Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Book and I

My dear Marilyn Monroe, Oops, Merry, Oops, Mother Mary of God, Oops, Mother of Yeshu, Oops, Jesus, son of God, Oops, Marilynnn, Oops, too many N-words, make it two, not three, Oops, Marily-no-no-Nanette-nne Robinson.
I have just one word for you.
Get.
Get it?
It is not with the usually deciphered as "get me a cup of coffee with my Sunday Funnies, Oops, Sunday, not just any other Sunday, The Sunday, December 25, 2011, in particular, Sunday New, Oops, make it The New York Times, New York, NY supplement, particularly, not Book, Oops, make it The Book Review, with an illustration, thanks to "Oops.
I am not kidding. On the right hand lower corner, it says so: "ILLUSTRATION By O O P S
Now, that is funny. Make it hilarious, as the said illustration depicts a black object, may be a pole, may be not a pole but a dark monument. Monument is a piece of stone, buried deep in a spot marking the boundaries of land/real estate.
Right on the top, one may identify as books with spines but no Titles engraved in gold book binders' dummies.
Now we are getting somewhere.
In Big Bold Roman, Oops, Baskerville variation of the Times Roman letters, one may find some legible but totally insane writing.
"The Book of Books"
I rest my case.
What is left for me to say, which is more comical than that tragic title?
...and I am Sid Harth@marilynmonroe.com

  • tikakar

Sunday Book Review

The Book of Books: What Literature Owes the Bible

By MARILYNNE ROBINSON
Published: December 22, 2011
The Bible is the model for and subject of more art and thought than those of us who live within its influence, consciously or unconsciously, will ever know.
Illustration by O.O.P.S.

Related

Illustration by O.O.P.S.
Illustration by O.O.P.S.
Literatures are self-referential by nature, and even when references to Scripture in contemporary fiction and poetry are no more than ornamental or rhetorical — indeed, even when they are unintentional — they are still a natural consequence of the persistence of a powerful literary tradition. Biblical allusions can suggest a degree of seriousness or significance their context in a modern fiction does not always support. This is no cause for alarm. Every fiction is a leap in the dark, and a failed grasp at seriousness is to be respected for what it attempts. In any case, these references demonstrate that in the culture there is a well of special meaning to be drawn upon that can make an obscure death a martyrdom and a gesture of forgiveness an act of grace. Whatever the state of belief of a writer or reader, such resonances have meaning that is more than ornamental, since they acknowledge complexity of experience of a kind that is the substance of fiction.
Old Jonathan Edwards wrote, “It has all along been God’s manner to open new scenes, and to bring forth to view things new and wonderful.” These scenes are the narrative method of the Bible, which assumes a steady march of history, the continuous unfolding of significant event, from the primordial quarrel of two brothers in a field to supper with a stranger at Emmaus. There is a cosmic irony in the veil of insignificance that obscures the new and wonderful. Moments of the highest import pass among people who are so marginal that conventional history would not have noticed them: aliens, the enslaved, people themselves utterly unaware that their lives would have consequence. The great assumption of literary realism is that ordinary lives are invested with a kind of significance that justifies, or requires, its endless iterations of the commonplace, including, of course, crimes and passions and defeats, however minor these might seem in the world’s eyes. This assumption is by no means inevitable. Most cultures have written about demigods and kings and heroes. Whatever the deeper reasons for the realist fascination with the ordinary, it is generous even when it is cruel, simply in the fact of looking as directly as it can at people as they are and insisting that insensitivity or banality matters. The Old Testament prophets did this, too.
A number of the great works of Western literature address themselves very directly to questions that arise within Christianity. They answer to the same impulse to put flesh on Scripture and doctrine, to test them by means of dramatic imagination, that is visible in the old paintings of the Annunciation or the road to Damascus. How is the violence and corruption of a beloved city to be understood as part of an eternal cosmic order? What would be the consequences for the story of the expulsion from Eden, if the fall were understood as divine providence? What if Job’s challenge to God’s justice had not been overawed and silenced by the wild glory of creation? How would a society within (always) notional Christendom respond to the presence of a truly innocent and guileless man? Dante created his great image of divine intent, justice and grace as the architecture of time and being. Milton explored the ancient, and Calvinist, teaching that the first sin was a felix culpa, a fortunate fall, and providential because it prepared the way for the world’s ultimate reconciliation to God. So his Satan is glorious, and the hell prepared for his minions is strikingly tolerable. What to say about Melville? He transferred the great poem at the end of Job into the world of experience, and set against it a man who can only maintain the pride of his humanity until this world overwhelms him. His God, rejoicing in his catalog of the splendidly fierce and untamable, might ask, “Hast thou seen my servant Ahab?” And then there is Dostoyevsky’s “idiot” Prince Myshkin, who disrupts and antagonizes by telling the truth and meaning no harm, the Christ who says, “Blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”
Each of these works reflects a profound knowledge of Scripture and tradition on the part of the writer, the kind of knowledge found only among those who take them seriously enough to probe the deepest questions in their terms. These texts are not allegories, because in each case the writer has posed a problem within a universe of thought that is fully open to his questioning once its terms are granted. Here the use of biblical allusion is not symbolism or metaphor, which are both rhetorical techniques for enriching a narrative whose primary interest does not rest with the larger resonances of the Bible. In fact these great texts resemble Socratic dialogues in that each venture presupposes that meaning can indeed be addressed within the constraints of the form and in its language, while the meaning to be discovered through this argument cannot be presupposed. Like paintings, they render meaning as beauty.
The Easter service that is the climax of “The Sound and the Fury” is a study in the workings of fiction and Scripture as reciprocal interpretation. Like Dostoyevsky, Faulkner represents Christ in the person of an “idiot.” Yet while the epileptic Prince Myshkin is unworldly and rather childlike, he’s not truly idiotic except in the eyes of those offended by him. Faulkner takes the idea a step further by limiting his 33-year-old Benjy to the perception and understanding of a child of 3. Groaning and disruptive as he is, he accompanies the endlessly patient servant Dilsey to the celebration in her little church. A minister brought in for the occasion preaches a sermon so purely allusive as to seem no more than a series of fragments, except to his hearers, who know his language so well they are “beyond the need for words.” This recalls Paul’s saying that when prayer is insufficient the Spirit intercedes “with groanings, and with sighs too deep for words.” Speaking in idiom and in cadences that are in effect a liturgical language, the preacher conflates the long captivity in Egypt with the numberless generations that have passed while the world awaits its renewal. He invokes the tender realism of Christ’s infancy, all infancy, and conflates the massacre of the innocents with the Crucifixion. These are classic methods of interpretation. The biblical narratives are themselves allusive in this way, anticipating the death of Christ and recalling these foreshadowings and others drawn from Old Testament prophecy as the story proceeds to its climax. The preacher describes the death of generations in the language of the world-desolating flood in Genesis and then “de arisen dead,” who have the blood and the recollection of the Lamb.
It is an Easter sermon, full of assurance that beyond death there is life, that the “immolation and abnegation and time” that have corroded Dilsey’s face will end, and end gloriously. But the central and most moving words come in the minister’s descriptions of the crucified, “de thief en de murderer en de least of dese.” His use of the phrase “the least of these” to mean Jesus comes from the Parable of the Great Judgment in the 25th chapter of Matthew, in which the enthroned Son of Man says, “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. . . . Insofar as you did it unto the least of these, you did it also unto me.” In the moment Christ’s grandeur is revealed, his identity is conflated with those most profoundly in need. So Faulkner’s Benjy and every Benjy in the world is in fact Christ, not metaphorically but metaphysically. Dilsey, in assuming her endless burden of care for him, has fed and clothed Christ himself, and she has been Christ in her care of him. She must have known this all along — the text is not obscure — but a good sermon changes even known truth into profound realization. The word that has seized the preacher is, again, Christ, who according to the tradition is present in vulnerability, in mercy and in truth. The absolute character of Dilsey’s vision is expressed in her saying, “Ise seed de first en de last,” and “I seed de beginnin, en now I sees de endin.” This is the language of Revelation, and these are the words of “the Lamb that was slain,” the apocalyptic Christ of the sermon. The whole novel is comprehended in the nexus of allusion that makes up the sermon, another tale told by an “idiot,” superficially incomprehensible and in fact profoundly meaningful.
In our strange cultural moment it is necessary to make a distinction between religious propaganda and religious thought, the second of these being an attempt to do some sort of justice to the rich difficulties present in the tradition. The great problem for Christianity is always the humility of the figure in whom God is said to have been incarnate, and the insistence of the tradition that God is present in the persons of the despised and rejected. The failure of the notionally Christian worlds of Russia and Mississippi to be in any way sufficient to the occasion of Christ among them would be a true report always and everywhere. But theology is only in part social commentary. Crucially it has to do with the authority of a vision, of a world that is only like this world in essence. The sermon interprets Benjy’s wordless first chapter, a tale told as passionate memory of gentleness and love, Faulkner interceding to evoke for Benjy thoughts that are too deep for the words of any writer but one who is generous and also great. Everyone knows that life is profaned when such thoughts are neglected, as they so often are. As a statement about human consciousness and the reality that contains us, this vision is always familiar and never easier to accept. Paul quotes an ancient hymn in his letter to the Philippians that says Christ “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” And this recalls the servant described in the book of Isaiah, “one from whom men hide their faces,” who “was despised, and we esteemed him not.” In its emphatic insistence that the burden of meaning is shared in every life, the Bible may only give expression to a truth most of us know intuitively. But as a literary heritage or memory it has strengthened the deepest impulse of our literature, and our ­civilization.
Marilynne Robinson is the author of three novels, including the Pulitzer-winning “Gilead,” and three books of nonfiction. Her essay collection “When I Was a Child I Read Books” will be published in March.
A version of this article appeared in print on December 25, 2011, on page BR1 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: The Book of Books.
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Calligraphy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Lettering" redirects here. For lettering in technical drawing, see Technical lettering.
This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (January 2011)
An Ottoman ijazah written in Arabic certifying competence in calligraphy, 1206 AH/1791 AD
Calligraphy (from Greek κάλλος kallos "beautiful" + γραφή graphẽ "writing") is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering (Mediavilla 1996: 17). A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner" (Mediavilla 1996: 18). The story of writing is one of aesthetic evolution framed within the technical skills, transmission speed(s) and material limitations of a person, time and place (Diringer 1968: 441). A style of writing is described as a script, hand or alphabet (Fraser and Kwiatkowski 2006; Johnston 1909: Plate 6).
Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand-lettered inscriptions and designs to fine-art pieces where the abstract expression of the handwritten mark may or may not compromise the legibility of the letters (Mediavilla 1996). Classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may create all of these; characters are historically disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous, at the moment of writing (Pott 2006 and 2005; Zapf 2007 and 2006).
Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of wedding and event invitations, font design/typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, announcements/graphic design/commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions and memorial documents. It is also used for props and moving images for film and television, testimonials, birth and death certificates, maps, and other works involving writing (see for example Letter Arts Review; Propfe 2005; Geddes and Dion 2004). Some of the finest works of modern calligraphy are charters and letters patent issued by monarchs and officers of state in various countries.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Western calligraphy

Main article: Western calligraphy
Modern Western calligraphy by Denis Brown

[edit] Tools and techniques

Tools
A calligraphic pen head, with parts names.
The principal tools for a calligrapher are the pen, which may be flat-balled or round-nibbed, and the brush (Reaves and Schulte 2006; Child 1985; Lamb 1956). For some decorative purposes, multi-nibbed pens—steel brushes—can be used. However, works have also been made with felt-tip and ballpoint pens, although these works do not employ angled lines. Ink for writing is usually water-based and much less viscous than the oil based inks used in printing. High quality paper, which has good consistency of porosity, will enable cleaner lines,[citation needed] although parchment or vellum is often used, as a knife can be used to erase work on them and a light box is not needed to allow lines to pass through it. In addition, light boxes and templates are used to achieve straight lines without pencil markings detracting from the work. Ruled paper, either for a light box or direct use, is most often ruled every quarter or half inch, although inch spaces are occasionally used, such as with litterea unciales (hence the name), and college ruled paper acts as a guideline often as well.[1]
Pens may be obtained from various stationery sources - from the traditional "nib" pens dipped in ink, to calligraphy pens that have cartridges built-in, avoiding the need to have to continually dip them into inkwells.
Styles & techniques
Sacred Western calligraphy has some special features, such as the illumination of the first letter of each book or chapter in medieval times. A decorative "carpet page" may precede the literature, filled with ornate, geometrical depictions of bold-hued animals. The Lindisfarne Gospels (715-720 AD) are an early example (Brown 2004).
As with Chinese or Arabian calligraphies, Western calligraphic script had strict rules and shapes. Quality writing had a rhythm and regularity to the letters, with a "geometrical" order of the lines on the page. Each character had, and often still has, a precise stroke order.
Unlike a typeface, irregularity in the characters' size, style and colors adds meaning to the Greek translation "beautiful letters". The content may be completely illegible, but no less meaningful to a viewer with some empathy for the work on view. Many of the themes and variations of today's contemporary Western calligraphy are found in the pages of The Saint John's Bible. A particularly modern example is The Holy Bible, Timothy Botts Illustrated edition (Tyndale House Publishers 2000), with 360 calligraphic images as well as a calligraphy typeface.

