education, S. Kensington, to Mr. H. Yates-Thompson, to Mr. G. H.

Powell, and to others, for permission to reproduce photographs,

&c.: and to Mr. Noel Rooke and G. J. H. for assistance with the

illustrations and many other matters: I should like, moreover, to

acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. W. R. Lethaby and Mr. S. C.

Cockerell for encouragement and advice in years past.

E. J.

――――――――――――――――――――

FOOTNOTES TO AUTHOR’S PREFACE:

[1] See Chap. XVI. “Of Colour” in “Stained Glass Work” by C. W.

Whall, in this Series, and the illuminator might profit by the

suggestion (_ibid._, p. 232) of playing with a home-made kaleidoscope.

[2] Dealing with the practical and theoretical knowledge of

letter-making and arrangement which may be gained most effectually by

the use of the pen.

[3] In making choice of a model we seek an essentially legible

character, remembering that our personal view of legibility is apt to

favour custom and use unduly, for a quite bad, familiar writing may

seem to us more readable than one that is far clearer in itself but

unfamiliar.

[4] Much remains to be found out and done in the matter of improving

tools & materials & processes, and it would be preferable that the

rediscovery of simple, old methods should precede new & complex

inventions. We still find the Quill—for its substance & for shaping

it and keeping it sharp—is a better tool than a modern gold or

metal pen (see p. 60). The old parchment, paper, ink, gilding-size

& colours are all much better than those now obtainable (see pp.

51, 167, 173, 178–179). I should greatly appreciate any advice from

illuminators and letter-craftsmen as to materials and methods, and

should endeavour to make such information available to others.—E. J.

[p-xxiii]

ADDENDA & CORRIGENDA

P. 51. Beginners practising _large_ writing may more easily use a

_thin, or diluted, ink_: in _small_ writing this does not show up

the faults with sufficient clearness.

P. 59. Quills often have a sort of _skin_ (which tends to make a

ragged nib), this should be scraped off the back.

P. 63. Until the simple pen-stroke forms are mastered, the pen

should be used without appreciable pressure. With practice one gains

_sleight of hand_ (pp. 85, 311), and slightly changing pressures &

quick movements on to the _corners_, or points, of the nib are used.

The forms in the best MSS. shew such variations; _e.g._ the Uncials

in fig. 5 appear to have been made with varying pressure (perhaps

with a soft reed) & their fine finishing-strokes with the nib-point

(_comp._ forms in fig. 146). _Versals_ likewise shew varying, and

sometimes uncertain, structures that suggest a form consisting of

strokes other than definite pen strokes. [p-xxv]

[Illustration: ‹Figs.› _a_ to _n_, illustrating Addenda &

Corrigenda.]

P. 64. A nib may be _sharpened_ several times, before it is re-cut,

by paring it underneath (fig. _a_).

Pp. 73 & 81. The thin finishing-strokes of j, & F, G, J, N, are made

with the point of the nib—see note p. 63 above.

P. 99. The plan of a paper scale is shewn in fig. _b_.

P. 109. The dots for lines were often pricked through the edges of

the book-sheets which were cut off after ruling (fig. _c_).

P. 118. The spread or _wedge-shaped_ thin stroke, sometimes very

strongly marked, is common in early forms (fig. _d_).

P. 144. [/V] & ℞: better (pen) forms of these are shewn in fig. _e_.

P. 208. Ornamental Letter forms may _consist of_ flourishes,

patterns, leaves, flowers, &c. (see fig. _f_).

Pp. 215–217. _Diapering_ generally means the variegation, figuring,

or flowering, of a plain or patterned surface, with a finer pattern

(see fig. 191_a_). Some diagrams of simple patterns (_g_–_g_^2 from

modern _cantagalli_ ware) are shewn in fig. _g_. Note: the more

solid penwork line-fillings in figs. 87, 126, make effective framing

borders (see fig. _h_).

Pp. 219–220. Note: the principle of breaking straight or long lines,

mentioned in regard to background edges (p. 190), and illustrated in

the line-finishings (fig. 126) and flourishes (fig. 79), is related

to _branching out_ and is re-creative, whereas the prolonged line is

tiresome (see figs. _k_, _k_^1, & _comp. k_^2).

P. 249. The B & D should be _round-shouldered_—see note p. 280

below. [p-xxvi]

P. 260. It is sometimes better to make narrow forms than to combine

wide ones—example fig. _l_.

