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This week, we will be discussing the impact of another person on the development of calligraphy. Through this person, we are able to make the connection between the art of decorative handwriting and the development of one of the most recognizable modern typefaces.

The person I refer to is Claude Garamond (1499-1561). Notice anything familiar about the last name? Possibly in the fonts available on many word processors?

Garamond (the person) was a 16th century publisher, engraver, and typeface designer based in Paris, France. In Garamond’s time, France became the new center for handwriting development after political developments in Italy, especially after the sack of Rome in 1527. Certain historical events across Europe prepared the world of print for the rise of typeface designers, and France provided the closest cultural safe haven to develop new styles.

Fig 1. German Museum of Books and Writing. Garamond.

Garamond’s work as an engraver allowed him to punch certain matrices into a metal-type using both Gothic and Roman styles. He began to experiment beyond the typical recognizable styles of the time with heavy influence from an earlier typeface designer named Aldus Manutius. Manutius helped replace the Gothic style, preferring his own curved Italic style. Garamond was additionally influenced by Angelo Vergecio, a Greek royal scribe in the French court, later in his career in the creation of his Grecs du roi style for a monarchic-funded book project. During his approximately forty year career, Garamond was responsible for a total of 34 typefaces in Greek, Roman, Hebrew, and Italic styles. His Grecian styles were some of the most enduring typefaces in history, and remained exceedingly relevant through the 19th century.

Fig 2. Medium. Garamond.

So, what characterizes the general Garamond typeface?

The Garamond typeface is a serif typeface. This typeface (which is a collection of fonts) makes specific unique contributions to certain letters. For example, in the letter “e”, the Garamond typeface allows for the horizontal slant in the middle of the letter rather than a curved or angular line striking northeasterly. In the letter “R”, Garamond showcases an extended leg beyond the bounds of the character. The typeface communicates an elegance of sorts, relaying a need for readability in combination with the traditional flow that physically hand writing a message takes on. In comparison to the previously discussed hand of humanism, the Garamond typeface has an exaggerated difference between thin and thick strokes.

Fig. 3. Proof Positive. Garamond Font Poster.

To relate this to the modern day, the influence of the Garamond typeface in the 16th century carried on into calligraphy’s revivalist period between the 1800s and early 1900s. We will discuss this in further detail in a later blog post, but to sum it up, a few designers in Europe began taking an interest in old-style typefaces so much that Garamond’s masterful work was rediscovered and spread all over again.

We can thank both Garamond and those of the revival period for the fact that so many word processing fonts are used on the computers of today. Microsoft has its own Adobe Garamond package which features a six font collection put together by Robert Slimbach. There are multiple additional Adobe fonts labeled “Garamond” beyond this official package. As far as Google goes, Google’s website Google Fonts lists up to ten total font choices in an “EB Garamond” style. Claude Garamond’s role as one of the best master typeface designers of his time has continued to be magnified with the use of his name tied to so many recognizable fonts. He, like Johannes Gutenberg, had great influence over the art of calligraphy and typography. The reigning magnitude of his work is seen in every paper, article, and book published in a Garamond font. Claude Garamond is thus a relatively unknown but very important designer of mid-century Europe!

Thank you for tuning in to another week of blogging. See you next time for blog #7!

And we’re back!

Welcome back to Week 5 of Calligraphy Corner! I’m glad to see you’ve returned. Today, we are going to be discussing the resulting calligraphic style after the lens of humanism was applied in 15th century Europe. 

Let’s first define humanism. Humanism was (is) a philosophy system based in curiosity and inquiry that rose in the 14th century after its founders began to look towards the ideas of antiquity for an understanding of humanitas, or human virtue. Basically, mid-century scholars found value in the philosophical basis of ancient civilizations (primarily Greece and Rome). They considered the words of ancient philosophers like Aristotle and tried to apply previous modes of thinking to what went wrong in the Dark Ages. Humanist thought contributed immensely to the general societal reawakening recognized as the European Renaissance. 

