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Learn Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering and Design
In an age of myriad computer fonts and instant communication, your handwriting style is increasingly a very personal creation. In this book, Margaret Shepherd, America's premier calligrapher, shows you that calligraphy is not simply a craft you can learn, but an elegant art form that you can make your own.
Calligraphy remains perennially popular, often adorning wedding invitations, diplomas, and commercial signs. Whether it is Roman, Gothic, Celtic, Bookhand, or Italic style, calligraphy conveys class and elegance. Margaret Shepherd makes this ancient art form accessible in a completely hand-lettered technical guide that will:
* Provide context for calligraphy as an art, exploring the rich tradition of hand-lettering and mapping the evolution of the most popular styles.
* Give detailed technical advice on choosing pens, paper, and inks, setting up your workspace, mastering various pen angles, along with step-by-step illustrations to guide you as you practice.
* Explain which alphabets are appropriate for different forms of writing. For example, the Roman alphabet works well for short, unpunctuated passages, while the Italic alphabet is more suited to informal everyday communication.
* Encourage you to personalize your lettering by using variant strokes and interpreting how you would like the words to look on the page.
* Inspire you with carefully chosen illustrations and examples, which bring letters to life.
In Margaret Shepherd's own words, "Calligraphy trains not only your eye and hand, but your mind as well." Learn Calligraphy is the authoritative primer for this age-old craft, and will help develop a new appreciation for lettering as you discover your creative personality.
Calligraphy remains perennially popular, often adorning wedding invitations, diplomas, and commercial signs. Whether it is Roman, Gothic, Celtic, Bookhand, or Italic style, calligraphy conveys class and elegance. Margaret Shepherd makes this ancient art form accessible in a completely hand-lettered technical guide that will:
* Provide context for calligraphy as an art, exploring the rich tradition of hand-lettering and mapping the evolution of the most popular styles.
* Give detailed technical advice on choosing pens, paper, and inks, setting up your workspace, mastering various pen angles, along with step-by-step illustrations to guide you as you practice.
* Explain which alphabets are appropriate for different forms of writing. For example, the Roman alphabet works well for short, unpunctuated passages, while the Italic alphabet is more suited to informal everyday communication.
* Encourage you to personalize your lettering by using variant strokes and interpreting how you would like the words to look on the page.
* Inspire you with carefully chosen illustrations and examples, which bring letters to life.
In Margaret Shepherd's own words, "Calligraphy trains not only your eye and hand, but your mind as well." Learn Calligraphy is the authoritative primer for this age-old craft, and will help develop a new appreciation for lettering as you discover your creative personality.
168 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2001
139 people are currently reading
619 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 7, 2012
Easily the best calligraphy manual I've come across. The book teaches not only the basics of the lettering styles, but the finer points, with explicit instruction in the small details that make a hand look right. You're never left copying the same letter over 25 times and wondering why yours doesn't look like the sample. If a curve is supposed to meet an upright at a specific point, the book says so, with illustrations and visualizations to help you internalize the style. It's priceless for beginners like me, who haven't learned how to "see" new alphabets.
It's also priceless for people who find that in the absence of clear instructions to the contrary, their writing reverts to however they normally form letters. I've been having a heck of a time learning calligraphy for that exact reason, but just a week with this book had me writing a presentable Italic hand--practically from scratch.
Although the book proceeds through four different hands, you don't need to do all four in order. I skimmed the start of the book, then jumped straight into Italic, the last hand in the book, and had no trouble understanding the lessons.
This book is also a seriously badass display of calligraphy. The author wrote the entire book by hand. The entire book. The lessons, the preface, the title page, the frontispiece, the copyright page. She wrote the copyright page by hand.
In the pre-digital-correction era.
With a dip pen.
I recommend this book to beginners, to more advanced calligraphers who want to master a specific hand or who want to learn to analyze styles, and to anyone who wants to see what a book looks like when a talented calligrapher creates it start to finish.