[edit] Historical developments

Calligraphy in a Latin Bible of AD 1407 on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. This bible was hand written in Belgium, by Gerard Brils, for reading aloud in a monastery.
Western calligraphy is recognizable by the use of the Roman alphabet, which evolved from the Phoenician, Greek, and Etruscan alphabets. The first Roman alphabet appeared about 600 BC, in Rome, and by the first century[clarification needed] developed into Roman imperial capitals carved on stones, Rustic capitals painted on walls, and Roman cursive for daily use. In the second and third centuries the Uncial lettering style developed. As writing withdrew to monasteries, uncial script was found more suitable for copying the Bible and other religious texts. It was the monasteries which preserved calligraphic traditions during the fourth and fifth centuries, when the Roman Empire fell and Europe entered the Dark Ages.[2]
At the height of the Roman Empire its power reached as far as Great Britain; when the empire fell, its literary influence remained. The Semi-uncial generated the Irish Semi-uncial, the small Anglo-Saxon. Each region seems to have developed its own standards following the main monastery of the region (i.e. Merovingian script, Laon script, Luxeuil script, Visigothic script, Beneventan script), which are mostly cursive and hardly readable.
The rising Carolingian Dynasty Empire encouraged a new standardized script, which was developed by several famous monasteries (including Corbie Abbey and Beauvais) around the eighth century. The script from Saint Martin of Tours was ultimately set as the Imperial standard, named the Carolingian script (or "the Caroline"). From the powerful Carolingian Empire, this standard also became used in neighboring kingdoms.
In the eleventh century, the Caroline evolved into the Gothic script, which was more compact and made it possible to fit more text on a page.[3] The Gothic calligraphy styles became dominant throughout Europe; and in 1454, when Johannes Gutenberg developed the first printing press in Mainz, Germany, he adopted the Gothic style, making it the first typeface.[4]
In the 15th century, the rediscovery of old Carolingian texts encouraged the creation of the humanist minuscule or littera antiqua. The 17th century saw the Batarde script from France, and the 18th century saw the English script spread across Europe and world by their books.
The contemporary typefaces used by computers, from simple word processing programs like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages to professional designers' software packages like Adobe InDesign, owe a considerable debt to the past and to a small number of professional typeface designers today (Zapf 2007; Mediavilla 2006; Henning 2002).

[edit] Influences

Several other Western styles use the same tools and practices, but differ by the characters set, and by stylistic preferences. For Slavonic lettering, the history of the slavonic and consequently Russian writing systems differs fundamentally from the one of the Latin language. It evolved from the 10th century to today.

[edit] Eastern Asian calligraphy

馬-oracle.svg
Jiǎgǔwén
馬-bronze.svg
Jīnwén
馬-bigseal.svg
Dàzhuàn
馬-seal.svg
Xiǎozhuàn
馬-clerical.svg
Lìshū
馬-caoshu.svg
Cǎoshū
馬-xinshu.svg
Xíngshū
馬-kaishu.svg
Kǎishū (trad)
马-kaishu.svg
Kǎishū (simp)

Chinese calligraphy written by Song Dynasty (A.D. 1051-1108) poet Mi Fu. The style Xinshu display there is specific by its fast speed and low pressure of the ink-brush on the paper. The calligrapher may play with speed, pressure, stroke order to create visual effects which may be in accordance with the emotions within the text, such is in the most revered Preface to the Orchid Pavilion by Wang Xizhi.[5]

[edit] Names, tools and techniques

Names
The local name for calligraphy is Shūfǎ 書法 in China, literally "The way/method/law of writing";,[6] Shodō 書道 in Japan, literally "The way/principle of writing"; and Seoye (서예) 書藝 in Korea, literally "The art of writing". The calligraphy of East Asian characters is an important and appreciated aspect of East Asian culture.
Tools
Traditional East Asian writing uses the Four Treasures of the Study (T: 文房四寶 / S: 文房四宝) : the ink brushes to write Chinese characters, Chinese ink, paper, and inkstone, known as the Four Friends of the Study (HG: 문방사우 / HJ: 文房四友) in Korea. In addition to these four tools, desk pads and paperweights are also used by calligraphers.
Technique
The shape, size, stretch and hair type of the ink brush, the color, color density and water density of the ink, as well as the paper's water absorption speed and surface texture are the main physical parameters influencing the final result. The calligrapher also influences the result by the quantity of ink/water he lets the brush take , then by the pressure, inclination, and direction he gives to the brush, producing thinner or bolder strokes, and smooth or toothed borders. Eventually, the speed, accelerations, decelerations of the writer's moves, turns, and crochets, and the stroke order give the "spirit" to the characters, by influencing greatly their final shapes.

[edit] Historical evolution

Ancient China
In ancient China, the oldest Chinese characters existing are Jiǎgǔwén characters carved on ox scapula and tortoise plastrons,because the dominators in Shang Dynasty carved pits on such animals's bones and then baked them to gain auspice of military affairs ,agricultural harvest,or even procreating and weather,etc. During the divination ceremony, after the cracks were made, the characters were written with a brush on the shell or bone to be later carved.(Keightley, 1978). With the development of Jīnwén (Bronzeware script) and Dàzhuàn (Large Seal Script) "cursive" signs continued. Moreover, each archaic kingdom of current China had its own set of characters.
Imperial China
In Imperial China, the graphs on old steles — some dating from 200 BC, and in Xiaozhuan style — are still accessible.
About 220 BC, the emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first to conquer the entire Chinese basin, imposed several reforms, among them Li Si's character unification, which created a set of 3300 standardized Xiǎozhuàn characters.[7] Despite the fact that the main writing implement of the time was already the brush, few papers survive from this period, and the main examples of this style are on steles.
The Lìshū style (clerical script) which is more regularized, and in some ways similar to modern text, have been also authorised under Qin Shi Huangdi.[8]
Kǎishū style (traditional regular script) — still in use today — and attributed to Wang Xizhi (王羲之, 303-361) and his followers, is even more regularized.[8] Its spread was encouraged by Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (926-933), who ordered the printing of the classics using new wooden blocks in Kaishu. Printing technologies here allowed a shape stabilization. The Kaishu shape of characters 1000 years ago was mostly similar to that at the end of Imperial China.[8] But small changes have be made, for example in the shape of 广 which is not absolutely the same in the Kangxi Dictionary of 1716 as in modern books. The Kangxi and current shapes have tiny differences, while stroke order is still the same, according to old style.[9]
Styles which did not survive include Bāfēnshū, a mix made of Xiaozhuan style at 80%, and Lishu at 20%.[8] Some Variant Chinese characters were unorthodox or locally used for centuries. They were generally understood but always rejected in official texts. Some of these unorthodox variants, in addition to some newly created characters, compose the Simplified Chinese character set.
Cursive styles and hand-written styles
Cursive styles such as Xíngshū (semi-cursive or running script) and Cǎoshū (cursive or grass script) are less constrained and faster, where more movements made by the writing implement are visible. These styles' stroke orders vary more, sometimes creating radically different forms. They are descended from Clerical script, in the same time as Regular script (Han Dynasty), but Xíngshū and Cǎoshū were use for personal notes only, and were never used as standard. Caoshu style was highly appreciated in Emperor Wu of Han reign (140-87).[8]
Printed and computer styles
Examples of modern printed styles are Song from the Song Dynasty's printing press, and sans-serif. These are not considered traditional styles, and are normally not written.

[edit] Influences

Japanese calligraphy, the word "peace" and the signature of the Meiji period calligrapher Ōura Kanetake, 1910
A Vietnamese calligraphist writing in hán tự in preparation for Tết, at the Temple of Literature, Hanoi (2011)
Other calligraphies
Japanese and Korean people developed specific sensibilities and styles of calligraphies. By example, Japanese calligraphy go out of the set of CJK strokes to also include local alphabets such as hiragana and katakana, with specific problematics such as new curves and moves. In the case of Korean calligraphy, the Hangeul and the existence of the circle required the creation of a new technique which usually confuses Chinese calligraphers. The existence of temporary calligraphy is also to notice, which is a practice of water-only calligraphy on the floor which, indeed, dry out within minutes. This practice is especially appreciated by the new generation of retired Chinese in public parks of China.
Other arts
Calligraphy has influenced ink and wash painting, which is accomplished using similar tools and techniques. Calligraphy has influenced most major art styles in East Asia, including Ink and wash painting, a style of Chinese, Korean, Japanese painting, and Vietnamese painting based entirely on calligraphy.

