two millenia of the Roman letter and to de¬
scribe its development in the light of changes
in tastes, fashions, and aesthetic theory through¬
out modern times.

A similar work is urgently needed in some
generally understandable western-European
language, but in its absence the rich illustrale
materialinMuzika'swork(nearlyeighthundrcd

photographs and facsimilies, often on full pages)
lends an international significance to this study.
Although Muzika is a creative artist with the
motivations and even the prejudices of hw kind
he has selected the illustrations with critical
objectivity and presented them as historical do¬
cuments, not simply as evidence to prove a

thesis. . .

The first volume covers the development ol tin-
Roman letter in antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Muzika deals with Latin epigraphy and the
origin of the Latin alphabet, book hands, the
old cursive and minuscule scripts, and the Go¬
thic cursive, minuscules, and capitals, as well
as Gothic book type. The second part deals
with Renaissance styles of the Roman letter,
including manuscript hands and Renaissance
book and ornamental types; the Roman letter
in the baroque and classical periods, with sec¬
tions on the transitional baroque Roman and
italic, classical Roman and italic, baroque and
classical ornamental letters, and the reform of
Czech types in the national revival ; and, finally,
the Roman letter from the decadent nineteenth-
century types to the present. Each period and
stylistic trend receives detailed and documented
treatment, and the two volumes are a veritable
encyclopedia of the Roman letter.
Above all, however, Muzika has provided an
aesthetic history of the Roman letter. He sees
clearly the intricate relationship of calligraphy
and typography with the other formative arts;
and he argues effectively for the beautiful letter
as an independent artistic creation above and
beyond its functions as a tool of communica¬
tion (citing with good effect the instance ol
oriental calligraphy, pleasing even to those oc¬
cidental eyes which do not recognize the mean¬
ing of the symbols). Thus, it is not without
significance that many a painter and sculptor
has contributed substantially to calligraphy and
typographical design.

Muzika's definitions are sharp and unequivocal
in a field where there is much misunderstand¬
ing because of faulty definitions. His style is
straightforward and simple, an extremely praise¬
worthy virtue in a book which most of us must
read with a dictionary at one hand. There arc-
occasional routine cases of lip service to current
eastern European political ideology, but these
are rare and inoffensive. Despite its relatively
exotic imprint and relatively inaccessible lin¬
guistic vehicle, Krdsni pùmo ve vyvoji lalxnky is
a must for research libraries, even those which
pay little specific attention to the graphic arts.

Lawrence S. Thompson, The Library Quarterly, тдбі

VERLAG WERNER DAUSIEN

Hanau/Main