Petrarch was one of the great humanist scholars of the Renaissance – in fact, he is considered to be the “Father of Humanism” for his status as one of the first to begin collecting the ideas and manuscripts of the Ancients. In a letter he imagined sending to a great scholar of the past, he wrote “Among the many subjects which interested me, I dwelt especially, Upon antiquity, for our own age has always I repelled me, so that, had it not been for the love of those dear to me, I should have preferred to have been born in any other period than our own.”

Here’s the issue. While humanists thought they were collecting Roman manuscripts with Roman writing for their inspirations, they had in reality actually found 9th-12th century examples of the Carolingian miniscule hand. We haven’t really discussed this hand, but it was an important precursor to the Gothic script to give you a sense of its place in history. It is an easily readable script characterized by rounded letters with decent space in between characters. Petrarch was a main contributor to this mistake, funnily enough. It led many of the movement to appreciate the style of the Carolingian hand, thinking it to be much older than recent history.

Fig 1. The Met Museum. Gospel with Carolingian Hand.

Petrarch’s value in the history of calligraphy is embedded more deeply than not because of his desire to do more with his distaste for the cramped Gothic black letter than just wallow. Petrarch was one of the creators of the new humanist minuscule, descended from the Carolingian script that humanists took for the scripts of ancient Rome and Greece. The humanist minuscule is quite different from the Gothic script that we considered in the previous blog post. It is recognizable by its tendency to trend away from the cursive look of the past. This miniscule moved towards a current, more “printed” appearance. Letters no longer appear so fancy they are nearly unreadable. Things are simpler and retain a more symmetric beauty within this script.

Fig 2. Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. De Infelicitate Principum.

The desire for a simpler, more legible script reflects the general impact that humanism had on the creation of art. As a technical mode of expression and creation, calligraphy can exist under the “art” label. The humanist movement, above all, encouraged artwork to reflect the ideas and values of antiquity. The pursuit for understanding human virtue and the role of humans in the world is an idea heavily explored in humanist artwork. The human form and experience was always something to be appreciated. This kind of thinking is evident in pieces from famous artists, like Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

Fig 3. BBC. Vitruvian Man.

The humanist minuscule demonstrates that new styles within the field of calligraphy did not always happen within a religious setting. Developments in handwriting often occurred without religious influence. However, new aspects of decorative writing (like most art) do tend to appear with the birth of new modes of thought, new paths to survival, new people in power, and new technology. Because this humanist script is a direct ancestor to some of the serif fonts we currently use today, it is important to truly understand the movement it was born from.

Thanks for returning to my blog for a fifth week! I am excited, as always, to begin working on the next.

Welcome back! I’m looking forward to talking to you about another step in the history of calligraphy. Today, we will be discussing how Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press impacted the art of stylistic handwriting.

Ahh, the mid-15th century. A time rife in new powers rising to defeat old ones, and religions struggling to maintain organized systems. Johannes Gutenberg was a German goldsmith who lived during this time. He is famous now for creating a new-and-improved version of the movable type version of the printing press. Now, printing presses dating back to Ancient China were in existence at this time. However, this new metal movable type caught on throughout Europe. It was refined from earlier versions in Korea and East Asia, and employed similar mechanisms as a wine press and used a hand mould to cast letters. Gutenberg initiated the use of an oil-based ink in his printing press for greater consistency, which later evolved into what is known as “printer’s ink.”

Fig 1. Glencairn Museum. Replica of Gutenberg-Era Printing Press.

Gutenberg used a specific style to cast his letters using his hand mould: the Gothic script, or the “black-letter.” The Gothic script is thought to have been invented in the 6th century by the Lombards, a primarily German group that ruled a portion of Italy during the middle of the first millenium. However, the Gothic script only became visibly used past the 12th century. The descriptor “gothic” is a word with a negative connotation in the eyes of history. The Renaissance humanists and historians through the beginning of the 20th century associated the word “gothic” with barbarism. Anything attached to the gothic name was considered to be particularly uncivilized and inappropriate for formal use in society. This rings true for the Gothic script. Those same humanists did not see any value in the emerging Gothic script, strongly preferring to stick to a more traditional Roman typeface.