It's also priceless for people who find that in the absence of clear instructions to the contrary, their writing reverts to however they normally form letters. I've been having a heck of a time learning calligraphy for that exact reason, but just a week with this book had me writing a presentable Italic hand--practically from scratch.
Although the book proceeds through four different hands, you don't need to do all four in order. I skimmed the start of the book, then jumped straight into Italic, the last hand in the book, and had no trouble understanding the lessons.
This book is also a seriously badass display of calligraphy. The author wrote the entire book by hand. The entire book. The lessons, the preface, the title page, the frontispiece, the copyright page. She wrote the copyright page by hand.
In the pre-digital-correction era.
With a dip pen.
I recommend this book to beginners, to more advanced calligraphers who want to master a specific hand or who want to learn to analyze styles, and to anyone who wants to see what a book looks like when a talented calligrapher creates it start to finish.
March 15, 2022
The author wrote all the text in this book by hand, showing the reader on every page how to adapt calligraphy to the available space. While this effort is charming and inspiring, her choice of style (italic) ultimately makes this book disappointingly difficult to read, a real minus for a reference book.
If one can get over this, one will find in this book good explanations (see the effects of nib width on letter weight on p. 31 and p. 121), many of which are cutely illustrated (see width categories of letters compared to the angle at which you view fat or skinny bunnies, pp. 104-5).
If one can get over this, one will find in this book good explanations (see the effects of nib width on letter weight on p. 31 and p. 121), many of which are cutely illustrated (see width categories of letters compared to the angle at which you view fat or skinny bunnies, pp. 104-5).
March 14, 2024
Checked this book out to refine my quill and ink bucket list. Writing with a quill/feather is not for the faint hearted.
July 25, 2024
One of the best beginner´s calligraphy manuals I´ve found. A few styles are carefully selected to begin your learning path in Western traditional calligraphy. Besides that, it's beautifully penned and illustrated by hand. You only need a broad-edge calligraphy pen or marker, ink, good quality paper, and follow the step-by-step instructions to realize how fulfilling the calligraphy practice can be.
I highly recommend it!
I highly recommend it!
April 25, 2020
I picked this up at a thrift store, on impulse (I recently got a nice pen and wanted to play with it a bit), and it's done exactly what I wanted it to, got me to use the thing and enjoy it. I think my handwriting itself has improved a bit too!
It's light and readable, with just a bit of history sprinkled in with the exercises.
It's light and readable, with just a bit of history sprinkled in with the exercises.
December 25, 2017
Useful overall, detailed, however the main text and instructions are written in a quasi-handwriting font (a form of italics), making them hard to read—hence three stars not four.
July 3, 2018
Interesting history of the development of various lettering styles with lots of lessons and practice helps.
July 25, 2020
I really wanted to enjoy this, I really did, the content seemed interesting and helpful. However, I'm not sure if it was because I read the digital edition, but the font was so hard to read!
September 18, 2025
Broad edge. Out of date, lots of typos, some incorrect history.
October 9, 2013
She is an amazing teacher. She really breaks down the skills and makes the basics and variations seem really easy - and fun! Her choice of animal for each script really works - I especially like the fact that she chose (female) humans for Italic, because the human face really is a great way to explain the shape of the Italic "a", and floating scarves are great for the flourishes. And she totally sold me on versal capitals, which she calls Gothic capitals.
But it was really hard to get over the fact that her strokes are shaky, not clean. Maybe it's my Chinese calligraphy background talking.
But it was really hard to get over the fact that her strokes are shaky, not clean. Maybe it's my Chinese calligraphy background talking.
July 31, 2008
This is a good book and I'm sure lots of people have learned something from it, but my grama is a lot better teacher.
April 10, 2015
ITS FABOULOUS BOOK I CAN LEARN CALLIGAPHY VERY SOON
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2015
This was very excited book I would recommend to read it
July 19, 2017
Excellent book. I will have to try and buy it.
May 25, 2017
It's amazing
June 3, 2015
easy to follow instructions. plan to purchase the book. awesome teacher.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews