Bernardino Cataneo

[InkyFingers]

What a strange character to use a broad pen!  When it is in the hand of a master, all too well know, calligraphy starts.

[Link no longer active. But I am keeping this thread because of all the great comments and posts.]


Very interesting site to learn Cancellaresca Corsiva by the hand of the calligrapher Bernardino Cataneo, 1524.

and I am interested if any one have a copy of Cataneo Manuscript for sale or loan.

[Ken Fraser]

Very interesting site to learn Cancellaresca Corsiva by the hand of the calligrapher Bernardino Cataneo, 1524.

and I am interested if any one have a copy of Cataneo Manuscript for sale or loan.

My copy of "An Italic Copybook - The Cataneo Manuscript" is one of the Calligraphy books I most treasure.

His tiny Italic is incredibly beautiful, standing favourable comparison with any Italic written before or since.

I've had my copy for a few years and can't remember where I got it. Although photocopying isn't allowed (your link is to a personal interpretation  of the style, and not original) I would strongly suggest trying to track down a copy ; a truly wonderful example of calligraphy of the highest order IMO.

Ken

[InkyFingers]

Four surviving plates on the web.

[InkyFingers]

I am just amazed at what broad nib can do.  When I first started with improving my handwritten penmanship.  I shied away from broad nib and vowed not to ever use a broad nib.

That have changed since I started italic.  English roundhand is a development from the broad nib, italic cursive (as I understand it, correct me if i am wrong).  So now, I have fallen down a different rabbit hole, hope there is light at the end of this tunnel.

my first crack:

[schin]

Those are amazing omg. Thanks for sharing!

[Doesy]

Here are links to three more plates from the Bernardino Cataneo manuscript:

http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/22345714?buttons=y
http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/22345715?buttons=y
http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/22345716?buttons=y

Harvard has the entire manuscript but these are the only pages I've found that are available for public viewing (maybe they'll make all the plates accessible sometime in the future.  ).

Editted because I'm having mondo grammer problems today.

[InkyFingers]

The majuscule is so much similar to Johannes B Palatinus.

It is going to be fun decoding all these ...

[Ken Fraser]

The lettering really is tiny. The page size is only 7 7/8" x 5 3/8"

In some of the examples, the x height is only 1/16" - written with great accuracy with an edged nib!

In the book, some of the writing is shown also at a greatly enlarged size, and the quality is truly astonishing.

[InkyFingers]

This would be perfect for me ... not that i like to write small but by daily writing only allows at most 4"x6" area to write.

[InkyFingers]

[InkyFingers]

[SunnyMoni]

Very cool! I now know what I will learn next. Thanks for sharing!

[InkyFingers]

Is this close enough to old Maestro Cataneo?

[Moya]

I spent a week with Gemma Black studying the Cataneo manuscript this year!  It was a truly inspirational experience.  Those tiny letters. ♥___♥ And those flourishes!

I wrote about the workshop here but also here is attached a piece that I came up with by the end of the week   Not close to Cataneo perfection, but a week really wasn't long enough for that!  I feel like I'm beginning to understand the style though.

[InkyFingers]

Moya...that's wonderful.  A great combo of black letters and Italics.  They go so well together.

A kind critique request....Here's my current Cataneo spin.  (I tried to write without exemplar, just the learned hand.)
Any improvement I can make to closely resemble Cataneo?