The Gothic script features a more uniform strategy than some previously popular scripts. It is recognized to have more angular strokes rather than any overly fluid or circular motion. Commonly, certain character (letter) combinations can be seen to be connected in a melding of sorts. One of the most recognizable (and most widely used around the advent of the printing press) forms of the Gothic script is called Textualis, or Textura. Gutenberg himself used Textualis for the printing of his famous Bible (keep reading on to learn more about this!). Textualis features a general lack of ligatures (the connection between most letters that you often see in English cursive, for example), ascending characters with non-curved finials (tapered end of a letter), and fewer characters with descenders. Letters written in the Textualis form are usually skinny and sometimes appear to be stretched in the vertical.

Fig 2. University of Nottingham. Detail from WLC/LM/4, f. 8v.

Gutenberg’s Bible, as referred to in the last paragraph, was a Textualis (Gothic!) based piece of work produced by one of his original printing presses. There are approximately 48 copies that survive today. It is a version of the famous Latin Vulgate Bible that has between 40 to 42 lines written per page of its folios. The Gutenberg Bible is also known as the 42-Line Bible for this reason. Interestingly enough, the practice of illumination talked about in my previous blog post was applied within printed copies of the Gutenberg Bible. For its beauty and uniqueness, the printing of this Bible became wildly popular. Copies were sold immediately after being finished. The appreciation and popularity of this printing masterpiece resulted in an explosion in the use of the printing press in the coming decades across the continent.

Fig 3. Library of Congress. Gutenberg Bible.

This popularity in a new medium of sharing information led to an increased reliance on the printing press, away from timely expense of handwritten manuscripts. Though illuminated manuscripts were still in production at this time, the spread of printing technology contributed to a wider and faster dissemination of news and other information than ever before. Those traveling around the world, on the continent, or through a given nation were now able to easily bring along with them a pamphlet of written information. News from another part of the world could now be shared with citizens all over. It became common to listen to public speakers now that literature and information were not solely to be shared with the elite who could commission it.

So, where does this large change in the recording of information leave us in the realm of calligraphy’s importance?

Well, calligraphic scripts were still of great value, even in the printing world. In the Gothic script, several new forms besides Textualis were perfected and used as typefaces in print. The script became standardized in printing, especially out of Germany and France. It fathered multiple calligraphic hands with new, distinguishable characteristics influenced by their environments. Writers still experimented with the decorative writing art, as the rise of humanism and interest in Roman antiquity led those intrigued back to writing styles similar to ancient manuscripts. Calligraphy continued to have relevance in all aspects of the written and printed word. For my next blog, we will revisit the impact of humanism on stylized scripts!

Thanks for returning to learn something new with me!

Welcome back to all of my readers! I am super happy that you are here again.

From the origins of decorative characters to the rise in religious-based writing during the Early Medieval period, calligraphy has developed through the context of its writers’ environments. This remains the same in the case of the Irish-Christians in the British Isles. The discussion of the Christian monasteries in the previous blog post (The Early Role of Religions) can be investigated further by considering the role of Ireland in the evolution of embellished longhand.

From the middle of the first millennium, Christian monasteries were established across the isolated hills of Ireland; this meant that the practice of bookmaking, which arguably saved much of the remnants of Roman influence, was largely based in this section of the world. The general insular script (related to the uncial and half-uncial scripts) discussed last time was the major ‘font’ base in play. For religious-based texts like the Bible, the half-uncial became the preferred script following the 8th century. These scripts were applied to Christian texts (particularly in Ireland and beyond in the British Isles) with the addition of another layer of artistry. This additional piece to be included in calligraphic writing was the practice of illumination.

Fig 1. The Book of Mulling, 2nd half of the 8th century

(TCD, MS 60, ff. 81v-82) © The Library of Trinity College Dublin.

