Calligraphy : The Art of Written Forms

Rating:
Summary: Unique review of calligraphy
Review: Unlike most "calligraphy" books, Anderson presents a review of the topic spanning the globe and millenia. Starting with Roman graffiti and ending with modern calligraphy revival schools in California to 8th Century Burma, there's a little bit of everything here.

A nice review of western european medieval calligraphy, I rarely use the rest of the book. It presents well how the different styles are related, the development of modern styles of calligraphy and type fonts, the 20th century revival of more traditional art forms with some froo-froo hat tipping to Victorian style copperplate to bold modern blocky forms.

This has it all. A well written book, it references the copious plates and examlpes while guiding the novice through the years and development of the manifaceted art style known as calligraphy.

I would recommend this for intermediate students who are interested in the history of calligraphy, to complement learning how to do it. This will not teach you how to do calligraphy, it will hopefully teach you how to appreciate it as an art form.