Rudolf Koch

[RD5]

I have seen some of Rudolf Koch's work, does anybody know of a good source to learn some of the scripts he designed?

[JERRY TRESSER]

what do you mean by scripts. Or possibly typefaces ?

[RD5]

I know he designed types, but I have seen some of his calligraphy work and want to learn to write like that. I figured that it was a safe assumption that I am interested in writing, not printing on a calligraphy forum.

[jeanwilson]

If you Google Rudolph Koch, you will see many beautiful examples of broad edge calligraphy. This forum is mostly pointed pen and I do not recall seeing any pointed pen work by Koch - so there has probably not been much discussion about him. One style that Koch designed is Neuland - which is both a font as well as a lettering style. It is my personal favorite for a beginner style in broad edge because rather than making both thicks and thins, you manipulate the pen to make all thick strokes. While Neuland does not usually attract people at first glance - you might try it - if you are interested in broad edge styles, just because it will familiarize you with how the nib works and how you must rotate your hand/wrist/arm to make certain strokes.

As for choosing exemplars to learn styles that he used - you might just print off images from your Google search, enlarge or reduce them to match the size of your nib and then practice tracing them. Hopefully someone else will offer suggestions of broad edge books that have complete instructions. But, in the meantime, it is very satisfying to trace over work that you love. It would take many years to develop the finesse of Rudolph Koch - but to watch strokes that are very similar to his come out of your hand is encouraging.

A quick search did not come up with any books about Koch's calligraphy, which does not mean that there aren't any. John Neal has a back issue of Letter Arts Review with one article and the issue includes Sheila Waters' article on gothic cursive which would be of interest to anyone who wants to explore broad edge. Her book, Foundations of Calligraphy is the most comprehensive book of the basic broad edge styles.

https://www.johnnealbooks.com/prod_detail_list/s?keyword=koch 
LR13-1. Letter Arts Review Vol.13, No.1

[JERRY TRESSER]

Insofar as Neuland and Koch specifically, his work on that particular hand was on metal plates. An angular Neuland especially at circular letters. D, C, O, P, R  Not sure what instrument he was using. I believe that the lettering was developed  on or about 1923.  Neuland has Roman underpinning in its foundation.  If you were to chizil away the broad strokes , surprisingly you will find skeletal letters based on Geometric forms which were Roman in design... He died at age 59 from a heart attack.   As a matter of fact, its a hand i also enjoy. Here is a flyer for an up and coming workshop on this hand.

[RD5]

Thanks, Neuland certainly has its appeal, although I am most interested in his Fraktur. I have found some books of his, although they are out of print. So I may get those eventually.

[Erica McPhee]

Don't forget our whole category on Broad Pen Calligraphy including Fraktur. We talk all calligraphy languages here it just seems we have lots more pointed pen enthusiasts.

Pinterest has some good collections of Rudolf Koch's work.
And here.

An interesting article about Koch.

Website dedicated to Koch.

A lesson from his book.