The illumination that decorated the insular calligraphy further was most often done on parchment – a choice that historians today can be thankful for because it lasts much longer than the alternative of papyrus. A third medium, vellum, was used only if the occasion was significant enough; ceremonial manuscripts were given preference over ones for daily use. As far as scripts go, both the insular majuscule and minuscule (uncial and half-uncial) scripts were used in Ireland and Britain (where Irish missionaries spread their bookmaking processes to). Illumination of a manuscript occurred after the calligraphy was written and dried; it involved leaving a proper blank space on areas of a folio (a folded leaf of the medium). First, metalpoint techniques were applied to the folio to map out the planned design. Clay and sap would next be rubbed on the medium to create something for gold leaf to stick to. Gold leaf was then painted on, followed by the addition of a number of colored paints made from a variety of materials. Check out the top left corners in the photo below to see an example of this!

Fig 2. Smithsonian Magazine. The Book of Lismore.

The most famous illuminated manuscript to come out of Ireland by far was the Book of Kells. Still in existence today, the Book of Kells is now on view in the Old Library of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Fig 3. Trinity College Dublin Digital Collections. Book of Kells Folio 187v: Mark.

The Book of Kells is a Latin-based Celtic version of the Christian New Testament (four gospels in the Bible describing events after the birth of Christ). Produced at the start of the 9th century, it features some of the most well developed aspects of Irish calligraphy from the time. The insular majuscule script fills its many folios, with complicated early versions of the Celtic knot introducing each gospel. It is estimated that multiple scribes were responsible for the copying of the text (as noted by slight differences in writing style and pressure). The Book of Kells is so intricate in motifs surrounding the written word that some folios only have short phrases written on them with the amount of room that the embellishments take up. The manuscript’s style is particular; it demonstrates one of the finest examples of the insular first initial in recorded history. The first letter of the page, or the initial, is consistently the fanciest on any given folio. The image below is of the famous Chi Rho page, which according to BBC Culture uses Ancient Greek to denote the first two letters of ‘Christ’ (click here to learn more). Motifs surround it, encouraging the viewer to appreciate the broader and more beautiful meaning of the written word.

Fig 4. BBC Culture. The Book of Kells: Chi Rho.

It should be noted that Ireland was not the only country experiencing a national development of the calligraphic hand. Italy established a national hand of its own called the Beneventan script. Out of France came the Merovingian minuscule. In the Holy Roman Empire, the influence of Irish monks led to the creation and use of the Carolingian minuscule. Spain saw the advent of its Visigothic script. National styles were created under the circumstances facing a given region. As previously discussed, Ireland’s monasteries were pushed in the direction of bookmaking after the Christian Church took responsibility for it after the fall of Rome. The intense and elaborate decorations on top of the insular script were in observance of the power of religion and religious institutions.

Once again, thank you for exploring embellished writing with me once more. I hope you look forward to next week’s blog post – it will be centered on the internationally recognized gothic style developed in the centuries ahead. See you next time!

Today, I want us to jump to another period in history inherent to the evolution of calligraphic writing. By another period in history, I mean hundreds of years past the initial stages of logograph development. The years between the 6th-8th centuries have been long characterized by historians as lacking in cultural development. These few hundred years actually exist within the larger historical period commonly dubbed the “Dark Ages.” In this blog post, I’d actually like to spurn this idea when it comes to decorative writing. In fact, reflecting on these few centuries will showcase how some key aspects we associate with calligraphy today initially came to be. 

To give some context, the developments and techniques we will be discussing occurred simultaneously with the height of the Byzantine Empire and its distinguishing Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In the Middle East, the Umayyad Caliphate and rise of Islam dominated, affecting Byzantium and the Franks. In Europe, the Early Middle Ages were well underway, with the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne and the feudal system being well known components of the period. Islamic and European contribution to the art of calligraphy will be our main two focuses here.

