With apologies to Alex and Jean, I transferred this from my Introduction thread -- it looked so out of place there.
The push towards broad edge calligraphy is strong, I was already planning on starting with italics because it seemed to be the most practical of all of the broad edge scripts.
We may be a 'dying breed' but I would like to think that I am proof that there is a new generation of calligraphers ready to study hard and devote resources towards our beautiful art.
It is wonderful to have an enthusiastic new generation. Those of us who are *old-timers* who have taught for years generally agree that italic is not the best broad edge style to start with. It is the style that is most recognized but it has so many details and angles. It is much better to start with foundational. I wish there were more teachers on the forum. One of these days, I need to send out a questionnaire to all my scribe friends who teach - and ask them to weigh in on what they think is the best broad edge style to start with and if it is not italic, to elaborate on why italic is not the best first style.
Having said that, once in a while I had a student who did just fine when they started with italic. So there are always exceptions to the rule. But, at the very least, you might want to try foundational. The very best book for broad edge styles is Sheila Waters Foundation of Calligraphy. It is a superb book with introduction to many broad edge styles.
I actually like blackletter, too, because it has so many straight strokes and very few curves, so you put in a lot of time getting to understand the geometry of the nib angle and learning to make precise stokes.
As always, it would be great to hear from other teachers of broad edge if there are any lurking on the forum. It's fine with me if others like to start with italic....
Yes, I agree with Jean. There is a lot that should be learned before Italic writing. My own calligraphic journey was somewhat atypical because WWII broke out (3 September 1939) not long after my first class. Soon there were severe shortages of all kinds of calligraphic supplies and equipment: fine paper, vellum, parchment, reservoired steel nibs, and soon steel nibs of any kind, all kinds of ink .......... and so on. In one way that was good for young calligraphy students. We had to learn how to cut quills (donated by local farmers) and canes and write on palimpsests (We came by quite a few old legal documents on vellum) -- it was like stepping back into history! We did follow what I think was the typical student calligraphy syllabus of the day -- Edward Johnston's W&I&L-- Roman Capitals -- half uncial -- Johnston's foundational hand .......... and so on. Actually my Public School Arts and Crafts Calligraphy teacher, Mr. Wilfred Barton, was a firm believer in his students learning to render Roman Capital letterforms correctly first. We therefor devoted the first six months (or so) of our classes in studying their structure; rendering them on paper using pencils; and finally cutting them in linoleum blocks and printing them.
Following is an exemplar rendered by me of the CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS letterforms employed by stone cutters for edifices, monuments, tombstones, etc. A particularly fine extant example is found on Trajan's column in Rome and the essential constructs of these letterforms are the models for all Majuscule (Capital) alphabets used in the western world. Stonecutters in particular still employ their distinctive proportions and terminating serifs. It should be noted that only twenty letters were used in the ancient Roman alphabet : A B C D E F G H I L M N O P Q R S T V X. Our modern J and U were not used, their equivalents being I and V respectively. Thus, our modern JULIUS was written IVLIVS. The letter K was seldom used and then only before A. The letters Y and Z were only used when reproducing Greek words. W was not part of the ancient Roman alphabet at all. It was Medieval scribes who eventually formalized the construction models for the letters J K U W Y Z. Capitalis Monumentalis lettering is at the apex of the "Hierarchy of Scripts" for Calligraphers and is often used by them for headers or versals in pen and ink renditions.
There are numerous excellent photographs of actual CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS lettering (including that on Trajan's column) mostly accompanied by location information, translations and analyses, at:
Bill Thayer's Latin Inscriptions section of his LacusCurtius web siteIn general I follow the classic CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS letterforms except as follows: I modify them to produce closer spacing and this, together with a compaction of the wide letters C O Q and M results in more uniform and "square" lettering. Serifs are small and unobstrusive -- they can be slight terminal flicks or added horizontal stabs. I frequently do not apply serifs in order to enhance speed in rendering. Capitalis Monumentalis letterforms are stately and elegant: E and F have equal length horizontal bars; A has a sharp apex; V has a sharp junction; the bowls of B P R S are always nicely formed.
I think the inscriptional lettering found on Roman Imperial coins provides excellent models for Calligraphers. Although the letterforms employed by the coin die engravers, particularly those of the early Empire, closely follow CAPITALIS MONUMENTALIS letterforms there are some subtle differences, mostly resulting from the limited space available on coins for inscriptional lettering (a problem often encountered by Calligraphers during pen on paper renditions). Most notably, they were modified to produce closer spacing and a compaction of the wide letters C O Q and M resulting in more uniform and "square" lettering. The essential letterform constructs were closely followed for coins of the early to mid Empire who's inscriptions are generally stately and elegant: E and F have equal length horizontal bars; A has a sharp apex; V has a sharp junction; the bowls of B P R S are always nicely formed. P is frequently rendered on Imperial coins with an open bowl, i.e. not touching the vertical stem at the bottom - especially on coins of the early Empire. The quality of Roman Imperial coin lettering reached its zenith on late period Julio-Claudian coins.
Examples of early Roman Empire coin lettering:
References:
EXPLICATIO FORMARUM LITTERARUM (The Unfolding of Letterforms), Rutherford Aris, The Calligraphy Connection, St. Paul (1990)
ROMAN LETTER FORMS (How to Render), Tommy Thompson, Holme Press, (1946)
WRITING & ILLUMINATING & LETTERING, Edward Johnston, Pitman Publishing (various Publishers), Bath, (1973-various dates)
LETTERING, Graily Hewitt, Seely, Service & Co. Ltd. (various Publishers), London, (1930-various dates)
James
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