Calligraphy (from
Ancient Greekκαλλιγραφία (kalligraphía) 'beautiful writing') is a
visual art related to
writing. It is the design and execution of
lettering with a
pen,
ink brush, or other writing instrument.[1]: 17 Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner".[1]: 18
In
East Asia and the
Islamic world, where more flexibility is allowed in written forms, calligraphy is regarded as a significant artform, and the form may be affected by the meaning of the text, or even different words. But in the West the aim is normally regarded as only to achieve attractive writing that is usually consistent within each piece of writing, with little or no interpretation of the text attempted.
Modern Western calligraphy ranges from functional inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the letters may or may not be readable.[1][page needed] Classical calligraphy differs from
type design and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may practice both.[2][3][4][5]
The principal tools for a calligrapher are the
pen and the
brush. The pens used in calligraphy can have
nibs that may be flat, round, or pointed.[8][9][10] For some decorative purposes, multi-nibbed pens (steel brushes) can be used. However, works have also been created with
felt-tip and
ballpoint pens, although these works do not employ angled lines. There are some styles of calligraphy, such as
Gothic script, that require a stub nib pen.
The ink used for writing is usually water-based and is much less
viscous than the oil-based ink used in printing. Certain specialty paper with high ink absorption and constant texture enables cleaner lines,[11] although
parchment or
vellum is often used, as a knife can be used to erase imperfections and a
light-box is not needed to allow lines to pass through it. Normally, light boxes and templates are used to achieve straight lines without pencil markings detracting from the work. Ruled paper, either for a light box or direct use, is most often ruled every quarter or half an inch, although inch spaces are occasionally used. This is the case with litterea unciales (hence the name), and college-
ruled paper often acts as a guideline well.[12]
Chinese calligraphy is locally called shūfǎ or fǎshū (書法 or 法書 in traditional Chinese, literally "the method or law of writing");[a]Japanese calligraphy is shodō (書道, literally "the way or principle of writing");[13] and
Korean calligraphy is called seoye (
Korean: 서예/書藝, literally "the art of writing");[14] The calligraphy of
East Asian characters continues to form an important and appreciated constituent of contemporary traditional East Asian culture.
Calligraphy by one of Korea's most celebrated calligraphists,
Kim Jeong-hui (1786–1856).
Modern Korean calligraphy in
Hangul, meaning "Wiktionary".
History
In
ancient China, the oldest known Chinese characters are
oracle bone script (甲骨文), carved on ox
scapulae and tortoise
plastrons, because the rulers in the
Shang dynasty carved pits on such animals' bones and then baked them to gain auspice of military affairs, agricultural harvest, or even procreating and weather.[clarification needed] During the
divination ceremony, after the cracks were made, the characters were written with a brush on the shell or bone to be later carved.[15][full citation needed] With the development of the
bronzeware script (jīn wén) and
large seal script (dà zhuàn)[16] "cursive" signs continued.
Mao Gong Ding is one of the most famous and typical bronzeware scripts in Chinese calligraphic history. It has 500 characters on the bronze which is the largest number of bronze inscription we have discovered so far.[clarification needed][17] Moreover, each archaic kingdom of current China had its own set of characters.
In
Imperial China, the graphs on old
steles – some dating from 200 BCE, and in the
small seal script (小篆xiǎo zhuàn) style – have been preserved and can be viewed even today.
About 220 BCE, the emperor
Qin Shi Huang, the first to conquer the entire Chinese basin, imposed several reforms, among them
Li Si's character unification, which created a set of 3300 standardized small seal characters.[18] Despite the fact that the main writing implement of the time was already the brush, few papers survive from this period, and the main examples of this style are on steles.