Pp. 270–275. The large types—“Old Face”

Pp. 280–288. (founded on Caslon Type) and

“Old French” (modern) respectively

—are used in these pages as reference

or index letters (not as models).

P. 280. Generally _round-shouldered_ letters have finer and more

stable forms than square-shouldered, and generally emphasis should

be laid on the _strong, thick stroke running obliquely down from

left to right_ (@), while the weak, thin stroke (/) is rather to be

avoided (see fig. _m_). The writing used in the diagrams in this

book, considered as a formal hand, shews a little too much of the

thin stroke (see p. 485).

P. 324. Commonly letters are made more slender in proportion as they

are made larger, and it is generally not desirable (or possible)

in practical work to have exactly similar proportions in large and

small lettering.

P. 325. g from fig. 173 inaccurate—_comp._ fig. 173 & see fig. _n_.

P. 331. Ornamental letters—see note p. 208 above.

P. 481. A small writing is often the most practical—in the matter

of speed in reading and less bulk in the MS., besides speed in the

writing of it—but it is more difficult for the beginner to write it

well and it is apt to lose some of the virtues of formal penmanship

(see Fine-pen writing pp. 59, 86, 311, 324, 482).

P. 485. Oblique thin stroke—see note p. 280 above. [p-xxvii]

CONTENTS

‹Editor’s Preface› vii

‹Author’s Preface› xiii

‹Addenda & Corrigenda› xxiii

PART I WRITING & ILLUMINATING

CHAPTER I THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING 35

CHAPTER II ACQUIRING A FORMAL HAND: (1) TOOLS

Acquiring a Formal Hand: Tools, &c. — The Desk — Paper &

Ink — Pens: _The Reed_: _The Quill_ — Of Quills generally —

Pen-knife, Cutting-slab, &c. 48

CHAPTER III ACQUIRING A FORMAL HAND: (2) METHODS

Position of the Desk — The Writing Level — Use of the Pen —

Holding the Pen — Filling the Pen, &c. 61

CHAPTER IV ACQUIRING A FORMAL HAND: (3) MODELS

Models — Notes on Construction: Script I. — Coupling the

Letters — Spacing: Letters, Words, & Lines — Uncial Capitals:

Script II. — Numerals & Punctuation Marks — Of _Copying_ MSS.

Generally 70

CHAPTER V ACQUIRING A FORMAL HAND: (4) PRACTICE

Practice — Scripts I. & II. — Arranging & Ruling a Single

Sheet — Problem I. (a Sheet of Prose) — Problem II. (a Sheet

of Poetry) — Spacing & Planning Manuscript 85

CHAPTER VI MANUSCRIPT BOOKS

MS. Books: Tools & Materials — Methods & Proportions — The

Size & Shape of the Book — The Widths of the Margins — The

Size of the Writing, &c. — Ruling — MS. Books: General

Remarks 98

CHAPTER VII VERSAL LETTERS & COLOURED CAPITALS

Development of Versals — General Analysis of Versals —

Notes on Construction of Versals — Spacing & Arrangement of

Versals 112

CHAPTER VIII BLACK & RED

Rubricating — Initial Pages or Title Pages — Prefaces &

Notes in Colour — Pages with Coloured Headings — Page or

Column Heading & Initial — Versals in Column or Marginal

Bands — Stanzas or Verses marked by Versals — Music with Red

Staves — Tail-Pieces, Colophons, &c. — Rubricating: General

Remarks 127

CHAPTER IX LAYING & BURNISHING GOLD

Tools & Materials — Laying the Ground — Laying the Gold-Leaf

— Burnishing the Gold — Remedying Faults in Gilding — Gold

Writing — Other Methods & Recipes for Gilding — Appendix on

Gilding (by _Graily Hewitt_) 145

CHAPTER X THE USE OF GOLD & COLOURS IN INITIAL LETTERS &

SIMPLE ILLUMINATION

Tools & Materials for Simple Illumination — Parchment,

“Vellum,” & Pounce — Colours — Simple Colour Effects — Matt

Gold — Burnished Gold — Burnished Gold Forms, & Outlines —

Background Capitals — Applying the Background — Ornament of

Backgrounds 172

CHAPTER XI A THEORY OF ILLUMINATION

Illumination — “Barbaric, or Colour-Work, Illumination” —

“Filigree, or Pen-Work, Illumination” — “Natural, or Limner’s,

Illumination” 193

CHAPTER XII THE DEVELOPMENT OF ILLUMINATION

The Development of Illumination — Line-Finishings — Initial

Letters — Borders & Backgrounds 204

CHAPTER XIII “DESIGN” IN ILLUMINATION

“Design” — Elementary Patterns in Decoration — Scale & Scope

of Decoration — Of “Designing” Manuscripts, Generally 214

PART II LETTERING

CHAPTER XIV GOOD LETTERING — SOME METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION &

ARRANGEMENT

Good Models — The Qualities of Good Lettering — Simplicity

— Distinctiveness — Proportion — Beauty of Form — Beauty of

Uniformity — Right Arrangement — Setting Out & Fitting In —

“Massed Writing” & “Fine Writing” — Even Spacing — Theory &

Practice 237

CHAPTER XV THE ROMAN ALPHABET & ITS DERIVATIVES

The Roman Alphabet — Proportions of Letters: Widths — Upper &

Lower Parts — Essential or Structural Forms — Characterisation

of Forms — Built-Up Forms — Simple-Written Capitals — Uncials

— Capitals & Small-Letters — Early, Round, Upright, Formal

Hands — Slanted-Pen Small-Letters — Roman Small-Letters —

Italics — Semi-Formal Hands — Of Formal Writing Generally —

Decorative Contrasts — Ornamental Letters 268

APPENDIX A

CHAPTER XVI SPECIAL SUBJECTS

Divers Uses of Lettering — MS. Books, &c. — Binding MSS (_with

Note by Douglas Cockerell_) — Broadsides, Wall Inscriptions,

&c. — Illuminated Addresses, &c. — Monograms & Devices — Title

Pages — Lettering for Reproduction — Printing — Inscriptions

on Metal, Stone, Wood, &c. — Of Inscriptions Generally —

Bibliography, &c. 337

APPENDIX B

CHAPTER XVII INSCRIPTIONS IN STONE (_By A. E. R. Gill_)

Treatment & Arrangement — The Three Alphabets — Size & Spacing

— The Material — Setting Out — Tools — A Right Use of the

Chisel — Incised Letters & Letters in Relief — The Sections of

Letters — Working _in situ_ 389

‹Notes on the Collotype Plates› 407

‹The Collotype Plates› 431

‹Index› 489

PART I

WRITING & ILLUMINATING

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 1.›]

[p035]

PART I

WRITING & ILLUMINATING

CHAPTER I

THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING

Nearly every type of letter with which we are familiar is derived

from the Roman Capitals, and has come to us through the medium, or

been modified by the influence, of the pen. And, therefore, in trying

to revive good Lettering, we cannot do better than make a practical

study of the best pen-forms, and learn at the same time to appreciate

the forms of their magnificent archetypes as preserved in the

monumental Roman inscriptions.

The development and the relations of the principal types of letters

are briefly set out in the accompanying “family tree”—fig. 1. When

the student has learnt to cut and handle a pen, he can trace this

development practically by trying to copy a few words from each

example given below. [p036]

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 2.›]

_THE ROMAN ALPHABET._—The Alphabet, as we know it, begins with the

ROMAN CAPITALS[5] (see fig. 2). Their fine monumental forms were

evolved by the use of the chisel—probably under the influence of

writing—and had reached full development about 2000 years ago (see

Plates I., II., and Chapter XV.).

_FORMAL WRITING_—the “_book-hand_” or professional writing of the

scribes—comes of the careful writing of the Roman Capitals (see also

_footnote_, p. 38, on the beginnings of fine penmanship). It was the—

“_literary hand_, used in the production of exactly written MSS.,

and therefore a hand of comparatively limited use. By its side, and

of course of far more extensive and general use, was the _cursive

hand_ of the time”[6] [p037]

In early _cursive writing_—the running-hand or ordinary writing of

the people—

“The Letters are nothing more than the old Roman letters written

with speed, and thus undergoing certain modifications in their

forms, which eventually developed into the _minuscule hand_.”[7]

(See fig. 3.)

[Illustration: ‹Fig. 3.›]

Here it is sufficient to trace the history of the _formal_ Latin

“hands,” but the continual, modifying influence exerted on them by

the ordinary _cursive_ writing should be borne in mind. Notable

results of this influence are seen in _Half-Uncials_ and _Italics_.

_SQUARE CAPITALS_ were formal, pen-made Roman Capitals, of the

monumental type: they were used (perhaps from the _second_) till

about the [p038] end of the _fifth_ century for important books (see

Plate III.).

_RUSTIC CAPITALS_ were probably a variety of the “Square Capitals,”

and were in use till about the end of the _fifth_ century (fig. 4;