The arts of WRITING, ILLUMINATING, & LETTERING offer a wide field for the ingenious and careful craftsman and open the way to a number of delightful occupations. Beyond their many uses—some of which are referred to below—they have a very great educational value. This has long been recognized in the teaching of elementary design, and the practice of designing Alphabets and Inscriptions is now common in most Schools of Art. Much would be gained by substituting, generally, WRITING for designing, because writing being the medium by which nearly all our letters have been evolved from the Roman Capital (see p. 35), the use of the pen—essentially a letter-making tool—gives a practical insight into the construction of letters attainable in no other way. The most important use of letters is in the making of books, and the foundations of typography and book decoration may be mastered—as they were laid—by the planning, writing, and illuminating of MSS. in book form. Of this a modern printer (see also p. 368) says:

And though calligraphy is a means to many ends, a fine MS. has a beauty of its own that—if two arts may be compared—surpasses that of the finest printing. This in itself would justify the transcribing and preservation of much good literature in this beautiful form (besides the preparation of “Illuminated Addresses,” Service Books, Heraldic and other MSS.) and make the practice of formal writing desirable. And furthermore as the old-fashioned notion that a legible hand is a mark of bad breeding dies out, it may be that our current handwriting will take legibility and beauty from such practice. And even the strict utilitarian could not fail to value the benefits that might some day come to men, if children learnt to appreciate beauty of form in their letters and in their writing the beauty of carefulness.

ILLUMINATING

Of the practice of ILLUMINATING—properly associated with writing—it may be observed that, among various ways of acquiring a knowledge of the elements of design & decoration it is one of the most simple and complete. Moreover, a fine illumination or miniature has a beauty of its own that may surpass the finest printed book-decoration. And pictures in books may be as desirable as pictures on the wall—even though like the beautiful household gods of the Japanese they are kept in safe hiding and displayed only now and then. [p-xv]

LETTERING

Magnificent as are the dreams of a fine Decoration based on lettering, the innumerable practical applications of LETTERING itself (see Chap. XVI.) make the study of Letter-Craft not only desirable but imperative. And perhaps I may here be permitted to quote from The AthenÆum of Feb. 3, 1906, which says of “the new school of scribes and designers of inscriptions”

Yet Ordinary Writing and even scribbling has had, and still might have, a good influence on the art of the Letter maker, and at least the common use of pen, ink, & paper makes it a simple matter for any one to essay a formal or ‘book’ hand. A broad nib cut to give clean thick and thin strokes (without appreciable variation of pressure) will teach any one who cares to learn, very clearly and certainly. And though much practice goes to the making of a perfect MS., it is easier than people suppose to make really beautiful things by taking a little pains. As “copy book” hands simple, primitive pen-forms—such as the Uncial & Half-Uncial (pp. 38, 70)—afford the best training and permit [p-xvi] the cultivation of the freedom which is essential in writing: they prepare the way for the mastery of the most practical characters—the ROMAN CAPITAL, roman small-letter, & Italic—and the ultimate development of a lively and personal penmanship.

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING & ILLUMINATING

Developing, or rather re-developing, an art involves the tracing in one’s own experience of a process resembling its past development. And it is by such a course that we, who wish to revive Writing & Illuminating, may renew them, evolving new methods and traditions for ourselves, till at length we attain a modern and beautiful technique. And if we would be more than amateurs, we must study and practise the making of beautiful THINGS and thereby gain experience of Tools, Materials, and Methods. For it is certain that we must teach ourselves how to make beautiful things, and must have some notion of the aim and bent of our work, of what we seek and what we do.

Early illuminated MSS. and printed books with woodcuts (or good facsimiles) may be studied with advantage by the would-be Illuminator, and he should if possible learn to draw from hedgerows and from country gardens. In his practice he should begin as a scribe making MS. books and then decorating them with simple pen & colour work. We may pass most naturally from writing to the decoration of writing, by the making and placing of initial letters. For in seeking first a fine effectiveness we may put readableness before “looks” and, generally, make a text to read smoothly, broken only by its natural division into paragraphs, chapters, and the like. But these divisions, suggesting that a pause in reading is desirable, suggest also that [p-xvii] a mark is required—as in music—indicating the “rest”: this a large capital does most effectively.

A technical division of illumination into Colour-work, Pen-work, and Draughtsmanship is convenient (see Chap. XI.). Though these are properly combined in practice, it is suggested that, at first, it will be helpful to think of their effects as distinct so that we may attain quite definitely some mastery of pure, bright, colours & simple colour effects, of pen flourishing and ornament, and of drawing—whether plain or coloured, that will go decoratively with writing or printing. This distinction makes it easier to devise definite schemes of illumination that will be within our power to carry out at any stage of our development. And while the penman inevitably gains some power of pen decoration it is well for him as an illuminator to practise in bright colours and gold; for illumination may be as brilliant and splendid in its own way as stained glass, enamels, and jewellery are in theirs.1 At first, at any rate, hues that have the least suspicion of being dull or weak are to be avoided as though they were plainly “muddy” or “washed-out.” The more definite we make our work the more definitely will our materials instruct us; and such service must precede mastery.