The
clerical script (隸書/隸书) (lì shū) which is more regularized, and in some ways similar to modern text, were also authorised under Qin Shi Huang.[19]
Between clerical script and traditional regular script, there is another transitional type of calligraphic work called
Wei Bei. It started during the
North and South dynasties (420 to 589 CE) and ended before the
Tang dynasty (618–907).[20]
The traditional
regular script (kǎi shū), still in use today, and largely finalized by
Zhong You (鐘繇, 151–230) and his followers, is even more regularized. Its spread was encouraged by
Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (926–933), who ordered the
printing of the classics using new wooden blocks in kaishu. Printing technologies here allowed a shape stabilization. The kaishu shape of characters 1000 years ago was mostly similar to that at the end of Imperial China.[citation needed] However, small changes have been made, for example in the shape of 广 which is not absolutely the same in the Kangxi Dictionary of 1716 as in modern books. The Kangxi and current shapes have tiny differences, while stroke order is still the same, according to the old style.[21]
Styles which did not survive include bāfēnshū, a mix of 80% small seal script and 20% clerical script. Some
variant Chinese characters were unorthodox or locally used for centuries. They were generally understood but always rejected in official texts. Some of these unorthodox variants, in addition to some newly created characters, compose the
simplified Chinese character set.[citation needed]
Many different parameters influence the final result of a calligrapher's work. Physical parameters include the shape, size, stretch, and
hair type of the ink brush; the color, color density and water density of the ink; as well as the paper's water absorption speed and surface texture. The calligrapher's technique also influences the result, as the look of finished characters are influenced by the quantity of ink and water the calligrapher lets the brush take and by the pressure, inclination, and direction of the brush. Changing these variables produces thinner or bolder strokes, and smooth or toothed borders. Eventually, the speed, accelerations and decelerations of a skilled calligrapher's movements aim to give "spirit" to the characters, greatly influencing their final shapes.
Styles
Cursive styles such as xíngshū (行書/行书)(semi-cursive or running script) and cǎoshū (草書/草书)(cursive, rough script, or grass script) are less constrained and faster, where more movements made by the writing implement are visible. These styles' stroke orders vary more, sometimes creating radically different forms. They are descended from the clerical script, in the same time as the regular script (
Han dynasty), but xíngshū and cǎoshū were used for personal notes only, and never used as a standard. The cǎoshū style was highly appreciated in
Emperor Wu of Han reign (140–187 CE).[citation needed]
Examples of modern printed styles are
Song from the
Song dynasty's
printing press, and
sans-serif. These are not considered traditional styles, and are normally not written.
Influences
Japanese and Korean calligraphy were each greatly influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Calligraphy has also influenced
ink and wash painting, which is accomplished using similar tools and techniques. Calligraphy has influenced most major art styles in East Asia, including
ink and wash painting, a style of
Chinese,
Japanese, and
Korean painting based entirely on calligraphy.
The Japanese and Koreans have also developed their own specific sensibilities and styles of calligraphy while incorporating Chinese influences.
Japanese calligraphy goes out of the set of
CJK strokes to also include local alphabets such as
hiragana and
katakana, with specific problematics such as new curves and moves, and specific materials (
Japanese paper, washi和紙, and Japanese ink).[23]
Tibetan calligraphy is central to
Tibetan culture. The script is derived from
Indic scripts. The nobles of Tibet, such as the High
Lamas and inhabitants of the
Potala Palace, were usually capable calligraphers.
Tibet has been a center of
Buddhism for several centuries, and that religion places a great deal of significance on written word. This does not provide for a large body of
secular pieces, although they do exist (but are usually related in some way to Tibetan Buddhism). Almost all high religious writing involved calligraphy, including letters sent by the
Dalai Lama and other religious and secular authority. Calligraphy is particularly evident on their
prayer wheels, although this calligraphy was forged rather than scribed, much like Arab and Roman calligraphy is often found on buildings. Although originally done with a reed, Tibetan calligraphers now use chisel tipped pens and markers as well.[citation needed]
Southeast Asia
Philippines
The Philippines has numerous ancient and indigenous scripts collectively called as
Suyat scripts. Various ethno-linguistic groups in the Philippines prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century up to the independence era in the 21st century have used the scripts with various mediums. By the end of colonialism, only four of the suyat scripts survived and continue to be used by certain communities in everyday life. These four scripts are
Hanunó'o/Hanunoo of the Hanuno'o
Mangyan people,
Buhid/Build of the Buhid
Mangyan people,
Tagbanwa script of the
Tagbanwa people, and
Palaw'an/Pala'wan of the
Palaw'an people. All four scripts were inscribed in the
UNESCOMemory of the World Programme, under the name Philippine Paleographs (Hanunoo, Build, Tagbanua and Pala’wan), in 1999.[24]
Due to dissent from colonialism, many artists and cultural experts have revived the usage of
suyat scripts that went extinct due to the Spanish introducing Latin alphabet that took place of it. These scripts being revived include the
Kulitan script of the
Kapampangan people, the
badlit script of various
Visayan ethnic groups, the
Iniskaya script of the
Eskaya people, the
Baybayin script of the
Tagalog people, and the
Kur-itan script of the
Ilocano people, among many others.[25][26][27] Due to the diversity of
suyat scripts, all calligraphy written in
suyat scripts are collectively called as Filipino suyat calligraphy, although each are distinct from each other.[28][29] Calligraphy using the Western alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are also prevalent in the Philippines due to its colonial past, but the Western alphabet and the Arabic alphabet are not considered as suyat, and therefore Western-alphabet and Arabic calligraphy are not considered as suyat calligraphy.[30][31]
Vietnamese calligraphy is called thư pháp (書法, literally "the way of letters or words") and is based on
Chữ Nôm and
Chữ Hán, the historical Vietnamese writing system rooted in the impact of Chinese characters and replaced it with the Latin alphabet as a result of
French colonial influence. However, the calligraphic traditions maintaining the historical employment of Han characters continues to be preserved in modern Vietnamese calligraphy.[32]
Religious texts are the most frequent purpose for Indian calligraphy.