Religion in this period was so crucial to practically any development within society. Islamic calligraphy is literally named after the religion of Islam; it is almost entirely based off of the main Islamic text (the Qu’ran). Islamic calligraphy is also known as Arabic calligraphy because of how the Arabic language was able to flourish so closely with the spread of Islam. The kalam (qalam), or dried reed pen, was the traditional utensil applied to the medium at hand in this type of calligraphy. In a broad context, Islamic calligraphy had multiple branches in which it was used in daily life; education, religion, and government all utilized complicated script.

Fig 1. Bibliotheca Alexandrina Antiquities Museum. Reed Pen (Qalam).

In these centuries, Islamic calligraphy had two unique styles: Kufic and Naskh/cursive. Kufic is typically associated with use on dignified occasions and purposes. It is distinguished by the dramatic unyielding appearance of its script. The angular lines exhibited were made by precision on the horizontal plane, and were almost always accompanied by complicated emblems in celebration of religion. Intricate designs were favored in copies of the Qu’ran, but have also been found in coinage, architecture, and on burial sites. Naskh, or cursive script, was used informally (as casual as one could be when practicing calligraphy). It became standardized as the main Islamic script in the late years of the first millennium.

Fig 2. The Met Museum. Folio from a Qu’ran Manuscript.

Calligraphy also experienced moments of weighted consequence in Europe. The Latin script began dominating the dark rooms of monastic institutes when monks withdrew from questionable external developments in society after the fall of the Roman Empire. Monks allowed decorative writing to thrive when cultural conditions (as referenced earlier) were not welcoming to the advancement of variations of the written word. The Bible and additional Christian literature were copied as the Islamic world copied the Qu’ran. Monks removed from the outside world took advantage of their religiously-determined remoteness to advance existing scripts as the Christian Church took responsibility for all book-making without the Romans in play. Some European religious institutions still retain volunteer scribes to keep the historical background of calligraphy relevant. All in all, the proliferation of copies of the Bible essentially encouraged fancier scripts. 

Uncial and half-uncial scripts are the primary form of European examples of longhand (writing down with a pencil or pen-like utensil rather than a keypad) calligraphy in the 6th-8th centuries. They are sometimes referred to as “book hands.” The uncial script was the more prescribed of the two and used majuscule letters (uppercase) almost exclusively. The half-uncial script was not used widely in religious writing but survived centuries longer than its counterpart. It is differentiated from uncial script with its use of the miniscule Latin alphabet (lower case). Both scripts survived by use of quill pens with cut nibs; the pen being cut at angles meant that each section of a letter had to be completed in different strokes. This made the creation of manuscripts and documents with decorative writing very time consuming. The aesthetic appearance of this work, however, led to manuscripts with these styles becoming precious and desired. 

Fig 3. Dartmouth Ancient Books Lab. Uncial / Half-Uncial.

In the uncial script, curved letters take the stage rather than ones of strictly angular design. New mediums like parchment instead of harsh papyrus allowed this to occur. Observation reveals the script to be wider than the basic Roman scripts and rustic capitals of the past. Unlike the letters we use today, the uncial style’s majuscule letters are all proportional in length to each other; one letter rarely extends above or beyond the next (for the most part).

Fig 4. Lordan, Patrick. Book of Kells, 8th C Irish Manuscript.

On the other hand, the half-uncial script differed in proportionality. The new style showcased diverse ascenders and descenders that we would be able to recognize today. It is often considered the more beautiful of the two scripts. Interestingly enough, it is this script that the Old English Latin alphabet was based off of!

Fig 5. Dartmouth Ancient Books Lab. Half-Uncial.

Beyond the uncial and half-uncial script styles, unique national brands of calligraphy and scripts soon developed around Europe. We will discuss more of this in a future blog post. Thanks for exploring calligraphy in the Dark Ages with me today! I hope you learned something new. See you next time!

Hey all!

Wow – I’m super glad you’ve made it to this first post. If you’ve gotten the chance to browse around the couple pages on my blog thus far, you will have seen that we will be focusing on the art of calligraphy. Keep an eye out for further developments where I will describe a step-by-step (but pretty general overview) of its complicated history.

Today, we are going to take a look at calligraphy’s not-so-humble beginnings, starting across the Pacific in China during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE).

Ancient China saw a diverse culture often tied to the religious or mystic. This influence also impacted the development of language and its expression in the written form.  Early logographs (i.e. characters or symbols which represent something) were derived from cultural practices that attempted to tell truths about the future. “Oracle bones” were the first true medium that logographs were applied to in a way that connected people to written language in society . To employ the practice of divination, animal bones (most often from an ox) and tortoise shells would be broken and characters would be written along the cracks. This would determine a sought-after answer. Recent discoveries of scrawl-covered bones show that they cover all types of topics – making divination on the bones perfect for people to choose to find out about luck in partnerships, war, or the weather.

Fig 1. National Museum of Scotland. Chinese Oracle Bones.

The logographs themselves are written in what is commonly referred to as “oracle bone script.” In Chinese, it is known as jiaguwen. This script has many interesting characteristics that are shared by its descendants, including the basic idea that certain parts of one logograph can be applied to many to underscore a type of shared meaning. In Mandarin Chinese today, we see this with the use of different radicals added together to create new meanings!  Late-stage oracle bone script also featured indications of phonetic sound beyond pure symbolism.

Fig 2. Tao, Hanqing. A Radical-Aware Attention-Based Model for Chinese Text Classification.

In comparison to its descendants, the oracle bone script was more simplified so that people could have an easier time physically writing and carving the script into the ox bone and shells. Of course, this simplification is also due to the fact that oracle bone script was one of the earlier forms of logographs initiated around the world.  The characters used in the divination ceremonies would either be isolated to depict a specific meaning or paired up to suggest a new message.

The physical strokes and stroke order that traditional script writing utilized had extreme significance. The brush or tool taken to the medium was expected to be fluid in application, with curved lines and a lack of adherence to an unyielding and stiff structure. Perfect symmetry is not what you would see by taking a look at any recent find. If you observe this sample from the late Shang Dynasty that currently resides in the Penn Museum, you might take notice of the fact that the characters are not without flaw but are perfectly able to convey meaning to the right observer.

The widespread prevalence of the oracle bone script birthed more modern developments like the famous bronze-ware from the (same) Shang dynasty. This bronze-ware prompted a huge shift from preliminary characters to more defined calligraphy techniques that have been preserved into today. During the later portion of the dynasty, bronze materials were the medium of choice for a new script dubbed jinwen. This script’s introduction brought forth elaboration on the original oracle bone script. Jinwen‘s logographs were similar to those of its predecessor but instead fashioned intricately with closer attention to aesthetic appearance. The use of calligraphy in ceremonial affairs continued with this script as it was often used in ritualistic offerings to the heavens.

Fig 3. National Museum of Scotland. Chinese Oracle Bones.

China saw multiple editions of oracle bone and jinwen scripts be revised and standardized in the dynasties that followed. Greater unification of the country favored wider use of more consistency in decorative writing. As the years went on, new versions of written Chinese with a certain form and connotation were developed for use by those in society who held specific positions. Lishu was used by clerks commonly in the Han dynasty (206 BC-AS 220), and the “regular script” or “standard script” was required in the Tang dynasty (619-907 AD) for those engaging in civil service examinations. The Chinese language as a whole went through thousands of years of history before arriving at its fascinating current stage with multiple dialects and forms.

The contributions of China to the art of calligraphy as well as the worldwide development of written language among modern civilizations should by no means be oversimplified. As always, we have the people of the past to thank for the society we have today. It is important to recognize the work of the people who came before us as we come to learn about a topic.

Thanks for learning about one of the origins of calligraphy with me today!

Welcome to my blog, everyone!

We will be discussing all of the interesting historical facets surrounding the development of decorative mark-marking and ultimately what has come to be known as “calligraphy.” Topics covered will delineate the differences between longhand and shorthand, and relay the deviation from traditional writing styles to the wide variation in distinguishable fonts found around the world today.

This is one of the Sites At Penn State.