[edit] South Asian Calligraphy

[edit] Indian calligraphy

Main article: Indian calligraphy
An illustrated manuscript of the Mahabharata with calligraphy
On the subject of Indian calligraphy, Anderson 2008 writes:
A Calligraphic design in Oriya script
Aśoka's edicts (c. 265–238 BC) were committed to stone. These inscriptions are stiff and angular in form. Following the Aśoka style of Indic writing, two new calligraphic types appear: Kharoṣṭī and Brāhmī. Kharoṣṭī was used in the northwestern regions of India from the 3rd century BC to the 4th century of the Christian Era, and it was used in Central Asia until the 8th century.
In many parts of ancient India, the inscriptions were carried out in smoke-treated palm leaves. This tradition dates back to over two thousand years.[10] Even after the Indian languages were put on paper in the 13th century, palm leaves where considered a preferred medium of writing owing to its longevity (nearly 400 years) compared to paper. Both sides of the leaves were used for writing. Long rectangular strips were gathered on top of one another, holes were drilled through all the leaves, and the book was held together by string. Books of this manufacture were common to Southeast Asia. The palm leaf was an excellent surface for penwriting, making possible the delicate lettering used in many of the scripts of southern Asia.
Burnt clay and Copper were a favoured material for Indic inscriptions[citation needed]. In the north of India, birch bark was used as a writing surface as early as the 2nd century AD[citation needed].

[edit] Nepalese calligraphy

Nepalese calligraphy has a huge impact on Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Ranjana script is the primary form of this calligraphy. The script itself and its derivatives (like Lantsa, Phagpa, Kutila) are used in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Leh, Mongolia, coastal China, Japan and Korea to write "Om mane pame om" and other sacred Buddhist texts, mainly those derived from Sanskrit and Pali.

[edit] Tibetan calligraphy

Main article: Tibetan calligraphy
A Bön text
Calligraphy is central in Tibetan culture. The script is derived from Indic scripts. The nobles of Tibet, such as the High Lamas and inhabitants of the Potala Palace, were usually capable calligraphers. Tibet has been a center of Buddhism for several centuries, and that religion places a great deal of significance on written word. This does not provide for a large body of secular pieces, although they do exist (but are usually related in some way to Tibetan Buddhism). Almost all high religious writing involved calligraphy, including letters sent by the Dalai Lama and other religious and secular authority. Calligraphy is particularly evident on their prayer wheels, although this calligraphy was forged rather than scribed, much like Arab and Roman calligraphy is often found on buildings. Although originally done with a reed, Tibetan calligraphers now use chisel tipped pens and markers as well.

[edit] Islamic calligraphy

[edit] Islamic calligraphy

Main article: Islamic calligraphy
A page of a 12th century Qur'an written in the Andalusi script
Islamic calligraphy (calligraphy in Arabic is Khatt ul-Yad خط اليد) has evolved alongside the religion of Islam and the Arabic language. As it is based on Arabic letters, some call it "Arabic calligraphy". However the term "Islamic calligraphy" is a more appropriate term as it comprises all works of calligraphy by the Muslim calligraphers from Morocco to China.
Islamic calligraphy is associated with geometric Islamic art (arabesque) on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well as on the page. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world draw on the heritage of calligraphy to use calligraphic inscriptions or abstractions.
Instead of recalling something related to the spoken word, calligraphy for Muslims is a visible expression of the highest art of all, the art of the spiritual world. Calligraphy has arguably become the most venerated form of Islamic art because it provides a link between the languages of the Muslims with the religion of Islam. The holy book of Islam, al-Qur'an, has played an important role in the development and evolution of the Arabic language, and by extension, calligraphy in the Arabic alphabet. Proverbs and passages from the Qur'an are still sources for Islamic calligraphy.
It is generally accepted that Islamic calligraphy excelled during the Ottoman era. Turkish calligraphers still present the most refined and creative works. Istanbul is an open exhibition hall for all kinds and varieties of calligraphy, from inscriptions in mosques to fountains, schools, houses, etc.