Monastic Buddhist communities had members trained in calligraphy and shared responsibility for duplicating sacred scriptures.[33]Jaina traders incorporated illustrated manuscripts celebrating Jaina saints. These manuscripts were produced using inexpensive material, like palm leave and birch, with fine calligraphy.[34]
Ethiopian (Abyssinian) calligraphy began with the
Ge'ez script, which replaced
Epigraphic South Arabian in the
Kingdom of Aksum, that was developed specifically for
Ethiopian Semitic languages. In those languages that use it, such as
Amharic and
Tigrinya, the script is called Fidäl, which means script or alphabet. The Epigraphic South Arabian letters were used for a few inscriptions into the 8th century, though not any South Arabian language since
Dʿmt.
Early inscriptions in Ge'ez and Ge'ez script have been dated to as early as the 5th century BCE, and in a sort of proto-Ge'ez written in ESA since the 9th century BCE. Ge'ez literature begins with the Christianization of Ethiopia (and the civilization of Axum) in the 4th century, during the reign of
Ezana of Axum.
The Ge'ez script is read from left to right and has been adapted to write other languages, usually ones that are also Semitic. The most widespread use is for
Amharic in
Ethiopia and
Tigrinya in
Eritrea and Ethiopia.[citation needed]
Americas
Maya civilization
Maya calligraphy was expressed via
Maya glyphs; modern Maya calligraphy is mainly used on
seals and monuments in the
Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Maya glyphs are rarely used in government offices; however in
Campeche,
Yucatán and
Quintana Roo, calligraphy in
Maya languages is written in Latin script rather than Maya glyphs. Some commercial companies in southern Mexico use Maya glyphs as symbols of their business. Some community associations and modern Maya brotherhoods use Maya glyphs as symbols of their groups.[citation needed]
Most of the archaeological sites in Mexico such as
Chichen Itza, Labna,
Uxmal,
Edzna,
Calakmul, etc. have glyphs in their structures. Carved stone monuments known as
stele are common sources of ancient Maya calligraphy.[citation needed]
Calligraphy in a
LatinBible of 1407 on display in
Malmesbury Abbey, England. This Bible was hand-written in Belgium, by Gerard Brils, for reading aloud in a
monastery.
The
Latin alphabet appeared about 600 BCE in
ancient Rome, and by the first century CE it had developed into
Roman imperial capitals carved on stones,
rustic capitals painted on walls, and
Roman cursive for daily use. In the second and third centuries the
uncial lettering style developed. As writing withdrew to monasteries, uncial script was found more suitable for copying the
Bible and other religious texts. It was the monasteries which preserved calligraphic traditions during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the Roman Empire fell and Europe entered the
early Middle Ages.[35]
At the height of the
Roman Empire, its power reached as far as Great Britain; when the empire fell, its literary influence remained. The
Semi-uncial generated the Irish Semi-uncial, the small Anglo-Saxon.[36] Each region developed its own standards following the main monastery of the region (i.e.
Merovingian script,
Laon script,
Luxeuil script,
Visigothic script,
Beneventan script), which are mostly cursive and hardly readable.
