Author’s

Preface

ILLUMI¬

NATING

together without intermediation on one identical page and
with a view to one identical effect. In the Printed Book

this adjustment is more difficult Yet in the

making of the printed book, as in the making of the
written book, this adjustment is essential, and should
be specially borne in mind, and Calligraphy and imme¬
diate decoration by hand and the unity which should
be inseparably associated therewith would serve as
an admirable discipline to that end.” (And see p. 332
below.)

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 transcrib¬
ing and preservation of much good literature in this
beautiful form (besides the preparation of “Illumi¬
nated 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 had 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.

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-decora-
tion. And pictures in books may be as desirable as
pictures on the wall—even though like the beautiful
xii

household gods of the Japanese they are kept in safe
hiding and displayed only now and then.

Magnificent as are the dreams of a fine Decora¬
tion 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 per¬
mitted to quote from The Athenäum of Feb. 3,

1906, which says of “ the new school of scribes
and designers of inscriptions ”—

“ These have attacked the problem of applied design
in one of its simplest and most universal applications,
and they have already done a great deal to establish a
standard by which we shall be bound to revise all printed
and written lettering. If once the principles they have
established could gain currency, what a load of ugliness
would be lifted from modern civilization ! If once the
names of streets and houses, and, let us hope, even the
announcements of advertisers, were executed in beautifully
designed and well-spaced letters, the eye would become
so accustomed to good proportion in these simple and
obvious things that it would insist on a similar gratifica¬
tion in more complex and difficult matters.”

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 cer¬
tainly. And though much practice goes to the
making of a perfect MS., it is easier than people sup¬
pose to make really beautiful things by taking a little
pains. As “copy book” hands simple, primitive
xiii

Author’s

Preface

LETTER¬

ING