The court of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II produced nothing more amazing than the Mira colligrophioe monumenta, a flamboyant demonstration of two arts-calligraphy and miniature painting. The project began when Rudolf's predecessor commissioned the master calligrapher Georg Bocskay to create a model book of calligraphy. A preeminent scribe, Bocskay assembled a vast selection of contemporary and historic scripts. Many were intended not for practical use but for virtuosic display. Years later, at Rudolf's behest, court artist Joris Hoefnagel filled the spaces on each manuscript page with images of fruit, flowers, insects, and other natural minutiae. The combination of word and images is rare and, on its tiny scale, constitutes one of the marvels of the Central European Renaissance. The manuscript is now in the collections of the Getty Museum. Forty-eight of its pages are reproduced in this book, containing samples of classic italic hands; historical, invented, and exhibition hands; Rotunda, a classicizing humanist script based on Carolingian miniscule; classically based scripts; and Gothic blackletter and chancery.

The Art of Penography is Don Savant's way of breaking new literary ground to introduce his readers to his the artistic side of his poetry while still maintaining a level of love that is to be expected from everything he writes.

A practical course in pen and ink drawing, this helpful guide includes a comprehensive survey of the best pen work in existence. A wide diversity of styles are presented ― from loose sketches to rich, engraving-like studies. Works from all periods include drawings by such masters as Dürer, Holbein, Doré, Gibson, Rackham, Pyle, Beardsley, and Klinger. An opening chapter presents the evolution of pen drawing, while subsequent sections allow readers to select topics in self-contained units on line technique; the use of materials, drawing the figure, face and hands; humorous illustration; pen drawing for advertisers; fashion drawing; and landscape and architectural illustration. An excellent reference for students, this book will also help illustrators and commercial artists further develop their own styles.

Bring your letters to life. The Art of Words starts with the basics (what tools and papers to use, how to form various types of letters) and then encourages you to experiment with creating your own style. This book is practical and informative with examples from the author and blank pages for practicing lettering using the styles shown. It also includes pages to color and pages with designs that allow you to put your new lettering skills to use.