MODERN DEVELOPMENT OF LETTERING

Referring again to good LETTERING: the second part of this book deals with some of its Qualities, Forms—the Roman Capitals & their important pen-derivatives—and Uses. It is written [p-xviii] largely from the penman’s point of view,2 but a chapter on inscriptions in stone has been added and various types and modes of letter making are discussed. The essential qualities of Lettering are legibility, beauty, and character, and these are to be found in numberless inscriptions and writings of the last two thousand years. But since the traditions of the early scribes and printers and carvers have decayed, we have become so used to inferior forms and arrangements that we hardly realize how poor the bulk of modern lettering really is. In the recent “revival” of printing and book decoration, many attempts have been made to design fine alphabets and beautiful books—in a number of cases with notable success. But the study of PalÆography and Typography has hitherto been confined to a few specialists, and these attempts to make “” books often shew a vagueness of intention, which weakens their interest and an ignorance of Letter-craft which makes the poorest, ordinary printing seem pleasant by comparison. The development of Letters was a purely natural process in the course of which distinct and characteristic types were evolved and some knowledge of how these came into being will help us in understanding their anatomy and distinguishing good and bad forms. A comparatively little study of old manuscripts and inscriptions will make clear much of the beauty and method of the early work. And we may accustom ourselves to good lettering by carefully studying such examples as we can find, and acquire a practical knowledge [p-xix] of it by copying from them with a pen or chisel or other letter-making tool. A conscientious endeavour to make our lettering readable, and models3 and methods chosen to that end, will keep our work straight: and after all the problem before us is fairly simple—To make good letters and to arrange them well. To make good letters is not necessarily to “design” them—they have been designed long ago—but it is to take the best letters we can find, and to acquire them and make them our own. To arrange letters well requires no great art, but it requires a practical knowledge of letter-forms and of the rational methods of grouping these forms to suit every circumstance.

THE SCOPE OF THIS HANDBOOK

Generally this book has been planned as a sort of “guide” to models and methods for Letter-craftsmen and Students—more particularly for those who cannot see the actual processes of Writing, Illuminating, &c. carried out, and who may not have access to collections of MSS. Much of, if not all, the explanation is of the most obvious, but that, I hope, gives it more nearly the value of a practical demonstration. In describing methods and processes I have generally used the present tense—saying that they “are—”: this is to be taken as meaning that they are so in early MSS. and inscriptions, and in the practice of the modern school of scribes who found their work on them.

Regarding the copying of early work (see pp. 195, 323, &c.) it is contended that to revive an art [p-xx] one must begin at the beginning, and that, in an honest attempt to achieve a simple end, one may lawfully follow a method4 without imitating a style. We have an excellent precedent in the Italian scribes who went back 300 years for a model and gave us the Roman small-letter as a result (see p. 47). The beginners attitude is largely, and necessarily, imitative, and at this time we should have much to hope from a school of Artist-Beginners who would make good construction the only novelty in their work. We have almost as much—or as little—to be afraid of in Originality as in imitation, and our best attitude towards this problem is that of the Irishman with a difficulty—“to look it boldly in the face and pass on”—making an honest attempt to achieve a simple end. Perhaps we trouble too much about what we “ought to do” & “do”: it is of greater moment to know what we are doing & trying to do. In so far as tradition fails to bound or guide us we must think for ourselves and in practice make methods and rules for ourselves: endeavouring that our work should be effective rather than have “a fine effect”—or be, rather than appear, good—and following our craft rather than making it follow us. For all things—materials, tools, methods—are waiting to serve us and [p-xxi] we have only to find the “spell” that will set the whole universe a-making for us.

Endeavouring to attain this freedom we may make Rules and Methods serve us (see p. 221), knowing that Rules are only Guides and that Methods are suggested by the work itself: from first to last our necessary equipment consists in good models, good tools, & a good will. Within the limits of our craft we cannot have too much freedom; for too much fitting & planning makes the work lifeless, and it is conceivable that in the finest work the Rules are concealed, and that, for example, a MS. might be most beautiful without ruled lines and methodical arrangement (see p. 343). But the more clearly we realize our limitations the more practical our work. And it is rather as a stimulus to definite thought—not as an embodiment of hard and fast rules—that various methodical plans & tables of comparison & analysis are given in this book. It is well to recognize at once, the fact that mere taking to pieces, or analysing, followed by “putting together,” is only a means of becoming acquainted with the mechanism of construction, and will not reproduce the original beauty of a thing: it is an education for work, but all work which is honest and straightforward has a beauty and freshness of its own.

The commercial prospects of the student of Writing & Illuminating—or, indeed, of any Art or Craft—are somewhat problematical, depending largely on his efficiency & opportunities. There is a fairly steady demand for Illuminated Addresses; but the independent craftsman would have to establish himself by useful practice, and by seizing opportunities, and by doing his work well. Only an attempt [p-xxii] to do practical work will raise practical problems, and therefore useful practice is the making of real or definite things. In the special conditions attaching to work which the craftsman is commissioned to do for another person, there is a great advantage. And the beginner by setting himself specific tasks (for example: making a MS. book for a specific purpose—see p. 100) should give reality to his work. As a craftsman in Lettering he might get work in some of the directions mentioned in pp. 337–341.

Although the demand for good work is at present limited, the production of good work will inevitably create a demand; and, finally, the value of Quality is always recognized—sooner or later, but inevitably—and whatever “practical” reasons we may hear urged in favour of Quantity, the value of Quality is gaining recognition every day in commerce and even in art, and there or here, sooner or later we shall know that we can afford the best.

EDWARD JOHNSTON.

October 1906.