Middle Ages
Christian churches promoted the development of writing through the prolific copying of the Bible, the
Breviary, and other sacred texts.[37] Two distinct styles of writing known as uncial and half-uncial (from the Latin uncia, or "inch") developed from a variety of Roman
bookhands.[38] The 7th–9th centuries in northern Europe were the heyday of Celtic illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Durrow,
Lindisfarne Gospels and the
Book of Kells.[39]
Charlemagne's devotion to improved scholarship resulted in the recruiting of "a crowd of scribes", according to
Alcuin, the Abbot of
York.[40] Alcuin developed the style known as the Caroline or
Carolingian minuscule. The first manuscript in this hand was the Godescalc Evangelistary (finished 783) – a Gospel book written by the scribe Godescalc.[41] Carolingian remains the one progenitor hand from which modern booktype descends.[42]
In the eleventh century, the Caroline evolved into the
blackletter ("Gothic") script, which was more compact and made it possible to fit more text on a page.[43]: 72 The Gothic calligraphy styles became dominant throughout Europe; and in 1454, when
Johannes Gutenberg developed the first printing press in Mainz, Germany, he adopted the Gothic style, making it the first
typeface.[43]: 141
Renaissance
In the 15th century, the rediscovery of old Carolingian texts encouraged the creation of the
humanist minuscule or littera antiqua. The 17th century saw the
Batarde script from France, and the 18th century saw the
English script spread across Europe and world through their books.
In the mid-1600s French officials, flooded with documents written in various hands and varied levels of skill, complained that many such documents were beyond their ability to decipher. The Office of the Financier thereupon restricted all legal documents to three hands, namely the Coulee, the Rhonde, (known as
Round hand in English) and a Speed Hand sometimes called the
Bastarda.[44]
While there were many great French masters at the time, the most influential in proposing these hands was Louis Barbedor, who published Les Ecritures Financière Et Italienne Bastarde Dans Leur Naturel
c. 1650.[44]
With the destruction of the Camera Apostolica during the
sack of Rome (1527), the capitol for writing masters moved to Southern France. By 1600, the Italic Cursiva began to be replaced by a technological refinement, the Italic Chancery Circumflessa, which in turn fathered the Rhonde and later English
Roundhand.[44]
In England,
Ayres and Banson popularized the Round Hand while Snell is noted for his reaction to them, and warnings of restraint and proportionality. Still Edward Crocker began publishing his copybooks 40 years before the aforementioned.[44]
Eastern Europe
Other European styles use the same tools and practices, but differ by character set and stylistic preferences.
For Slavonic lettering, the history of the
Slavonic and consequently
Russianwriting systems differs fundamentally from the one of the
Latin language. It evolved from the 10th century to today.
Style
Unlike a typeface, handwritten calligraphy is characterised by irregularity in the characters which vary in size, shape, style, and color, producing a distinct aesthetic value, although it may also make the content illegible to readers. As with
Chinese or
Islamic calligraphy, Western calligraphic script employed the use of strict rules and shapes. Quality writing had a rhythm and regularity to the letters, with a "geometrical" order of the lines on the page. Each character had, and often still has, a precise
stroke order.
Sacred
Western calligraphy has some unique features, such as the illumination of the first letter of each book or chapter in medieval times. A decorative "carpet page" may precede the literature, filled with ornate, geometrical depictions of bold-hued animals. The
Lindisfarne Gospels (715–720 CE) are an early example.[45] Many of the themes and variations of today's contemporary Western calligraphy are found in the pages of
The Saint John's Bible. A particularly modern example is
Timothy Botts' illustrated edition of the Bible, with 360 calligraphic images as well as a calligraphy
typeface.[46]
Islamic calligraphy[b] has evolved alongside
Islam and the
Arabic language. As it is based on Arabic letters, some call it "
Arabic calligraphy". However the term "Islamic calligraphy" is a more appropriate term as it comprises all works of calligraphy by Muslim calligraphers of different national cultures, like
Persian or
Ottoman calligraphy, from
Al-Andalus in medieval
Spain to China.
Islamic calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art (
Arabesque) on the walls and ceilings of
mosques as well as on the page or other materials. Contemporary artists in the
Islamic world may draw on the heritage of calligraphy to create modern calligraphic inscriptions, like
corporate logos, or abstractions.
Instead of recalling something related to the spoken word, calligraphy for
Muslims is a visible expression of the highest art of all, the art of the
spiritual world. Calligraphy has arguably become the most venerated form of Islamic art because it provides a link between the languages of the Muslims with the religion of Islam. The
Qur'an has played an important role in the development and evolution of the Arabic language, and by extension, calligraphy in the Arabic alphabet. Proverbs and passages from the Qur'an are still sources for Islamic calligraphy.
