Two beautiful examples of Engrsser's script.
In Joyce Irene Whalley's book "The Art of Calligraphy" there appears a complete page of exceptionally, beautifully constructed copperplate by Duncan Smith dating from 1794.
The only drawback is the very fine hairlines, which are difficult to see and actually disappear in places. She accompanies this example with the following :-
"The illustration shows the weakness inherent in this style of writing, with its tendency to undue emphasis on the contrast between the thick and thin strokes. Carried to excess, it could make the writing almost illegible."
I tend to agree with this. In some quarters, great emphasis is placed on producing the finest possible hairlines. I much prefer the first example with a nice balance between the strokes. Not only is it much easier to read, it could easily be copied without image loss. I once downloaded some interesting material from the IAMPETH site and ended up throwing it out, because throughout, the hairlines had virtually disappeared making it illegible and pointless. The contrast between the weighted strokes and the hairlines contributes greatly to the beauty of Engrosser's and Copperplate scripts but it's so easy to overdo it, and end up producing illegibility.
