Calligraphy | Art, Examples, & Alphabet | Britannica

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calligraphy

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External Websites Encyclopaedia Iranica - Calligraphy Indianetzone - Biography of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Academia - Calligraphy Association for Asian Studies - Calligraphy in East Asia: Art, Communication, and Symbology Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. calligraphy - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) calligraphy - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Print print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: Cite verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/art/calligraphy Feedback External Websites Feedback Thank you for your feedback

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External Websites Encyclopaedia Iranica - Calligraphy Indianetzone - Biography of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Academia - Calligraphy Association for Asian Studies - Calligraphy in East Asia: Art, Communication, and Symbology Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. calligraphy - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) calligraphy - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Written by Ray Nash Professor of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1949–70. Author of American Penmanship, 1800–1850; editor and translator of Calligraphy and Printing in the Sixteenth Century. Ray Nash , Eric Gardner Turner Professor of Papyrology, University College, University of London, 1950–78; Director, Institute of Classical Studies, 1953–63. Author of Greek Papyri and many other works on papyri. Eric Gardner Turner , Robert Williams Independent scholar, bibliophile, and historian. Transcriber and editor, The Chicago Diaries of John M. Wing . Robert Williams See All Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents calligraphy sample See all media Category: Arts & Culture Key People: Mi Fu Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini Wu Changshuo Dong Qichang Huizong (Show more) Related Topics: black letter Spencerian penmanship majuscule minuscule round hand script (Show more) See all related content Exemplaires du Sieur de Beaulieu (1599; “Exemplars by the Lord of Beaulieu”), a rare book of calligraphy exemplars.

calligraphy , the art of beautiful handwriting . The term may derive from the Greek words for “beauty” ( kallos ) and “to write” ( graphein ). It implies a sure knowledge of the correct form of letters—i.e., the conventional signs by which language can be communicated—and the skill to make them with such ordering of the various parts and harmony of proportions that the experienced, knowledgeable eye will recognize such composition as a work of art. Calligraphic work, as art, need not be legible in the usual sense of the word.

Spieghel der Schrijfkonste (“Mirror of the Art of Writing”) by Jan van de Velde, 1605; in the Columbia University Libraries, New York City.

In the Middle East and East Asia , calligraphy by long and exacting tradition is considered a major art, equal to sculpture or painting. In Western culture the plainer Greek- and Latin-derived alphabets and the spread of literacy have tended to make handwriting in principle an art that anyone can practice. Nonetheless, after the introduction of printing in Europe in the mid-15th century, a clear distinction arose between handwriting and more elaborate forms of scripts and lettering. In fact, new words meaning “calligraphy” entered most European languages about the end of the 16th century, and in English the word calligraphy did not appear until 1613. Writing books from the 16th century through the present day have continued to distinguish between ordinary handwriting and the more decorative calligraphy.

Two-page spread from Geoffroy Tory's Book of Hours (1531).

It has often been assumed that the printing process ended the manuscript tradition. This is not quite true: for example, most of the surviving books of hours (lavish private devotional manuscript books) date from the period after the introduction of printing. Furthermore, certain types of publications, such as musical scores, scientific notation, and other specialized or small-audience works, continued to be handwritten well into the 19th century. Thus, although handwritten books could not be reproduced in quantity or with complete uniformity, they did survive the introduction of printing. Printing and handwriting began to influence each other: for example, modern advertising continues to incorporate calligraphy, and many calligraphers have through the years designed typefaces for printing.

Ray Nash Robert Williams

Early Semitic writing

During the 2nd millennium bce , various Semitic peoples at the eastern end of the Mediterranean were experimenting with alphabetic writing. Between 1500 and 1000 bce , alphabetic signs found in scattered sites showed a correspondence of form and provided material for sound translations. Bodies of writing from this period are fragmented: a few signs scratched on sherds or cut in stone. Few of these are celebrated in terms of aesthetic value.

One interesting set of Semitic inscriptions was discovered in 1905 at an ancient mining site on the Sinai Peninsula . A sphinx from that discovery yields the taw , nun , taw , or t, n, t, meaning “gift.” It is evident that the nun , or n , sign is a rendering of a serpent. Most of the early Semitic alphabetic signs were similarly derived from word signs of more ancient vintage.

The several Semitic peoples in the Middle East area spoke languages that were closely related, and this enabled them to use the same set of alphabetic signs. After some experimentation the alphabet was reduced to 22 signs for consonants . There were no vowel signs. The tribes of Canaan ( Hebrews , Phoenicians , and Aramaeans ) were important in the development of alphabetic writing, and all seemed to be employing the alphabet by 1000 bce .

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The Phoenicians, living along a 20-mile (30-kilometre) strip on the Mediterranean, made the great sea their second home, giving the alphabet to Greeks in the mutual trading area and leaving inscriptions in many sites. One of the finest Phoenician inscriptions exists on a bronze cup from Cyprus called the Baal of Lebanon (in the Louvre, Paris) dating from about 800 bce . The so-called Moabite Stone (also in the Louvre), which dates from about 850 bce , has an inscription that is also a famous example of early Semitic writing.

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