During the
Ottoman civilization, Islamic calligraphy attained special prominence. The city of Istanbul is an open exhibition hall for all kinds and varieties of calligraphy, from inscriptions in mosques to fountains, schools, houses, etc.[47]
It is believed[by whom?] that
ancient Persian script was invented by about 600–500 BCE to provide monument inscriptions for the
Achaemenid kings.[citation needed] These scripts consisted of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal nail-shape letters, which is why it is called
cuneiform script (lit. "script of nails") (khat-e-mikhi) in
Persian.[relevant?] Centuries later, other scripts such as "
Pahlavi" and "
Avestan" scripts were used in ancient Persia. Pahlavi was a middle Persian script developed from the Aramaic script and became the official script of the Sassanian empire (224–651 CE).[citation needed]
Contemporary scripts
The
Nasta'liq style is the most popular contemporary style among classical Persian calligraphy scripts;[citation needed] Persian calligraphers call it the "bride of calligraphy scripts". This calligraphy style has been based on such a strong structure that it has changed very little since
Mir Ali Tabrizi had found the optimum composition of the letters and graphical rules.[citation needed] It has just been fine-tuned during the past seven centuries.[clarification needed] It has very strict rules for graphical shape of the letters and for combination of the letters, words, and composition of the whole calligraphy piece.[citation needed]
Modern calligraphy
Revival
After
printing became ubiquitous from the 15th century onward, the production of illuminated manuscripts began to decline.[37][48][full citation needed] However, the rise of printing did not mean the end of calligraphy.[37][4][49] A clear distinction between handwriting and more elaborate forms of lettering and script began to make its way into manuscripts and books at the beginning of the 16th century.
This triggered Johnston's interest in the art of calligraphy with the use of a broad-edged pen. He began a teaching course in calligraphy at the Central School in
Southampton Row, London from September 1899, where he influenced the typeface designer and sculptor
Eric Gill. He was commissioned by
Frank Pick to design a
new typeface for
London Underground, still used today (with minor modifications).[53]
He has been credited for single-handedly reviving the art of modern
penmanship and lettering through his books and teachings – his handbook on the subject, Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering (1906) was particularly influential on a generation of British typographers and calligraphers, including
Graily Hewitt,
Stanley Morison,
Eric Gill,
Alfred Fairbank and Anna Simons. Johnston also devised the crafted round calligraphic handwriting style, written with a broad pen, known today as the Foundational hand. Johnston initially taught his students an uncial hand using a flat pen angle, but later taught his hand using a slanted pen angle.[54] He first referred to this hand as "Foundational Hand" in his 1909 publication, Manuscript & Inscription Letters for Schools and Classes and for the Use of Craftsmen.[55]
Subsequent developments
Graily Hewitt taught at the
Central School of Arts and Crafts and published together with Johnston throughout the early part of the century. Hewitt was central to the revival of
gilding in calligraphy, and his prolific output on type design also appeared between 1915 and 1943. He is attributed with the revival of gilding with
gesso and gold leaf on
vellum. Hewitt helped to found the
Society of Scribes & Illuminators (SSI) in 1921, probably the world's foremost calligraphy society.
Hewitt is not without both critics[56][full citation needed] and supporters[57] in his rendering of
Cennino Cennini's medieval gesso recipes.[58]Donald Jackson, a British calligrapher, has sourced his gesso recipes from earlier centuries a number of which are not presently in English translation.[59] Graily Hewitt created the patent announcing the award to
Prince Philip of the title of Duke of Edinburgh on November 19, 1947, the day before his marriage to Queen Elizabeth.[60]
Johnston's pupil Anna Simons was instrumental in sparking interest in calligraphy in Germany with her German translation of Writing and Illuminating, and Lettering in 1910.[50] Austrian Rudolf Larisch, a teacher of lettering at the Vienna School of Art, published six lettering books that greatly influenced German-speaking calligraphers. Because German-speaking countries had not abandoned the Gothic hand in printing, Gothic also had a powerful effect on their styles.
