Help me, LJ Braintrust, you're my only hope

[mmcnealy]

Hi, a great question for my helpful scriby friends out there,

I'm looking for a good beginner's guide to learning period hands, such as Gothic bookhand, Textualis/Textura.

Would these be good books to start with?
Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique by Marc Drogin
Or this book
Learn Calligraphy: The Complete Book of Lettering and Design (Paperback)
by Margaret Shepherd

Comments

[alienor.livejournal.com]

I believe Drogin is considered one of the bibles, plus its easily accessible, so you should be able to get it ILL if you want to try it out first (and it's cheap if you just want to do that).

[feymaker.livejournal.com]

those are the two books I consider my bibles. I actually got the Shepherd book over 25 years ago and have been using it ever since.

[kampfrau.livejournal.com]

I could send you my copy of Drogin, I've learned that calligraphy is not my forte. Let me know!

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind, that would be great!

Email me at m_mc_nealy AT yahoo dot com and I'll send you my address.

[aliskye.livejournal.com]

Drogin's on every SCA scribes book shelf but I really recommend The Art of Calligraphy by David Harris which is apparently out in paperback now: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Calligraphy-David-Harris/dp/0756613043/ref=ed_oe_p

I like the stuff by Margaret Shepherd but her books are generally not historical and very basic.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to check that one out.

[ciorstan.livejournal.com]

Wayyyyy back a long time ago I took a class from Mark Van Stone, who was Drogin's teacher.

Go with Drogin. His exemplars are very clear.

[mistresshuette.livejournal.com]

Mark van Stone also wrote a great book about period calligraphy. I have it somewhere. I have a copy but I can't remember its name.

[harleenquinzell.livejournal.com]

I found the aforementioned Harris easier to start with than Drogin personally, because harris breaks down the strokes into little colored sections which makes seeing the twists a bit easier.

The grid method wasn't helpful for me in relative sizes, but it might be good for you. :)

You can also check both books out from the library and see which ones are easier for your brain to grok visually.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation.
Unfortunately the local library is very limited on calligraphy resources, and I'm maxed out on ILL requests too.

[femkederoas.livejournal.com]

I have a two-step technique for new hands. I learn the strokes with this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Calligraphers-Bible-David-Harris/dp/0713665041/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196885916&sr=8-2

Then I use Drogin to tweak it into a more period "look." I like the Harris book because it delineates strokes, talks about x-height, and even gives the strokes for some of the more common medieval ligatures. His hands aren't quite as "period" but it's more accessible for beginners.

yup

[queenalia.livejournal.com]

i really like drogin, and i really liked his period examples.