Celtic Hand Stroke by Stroke (Irish Half-Uncial from "The Book of Kells") : An Arthur Baker Calligraphy Manual

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Interesting

Rating:
Summary: Good book
Review: This book seems to me slightly misnamed. If you're looking for a book that describes the hand(s) used in the Book of Kells (i.e. a book on paleography rather than calligraphy), this book isn't it. For, despite the fact that the Book of Kells is considered the prototypical example of celtic celligraphy, there are two problems with using it as a strict model: (1) the original had 3 difference scribes with different styles; and most enigmatically (2) the hands used in the Book are actually not very "celtic looking" to my modern eyes.

This book gives a brief history of the Book of Kells and then uses the Book's hands as a starting point to develop a celtic script that is very nice. Many aspects were not used in the Book of Kells - for example, the angled upper serifs. But it is a very nice-looking (to me) hand, very celtic-looking, and truer to the Book of Kells hands than most other celtic calligraphy I've seen. Well worth the small price.