Illumination and Its Development in the Present Day

In this the closing chapter of this book it may be as well to suggest a few books that might be useful for further study. It is not intended, by any means, to give anything like...

The best material for the illuminator to work upon is undoubtedly vellum. No paper has ever been made that is equal to it. The chief drawback that this material has is, of cours...

The style of decoration suggested in the previous chapter was based, to a large extent, on pen-work. The examples indicated in Fig. 32 show a further development, in which brush...

The alphabet, as we know it, has been traced right back to that used by the Phœnicians. In fact, until a comparatively short time ago, it was thought by some that it could be tr...

The most casual observer cannot fail to notice the gilding that is such a prominent feature of the MSS. of the mediæval period. Brightly burnished gold, which appears as if it h...

One can hardly study the illuminated work of the Middle Ages without being interested in the methods employed by the artists of this period. The MSS. still in existence, with co...

In the Middle Ages the illuminated MS. book occupied a very prominent position. The printing-press was not then in existence, so the manuscript book was without a rival. To-day...

Perhaps it would be as well, before dealing with the practical side of illumination, to give a brief sketch of the history of this art in Europe. It will not be possible to do m...

It may be as well again to emphasise the fact that it is imperative, if one desires to succeed in the art of illumination, that it should be taken up in a serious manner and not...

Calligraphy and Illumination are inseparably bound up with each other. The art of Illumination cannot be severed from that of Writing. One cannot imagine the decoration apart fr...

There ought to be plenty of scope for the modern illuminator in printed book decoration. His training in writing and illumination ought to be of the greatest service to him when...

After the student has, to some extent, mastered the pen, and is able to write fairly easily, it would be a good plan for him to study some of the best historical examples, formi...

A great change is noticeable in the illuminated work of the twelfth century, one of the most important being the development of initial decoration and the use of raised and burn...

One of the characteristics of the mediæval artist was that he had a good knowledge of the different materials that he employed in his work. One cannot help being struck by this...

It is essential that the artist who does work for reproduction should have some knowledge of the different methods employed. A lack of knowledge in this respect is responsible f...

It is practically needless to say that the colours used for illuminating are water-colours. These are sold by the artists’ colourmen, ready prepared, in three different forms, _...

It is very useful at times to be able to produce quickly a hand-written poster. It is not always desirable to have printed ones, especially when one or two copies are all that a...

The illuminated address is the form which most modern illumination takes. The greater number of these cannot, even by the widest stretch of imagination, be called works of art....

Gilding, in illuminated work, is done with either gold-leaf or shell gold. Gold-leaf is the metal that has been beaten out into thin sheets, and shell gold the same ground up an...

The ability to produce good lettering is of the utmost importance to the artist employed in commercial work. The list of things that require lettering seems almost endless. To m...

A good deal of very effective work can be done by using black and red only. The student should be able to do good work in this way before attempting to use gold and colours.

The method of binding described in this chapter is not intended to take the place of proper binding in leather. However, it is sometimes useful to be able to put the MS. in a co...

In the application of illumination for purposes of reproduction, designing for Christmas cards occupies a prominent place. Although these are not all necessarily of the illumina...

If the illuminated MSS. of the Middle Ages are carefully studied, the importance of the initial letter as a starting-point for the growth of the decoration cannot possibly escap...

To obtain a practical knowledge of the use of the pen as a letter-making tool is, as stated before, the first important thing for the student to acquire. All the practice he can...

The Roman alphabet is certainly one of the most beautiful of all the alphabets that we possess. It is, however, strictly speaking, not a pen-formed alphabet. The fine forms of t...

In Fig. 9 one is given for the student to transcribe. A sheet of smooth-surfaced paper should be fastened to a board with drawing-pins, placing the pad of blotting-paper underne...

As already mentioned in an earlier chapter, some of the early printed books were enriched with fine illuminated initials, borders, etc. These books were printed with spaces left...

Having become somewhat acquainted with the use of the pen, the next step to be taken is the formation of letters, on the same principle as the strokes were made in the last chap...

The examples given in this chapter do not pretend to be, in any way, a complete series of alphabets of Roman lettering. To go into this matter properly would require far more sp...

PAGE Illuminated Page _Frontispiece_ Babylonian Characters (Fig. 1) 25 Egyptian Hieroglyphics (Fig. 2) 27 Egyptian Hieratic Writing 28 Stylus and Early Pens 29 Cadmus gives the...

fairly elaborate or may be written simply in black and red. It is as well to use red for the Rubrics, so as to make a distinction between these and the rest of the text.