[edit] Persian calligraphy

Main article: Persian calligraphy
Example showing Nastaʿlīq's proportional rules
Calligraphy in Tehran subway on tiles
Persian calligraphy is the calligraphy of Persian writing system. The history of calligraphy in Persia dates back to the pre-Islam era. In Zoroastrianism beautiful and clear writings were always praised.
History and evolution
It is believed that ancient Persian script was invented by about 600-500 BC to provide monument inscriptions for the Achaemenid kings. These scripts consisted of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal nail-shape letters and that is the reason in Persian it is called "Script of Nails/Cuneiform Script" (Khat-e-Mikhi). Centuries later, other scripts such as "Pahlavi" and "Avestan" scripts were used in ancient Persia.
After the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Persians adapted the Arabic alphabet to fit the Persian language and developed a contemporary Persian alphabet. The Arabic alphabet has 28 characters to which Iranians added another four letters for it to fit the sounds and letters of the Persian language that do not exist in Arabic.
Contemporary scripts
"Nasta'liq" is the most popular contemporary style among classical Persian calligraphy scripts and Persian calligraphers call it "Bride of the Calligraphy Scripts". This calligraphy style has been based on such a strong structure that it has changed very little since. Mir Ali Tabrizi had found the optimum composition of the letters and graphical rules so it has just been fine-tuned during the past seven centuries. It has very strict rules for graphical shape of the letters and for combination of the letters, words, and composition of the whole calligraphy piece.

[edit] Other isolated calligraphies

[edit] Mayan Glyphs

Main article: Mayan codices
A leaflet of the Dresden Codex written in the Mayan Script on a type of paper called amatl. The Dresden Codex is one of only a few examples of Maya Calligraphy to escape the destruction of the Spanish Conquistadores and survive to the present day.
[icon]This section requires expansion.
Mayan calligraphy was expressed via Mayan hieroglyphs; modern Mayan calligraphy is mainly used on seals and monuments in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Mayan hieroglyphs are rarely used in government offices, however in Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo, Mayan calligraphy is written in Latin letters. Some commercial companies in Southern Mexico use Mayan hieroglyphs as symbols of their business. Some community associations and modern Mayan brotherhoods use Mayan hieroglyphs as symbols of their groups.
Most of the archaeological sites in Mexico such as Chichen Itza, Labna, Uxmal, Edzna, Calakmul, etc. have glyphs in their structures. Stone carved monuments also known as stele are a common source of ancient Mayan calligraphy.

[edit] Graffiti

"Calligraffiti"
Graffiti also shares attributes similar to Calligraphy in being an expressive form of writing style.
Although graffiti is often seen as destruction and vandalism to society, over the decades graffiti has emerged as passionate art, showing expression of style, culture, and identity. Graffiti has come to be regarded as another form of writing style. Both Calligraphy and Graffiti share similar attributes where different cultures and communities use varying tools and techniques to make their own distinct and unique visual lettering. Graffiti itself is an art form, very unappreciated by most, because the only place that most people see it is in an illegal form.
Many people today have started to put graffiti on canvas, paper, and wall murals that is legal because they have gained permission from the owner of the building/wall.

[edit] See also

People and groups
Others

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Calligraphy Islamic website
  2. ^ V. Sabard, V. Geneslay, L. Rébéna, Calligraphie latine, initiation, ed. Fleurus, Paris. 7th edition, 2004, pages 8 to 11
  3. ^ Patricia lovett. Calligraphy and Illumination Abrams 2000, p.72
  4. ^ Patricia lovett. Calligraphy and Illumination Abrams 2000, p.141
  5. ^ Wang Xizhi. "Wang Xizhi and Preface to the Orchid Pavilion (Image)". Cultural-china.com.
  6. ^ 書 being here used as in 楷书/楷書, etc, and meaning "writing style".
  7. ^ Fazzioli, Edoardo (1987) [1987]. Chinese calligraphy : from pictograph to ideogram : the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters. calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko. New York: Abbeville Press. pp. 13. ISBN 0896597741. "And so the first Chinese dictionary was born, the Sān Chāng, containing 3,300 characters"
  8. ^ a b c d e Blakney, p6 : R. B. Blakney (2007). A Course in the Analysis of Chinese Characters. Lulu.com. pp. 148. ISBN 1897367112, 9781897367117.
  9. ^ 康熙字典 Kangxi Zidian, 1716. Scanned version available at www.kangxizidian.com. See by example the radicals 卩, 厂 or 广, p.41. The 2007 common shape for those characters does not clearly show the stroke order, but old versions, visible on the Kangxi Zidian p.41 clearly allow the stroke order to be determined.
  10. ^ http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=10660&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

