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For the beginner in calligraphy, this book is a very good
place to start. The author approaches calligraphy in a
practical way; he begins with the materials needed for the job.
To get started dip pens, nibs, inks and papers are discussed
in great detail. There are excellent charts of nib sizes,
comparing various nib types, and many writing tools. The
pros and cons of dip pens, fountain pens, markers, reed pens
and quill pens are examined in detail. Various fountain pen
types and erasers are also compared for pros and cons of use
and results. Waterproof inks and washable inks are listed.
Marsh analyzes the letterform itself, explaining ascenders,
cap height, x-height, baseline and descender lines.He notes
that the "a" and "n" are the basis for most letterforms
in
any alphabet. He proceeds to illustrate how "a" is the basis
for "d', "g", and "q". Consistency of form is the basis
of
beautiful calligraphy. Ever practical, Marsh, he has
provided ruled pages in the back of the book, which can be
placed on a light table and used as a practice guide for
lettering.
Italic, Roman, Swash Capitals and Cursive Italic are covered
in great detail. Each pen stroke is shown and the sequence
of strokes (ductus) is made clear. Before beginning small
projects, Marsh analyzes the parts of a page and discusses
margins, alignment, layout, multiple columns, and line
length and centering. All these topics are useful even to
the intermediate calligrapher.
The rest of the book is dedicated to projects such as a
greeting, simple quote, invitation, envelope, name tags,
place cards, flyer and lengthy quote. The inspirational
letterforms are a way to jump start our beautiful writing.
For the beginner, the glossary is a handy tool to refer to
terms used in the book. Listed under "C" is "cacography
"from the Greek, literally meaning "bad handwriting".
This book is a handy tool for the beginner and covers most
of the things you need to know to start except the different
kinds of paper. Although paper is a separate topic, it is
not discussed in as great a detail as the other materials.
Even for the seasoned calligrapher, the nib, ink and pen
charts are handy reference guides.
Recommended reading for the beginner and intermediate
calligrapher.