The Illuminated Alphabet: An Inspirational Introduction to Creating Decorative Calligraphy

by Patricia Seligman, Timothy Noad (Illustrations)

“The art of illumination is re-examined in this richly illustrated publication. Each page is filled with eye-catching full-color examples of the illuminator’s art. This in-depth historical overview...begins with The Lindisfarne Gospels and moves through contemporary forms....[This] unique publication...[includes] hundreds of skillfully rendered full-color examples.”— School Arts.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Drawing, Medieval, Crafts

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some good alphabets and examples of illuminated letters.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exactly why I've collapsed my shelves on art and craft. It's gorgeous to examine, and contains helpful information for interpreting the history of art, particularly illuminated manuscripts. By no means am I a calligrapher, nor am I an aspiring calligrapher, but books like these inspire me all the same. If you have any interest in the history of texts and illumination, The Illuminated Alphabet will be enlightening. I got a better idea of how texts were copied and illuminated in pre-printing press years, which alone is worth the read.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a beautiful book, and provides a good basic overview of some styles of manuscript illumination over several centuries and walks through how to make illuminations inspired by the historical precedent. It also includes instructions for using a variety of materials: while yes, it has projects for using egg tempera and real gilding on actual vellum, it also has projects for using gouache on watercolor paper, and I really appreciate that.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the detail, written instruction, and history

[Lezly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book thinking I would do some of the lettering projects but now that I've looked through it I probably won't, but what a beautiful book full of gorgeous art & inspiration! It was very educational, too.

[Linda]

This is a fantastic little book that would interest anyone who is enamored of calligraphy or illuminated manuscripts. Even if you aren't going to actually take the brush to the gouche paints, you will learn a lot.
There is a progression of projects, and following the progression looks entirely doable. I have been basically studying this book for the past year, and I have not done the projects yet. It goes through each major school of calligraphic style, including Renaissance, Romanesque, Gothic, Celtic, and so on, and gives an alphabet for each. But then it goes on to explain how to decorate these alphabets in the appropriate style of that work.
It is, in a word, very illuminating! I have recently joined a calligraphy group here, and I was a bit discouraged at my first meeting. But now I have definite plans to undertake a plan of study so that I can become proficient, make some beautiful letters.
Beautiful full color throughout, with great tips, great step by step instructions, and great supporting text.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for a fairly narrow group of people.
and if you are looking for one of these books you know who you are and now you are just looking for a book.
I have several books on illumination that I really should write some reviews for.
But I shall start with this book.
5 alphabets, with directions of stroke, not complete though only capitals except for a cursive layout that is upper and lower case.
basic recipes for making your own washes and gesso, but every book has them so that is nothing special.
What this book does better then the other books is walk you thru multiple gold leaf projects step by step, showing you all of the different steps with very simple easy to understand directions.
mind you very simple still takes time and patience.
This is not a learn to write calligraphy book, this is just beyond beginners.

I feel this book is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn to illuminate.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very high quality book, the paper is thick and the colors are vivid and plentiful.

Timothy Noad shows you in step by step photos and excellent instructions how to create calligraphy like they did in the medieval period. He shows you how to apply gold leaf, lists of what you will need for a given illumination- paint colors, brush sizes, paper type.

The photos of the finished works are alone worth the price of the book.

[Mira · Rating 5 out of 5]

An EXCELLENT and visually clear step by step explanation on how to create illuminated letters using gold leaf and both traditional and modern techniques.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeously illustrated book with projects for artists who want to do illuminated letter projects. I'm not going to do the projects but I like looking at them.

[Karen H · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved reading this book and learning how to do these beautiful calligraphies . Goes into gold leaf and some silver. Would love to be able to do this.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous book, a really brief intro into the history of illuminated manuscripts and a good primer for projects with step by step processes.