[edit] References

Asemic Writing & Abstract calligraphy
See respective articles.
  • Brown, M.P. (2004) Painted Labyrinth: The World of the Lindisfarne Gospel. Revised Ed. British Library.
  • Child, H. ed. (1985) The Calligrapher's Handbook. Taplinger Publishing Co.
  • Diringer, D. (1968) The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind 3rd Ed. Volume 1 Hutchinson & Co. London
  • Fraser, M., & Kwiatowski, W. (2006) Ink and Gold: Islamic Calligraphy. Sam Fogg Ltd. London
  • Geddes, A., & Dion, C. (2004) Miracle: a celebration of new life. Photogenique Publishers Auckland.
  • Henning, W.E. (2002) An elegant hand : the golden age of American penmanship and calligraphy ed. Melzer, P. Oak Knoll Press New Castle, Delaware
  • Johnston, E. (1909) Manuscript & Inscription Letters: For schools and classes and for the use of craftsmen, plate 6. San Vito Press & Double Elephant Press 10th Impression
  • Lamb, C.M. ed. (1956) Calligrapher's Handbook. Pentalic 1976 ed.
  • Letter Arts Review
  • Mediavilla, Claude (2006) Histoire de la Calligraphie Française. Albin Michel, France.
  • Mediavilla, C. (1996) Calligraphy. Scirpus Publications
  • Pott, G. (2006) Kalligrafie: Intensiv Training Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz
  • Pott, G. (2005) Kalligrafie:Erste Hilfe und Schrift-Training mit Muster-Alphabeten Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz
  • Propfe, J. (2005) SchreibKunstRaume: Kalligraphie im Raum Verlag George D.W. Callwey GmbH & Co.K.G. Munich
  • Reaves, M., & Schulte, E. (2006) Brush Lettering: An instructional manual in Western brush calligraphy, Revised Edition, Design Books New York.
  • Schimmel, Annemarie. (1984) Calligraphy and Islamic Culture. New York Univ. Press. New York.
  • Zapf, H. (2007) Alphabet Stories: A Chronicle of technical developments, Cary Graphic Arts Press, Rochester, New York
  • Zapf, H. (2006) The world of Alphabets: A kaleidoscope of drawings and letterforms, CD-ROM
  • Marns, F.A (2002) Various, copperplate and form, London

[edit] External links

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references (August 2009)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Calligraphy
Look up calligraphy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

[edit] East-Asian calligraphy

Chinese
Japanese

[edit] Western Calligraphy

[edit] Islamic calligraphy

Islamic calligraphy
Modern Iranian calligraphy

[edit] Calligraphy of other scripts

[edit] Calligraphy museums

[edit] World calligraphy associations

[edit] International Competitions

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Typography terminology
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Illuminated Books
A Free Access Digital Library of Illuminated & Illustrated Books
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The Illuminated Books Project is a collection of
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The Adventures of Pinocchio illustrated by Attilio Mussino

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The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones
Some new addition to the library:
Two new books from Evelyn Paul:
Aucassin & Nicolete New
Myths & Legends of Japan New
Rhiannon from Vintage Knitting has donated the images of:
Medieval Alphabets & Initials New
Kate Greenaway's Alphabet (children book) New
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Kate Greenaway by M.H. Spielmann and G.S. Layard New
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The Kelmscott Press and William Morris Master-Craftman by H. Halliday Spalding New
(A classic work on the Kelmscott Press with many images of William Morris work)
The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones New
Joe Freedman has donated the images of all the pages of this book.
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Under the Window New
A Day in a Child’s Life New
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Enjoy the beautiful illustrations.
More books will be posted in a few weeks.
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Note to Parents and Librarians: Text and images from all books presented in this library are safe for all ages.In the selection of the books exhibited, we emphasize book illustration, illumination and design over literary content. Consequently, this library is not an alternative to public libraries for providing a wide array of genres for reading.
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Most books from this collection are from the Victorian period, the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Pre-Raphaelites, etc. From the 19th century through the first quarter of the 20th century, including English and American Private Presses, some are examples of Gift Book, a genre that became very popular in the Victorian England.
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