Rudolf Koch was a friend and younger contemporary of Larisch. Koch's books, type designs, and teaching made him one of the most influential calligraphers of the 20th century in northern Europe and later in the U.S. Larisch and Koch taught and inspired many European calligraphers, notably
Karlgeorg Hoefer and
Hermann Zapf.[61]
Contemporary typefaces used by computers, from word processors like
Microsoft Word or
Apple Pages to professional design software packages like
Adobe InDesign, owe a considerable debt to the past and to a small number of professional typeface designers today.[1][4][62]
Selected images
Banknote motif: number 5 against a circular panel of lace-like lathe work with a scalloped edge
Chinese soldier in calligraphy competition
Edward Johnston, a famous British calligrapher, at work in 1902
^Fazzioli, Edoardo (1987). Chinese Calligraphy: From Pictograph to Ideogram: The History Of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters. Calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko. New York:
Abbeville Press. p. 13.
ISBN978-0-89659-774-7. And so the first Chinese dictionary was born, the Sān Chāng, containing 3,300 characters
^康熙字典 [Kangxi Zidian] (in Chinese). 1716. p. 41.. See, for example, the radicals 卩, 厂, or 广. The 2007 common shape for those characters does not clearly show the stroke order, but old versions, visible on p. 41, clearly allow the stroke order to be determined.
^Salomon, Richard (1998). Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0195099843.
^Mitter, Partha (2001). Indian Art. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 100.
ISBN9780192842213.
^Sabard, V.; Geneslay, V.; Rébéna, L. (2004). Calligraphie latine: Initiation [Latin calligraphy: Introduction] (in French) (7th ed.). Paris: Fleurus. pp. 8–11.
ISBN978-2-215-02130-8.
^Knight, Stan (1998). Historical scripts: from Classical Times to the Renaissance (2nd, Corrected ed.). New Castle, Del: Oak Knoll Press. pp. 9–10.
ISBN9781884718564.
^Trinity College Library Dublin 2006; Walther & Wolf 2005; Brown & Lovett 1999: 40; Backhouse 1981[full citation needed]
^Henning, W.E. (2002). Melzer, P. (ed.). An Elegant Hand: The Golden Age of American Penmanship and Calligraphy. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press.
ISBN978-1-58456-067-8.
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de Hamel, C. (2001a). The Book: A History of the Bible. Phaidon Press.
Diringer, David (1968). The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). London: Hutchinson & Co. p. 441.
Fairbank, Alfred (1975). Augustino Da Siena, the 1568 edition of his writing book in fascimile. London: The Merrion Press.
ISBN0-87923-128-9.
Fraser, M.; Kwiatowski, W. (2006). Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy. London: Sam Fogg Ltd.
Gaze, Tim; Jacobson, Michael, eds. (2013). An Anthology of Asemic Handwriting. Brooklyn, NY: Punctum Books.
ISBN978-90-817091-7-0.
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Kosack, Wolfgang (2014). Islamische Schriftkunst des Kufischen: geometrisches Kufi in 593 Schriftbeispielen (in German). Basel: Verlag Christoph Brunner.
ISBN978-3-906206-10-3.
OCLC894692503.
Johnston, E. (1909). "Plate 6". Manuscript & Inscription Letters: For schools and classes and for the use of craftsmen. San Vito Press & Double Elephant Press. 10th Impression
Shepherd, Margaret (2013). Learn World Calligraphy: Discover African, Arabic, Chinese, Ethiopic, Greek, Hebrew, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Russian, Thai, Tibetan Calligraphy, and Beyond. Crown Publishing Group. p. 192.
ISBN978-0-8230-8230-8.
Mediavilla, Claude (2006). Histoire de la calligraphie française (in French). Paris: Michel.
ISBN978-2-226-17283-9.
Ogg, Oscar (1954). Three classics of Italian Calligraphy, an unabridged reissue of the writing books of Arrighi, Giovanni Antonio Tagliente & Palatino, with an introduction. New York, US: Dover Publications.
Osley, A. S., ed. (1965). Calligraphy and Paleography, Essays presented to Alfred Fairbank on his 70th birthday. New York: October House Inc.
Wolpe, Berthold (1959). A Newe Writing Booke of Copies, 1574: A fascimile of a unique Elisabethan Writing book in the Bodleian Library Oxford'. London: Lion and Unicorn Press.
Zapf, H. (2007). Alphabet Stories: A Chronicle of technical developments. Rochester, NY: Cary Graphic Arts Press.
ISBN978-1-933360-22-5.
French Renaissance Paleography This is a scholarly maintained site that presents over 100 carefully selected French manuscripts from 1300 to 1700, with tools to decipher and transcribe them.