But to be fair, that first image with the illuminated letter is straight up art, not like everyone was engrossing every letter or note page they wrote haha!
I agree. I think it is unfair to compare illuminated manuscripts or business writing with everyday handwriting – how many of us calligraphers don't have untidy everyday hands? Mine certainly devolves into a barely legible mess when I am jotting down notes for my own later reference. At that specific moment it is a case of function over form, for whatever reason.
Remember that writing was developed for utility purposes first, and only became an art form later.
Incidentally, on to a pet peeve: in my experience, articles headed "Photographs that prove XYZ" in fact rarely prove anything because of the highly selective comparisons they usually make.
That said, I don't argue the fact that our art is (if not dying) is at least become increasingly niche – the difficulty of finding calligraphy supplies is South Africa compared to when I started three decades ago, is ample proof.
Perhaps I should take pictures of the limited selections of pens and inks in mainstream stationery shops and blog them under the title:
Photos that prove that things change 
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